A Diversion

While the sanding continues on the rudder, I needed a diversion. Something fun to hold my attention for a bit. Well, let's see if I can put this together so it makes sense...

I am, obviously, building a Goat Island Skiff, designed by Australian Michael Storer. So far, there is no class emblem or logo.

Earlier this week I saw this thread on Wooden Boat Forum. (Great looking boats by the way): Sandbaggers

While viewing the video and photo gallery I found these Bear and Bull sail logos/emblems. I really like the look of them:

There is some strong historical background and current usage for large insignias placed on the sails of small boats in Australia. It turns out that the Bear and Bull are on the east coast of the United States, and friends of mine in Texas have an owner's emblem. so it isn't strictly an Australian practice.

Since the GIS is Australian in origin and given the background and current usage, I though it would be fun to find something along these lines to use as a sail logo/emblem for the Goat. I've spent a fair amount of time looking for a suitable image. Lots of stuff out there, and this is what I've found that comes close to what I want:

This is the GIS insignia one of the guys put together. Sort of "cartoonish" and wouldn't work very well on a sail. Except...having said that, if just the head of the goat could be isolated, and maybe done in two colors or as a silhouette, it may be a possibility...

This goat head silhouette could possibly work, but I think the horns would have to be shorter... It would be a different look than the Bull or Bear, but it is something to think about.

A couple of thoughts... I like the look and style of the Bull and the Bear sail emblems. I don't want an evil image or connotation associated with the GIS. I'd like the image on the sail to be recognizable as a goat.

There is no immediate rush... I am a long way from needing a sail emblem. However, late last night on TSBB chat, I asked if there were any graphics type people - other than Laura - on the board. I couldn't very easily explain this whole process, particularly in a chat setting. So I posted what I'm trying to do (that post morphed a bit to become this blog entry), and got some enthusiastic participation from a pretty good number of people between last night and this afternoon. Through the usual trial and error, I created a sail emblem that will work. It looks good but it doesn not have the style or look of the Bear and Bull.

This whole thing began at work on Friday when I asked a co-worker if she could give the idea some thought to come up with something. If she comes up wiht something I like I'll have to figure out which one I like better!

I'll publish today's design separately just so it does not get lost at the bottom of this entry.