I was asked to create a logo that represented the civilian section of a soon to be released app. This section is for customers who aren't in the military, but want to setup an account under the correct branch of service and for those looking to purchase any civilian medals, dogtags, etc. It needed to match the style of the other five branch logos. Enjoy.
Placement among other branch sections.
Image taken from http://militarymedals.com/ (added civilian logo to test appeal)
THE PROCESS
After drawing many different ideas for this logo, "the one with the eagle flying in front of a star" stuck out and I started with a quick sketch of a bald eagle.
The next step involved a mostly symmetrical image. The fact that both talons are uneven gives it a better feel overall. The Marine eagle had detailed feathers so here is my attempt at recreating that style.
That didn't go so well. I tried the Army eagle feathers and things started to match. I widened the white area on the face and neck, and mirrored the image once more, keeping the asymmetrical talons.
The wingspan was so long that it caused the smaller eagle body to be lost in the star underneath. I shortened the wings and it started to look a lot better. The other eagles had shading on their necks so I added that detail underneath the beak and cheek areas. When completed, I then traced the eagle in Illustrator and had my final version ready.
The star design was straightforward. Put the American flag in it somehow. I started to use the red, white, and blue colors, but it wasn't looking good. The other branch logos are monochromatic so I picked a muted color that will blend with the other branch logos.
The star finally looks near finished. I adjusted the size and placement of the eagle hundreds of times before falling upon the perfect size. I vectored the star, and put the vectored eagle in front.
Once that was done, I had my final image for the Civilian Logo.
