Mellow

 

Part of a series of prints for Mellow, with an illustration from Geoff Wharton. 3 colour screen print in water based inks, around a5 size chest placement on a t-shirt.

Mellow

Mellow

After a few meetings with Geoff about our illustration/design movement, we decided to call it either humble or mellow, due to our personalities.

We decided 'mellow' was more fitting all round, and enabled us to think conceptually about the identity of the brand. Due to it being just the two of us, we had thought about how to represent ourselves as an outfit and due to us using our hands for all aspects, we decided this needs to be incorporated in the logo.

We had to incorporate the meaning of the word, and help promote the context. After we initially designed proposals, we felt they did not reflect or contain the meaning or context of what we were trying to promote.

This was the graphic outcome of further development by me and Geoff. I decided it still didn't represent the approach we were working towards and needed to develop it further.

After careful consideration and further conceptual thinking, I incorporated the main aspects of the hand by extending what represents the middle finger. We were both happy with the outcome although maybe rotating the icons, using italic guidelines, could provide a more mellow theme.

The Union Jack

I decided to take what I had learned so far about the origins of the flag and what people currently think. It seems the happy medium would seem to be to keep the original silhouette yet removed the Scottish aspects and include Wales, which would help evolve the flag in to a whole new age.

The first design was just the flags merged together, with the colours of St David's flag added. The colours of Northern Ireland and England paired with the colours of St David's flag, have been criticized as similar to German, although this is fitting with the monarchy.

This first design clearly wouldn't work for me, as there is still too much over shadow by how prominent the St George's cross is.

This design was another twist on the idea of merging the flags of the Patron Saints of each country. No dragon is needed or the colours of the Welsh flag, as they are both typically English, the green and white to represent the 'House of Tudor' and the red dragon has unsure beginnings, but is said to represent Britons in battle. Historically their battle against Saxons, who were represented by a white dragon.

Instead, as from research, I used the flags of St David(Wales), St George(England) and St Patrick(Ireland) which I feel is the best way to approach this subject. The design is just a start and needs further development to achieve the best outcome.

What does the Union Jack mean to you?

Some opinions of people on the internet talking about the Union Jack. Seemingly quite a diverse reaction was received from the results of the actual survey, which is posted further on in the post.

'For me, like the Royal Arms, it is an outdated symbol of what was: England dominating Scotland and Ireland, and Wales being so unimportant as to not even warrant inclusion.
It is an impossible flag that is flown upside down as often as right way up and is associated abroad with England rather than the UK.  Scottish Independence does not break up the United Kingdom (which existed for 104 years before the merger of Parliaments in 1707), but merely restores a fairer system of governance to both Scotland and England.
It is time to ditch it and create a modern union flag that reflects the reality of the modern UK and which distinguishing the top from the bottom is obvious.'

'As a Scotsman I don't think I could name 5 places where the Union Jack is flown in Scotland other than that of Castles.
Personally for me it has always represented England and not Britain.  I consider myself Scottish and would always choose to fly the Saltire as my national flag.
On a more political front, the Union Jack for me only represents the nations of the UK which are separated and not in unison with each other which is a shame.  The true meaning and representation of a true National Flag would be fantastic but I think it will never happen.  Especially while we still have a Monarchy.
Scotland, England Ireland and Wales are all separate parts of the UK independent in mind if not in reality.  The Union Jack for me only serves as a reminder of the un-unification of this great country.'

'The Union flag means nothing to me, I am English and whilst not racist, would much sooner see the St George flag flying than the Union flag. Under the last administration, and now this one we have become "de Englishised".
You travel in Scotland, Wales or even Northern Ireland and you see their flags being flown with pride,quite rightly, but in England, no.'

'Wales isn't incorporated on the Union Jack/flag as you say, so it doesn't really 'emphasize the very nature of the UK'. Being represented by the cross of St. George doesn't count for most Welsh people.'

'Independence is the broad, inclusive and positive option for Scotland, in which the wide range of identities we have in our modern nation - Scottish, British, Pakistani, Chinese, Polish, Irish and many, many more – can all be reflected and celebrated.'

  

With the highest ratings being the monarchy and the armed forces, that we most associate the Union Jack with, as long as the monarchy is still in control the silhouette at least should be retained. Yet the fact that we're anticipating Scotland leaving the UK to become independent, the Scottish aspects should be removed and Welsh need to be included. 

The flag doesn't promote a modern, diverse Britain, yet Britain has retained the flag which has been in place for over 400 years. It needs to be updated, but can't really include hints towards the modern Britain, because it needs to retain it's nationality. However, I don't actually think that nationalities are all too important, they seem to remain mandatory with the mistrust of other governments and officials by our own 'leaders'.

The Union Jack

The Union Jack is built up of the separate flags from the patron saints of the countries involved in the Kingdom.

St George's flag, patron saint of England.

St Patrick's flag, patron saint of Ireland.

St David's flag, patron saint of Wales.

I need to work out a way to merge the flags in a uniform manor, to not add dominance to each of the nations, but to unite them as one.

Beautiful Meme: The Union Jack

The outlines of the brief were to redesign the United Kingdom flag, in response to the possibility Scotland becomes independent.

"The flag consists of three heraldic crosses.The cross of St George, patron saint of England since the 1270's, is a red cross on a white ground. After James I succeeded to the throne, it was combined with the cross of St. Andrew in 1606.

The cross saltire of St Andrew, patron saint of Scotland, is a diagonal white cross on a blue ground.

The cross saltire of St Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, is a diagonal red cross on a white ground."

"The Welsh dragon does not appear on the Union Flag. This is because when the first Union Flag was created in 1606, the Principality of Wales by that time was already united with England and was no longer a separate principality."

 The following quotes are from the official website for the British Monarchy.

Act/or