Faction icons XLII
There was enormous response on FORKNI-L (not to mention some here) when I issued my challenge to find faction names to put on two new icons, one for fans of Schanke's duck lamp, and one for fans of Nick's fireplace.
The names suggested were numerous, though a fair number were clearly tossed out more for humour than use. However, among the "serious" contenders were the Odd Ducks, Lame Ducks, Duckers, and Donald's Ducks-as well as the Quackers, which was the one with the most votes. And we had the Hearth-Huggers, Firelighters, Gloires de Cheminée, and Grate Expectations; as well as the Old Flames, which was the clear winner when second choices were taken into account.
So here are their icons.
Quackers:
Obviously the main feature of this icon has to be the duck lamp itself, in all its kitsch. In the screen capture, it's held by Nick at an angle; so I had to straighten it up and patch over his fingers to make it usable. This was actually done a while back: I've had the duck lamp gracing the bottom of my webpage for the story, "Simcoe Day", for a couple of years now.
The background is taken from a painting called "Flying Ducks", which is by J W Thrasher. I got it off the web. Of course, it's only a snippet from the painting, done very small, and "transformed" (as they say) by all the work done to make the icon.
As with other icons with vari-coloured backgrounds, the hardest part was probably finding the optimal colours for the logo. While I wanted it compatible with the palette of the icon, I also needed it to be legible.
Quackers was suggested by waltd (actually initially as "Quackers and Ilk").
Old Flames:
Although the fireplace in the loft appears in many screen captures, it tends to be seen only in part. There are only a handful of pictures that show most of it; and again, there are few that show the carved dragon in detail. (The gargoyles at the sides are even harder to find in close-up.)
At any rate, though some people adore the wooden dragon, which often gets a pat or nose-rub in canon, I think fondest memories cling to the fireplace itself. Nick is so often seen using his remote to turn it on; and he and Natalie often sit on the sofa, looking at it over the coffee table.
Careful clipping gave me the dragon close-up, which had to be lightened twice before the detail showed up properly.
For the logo, I decided to use a Gothic style font to pick up on the obvious age of the fireplace (not to mention its owner). The fact that the final choice of faction name was Old Flames just makes it the more appropriate. The blue colour was chosen to echo the tiles in the fireplace surround; and, at the last moment, I also picked up a thread of paler colour from the flames to outline the letters.
To me, Old Flames is a particularly appropriate name for this faction, since it applies equally to the fireplace and the dragon. So I'm grateful to Andrew for suggesting it.
The names suggested were numerous, though a fair number were clearly tossed out more for humour than use. However, among the "serious" contenders were the Odd Ducks, Lame Ducks, Duckers, and Donald's Ducks-as well as the Quackers, which was the one with the most votes. And we had the Hearth-Huggers, Firelighters, Gloires de Cheminée, and Grate Expectations; as well as the Old Flames, which was the clear winner when second choices were taken into account.
So here are their icons.
Quackers:
Obviously the main feature of this icon has to be the duck lamp itself, in all its kitsch. In the screen capture, it's held by Nick at an angle; so I had to straighten it up and patch over his fingers to make it usable. This was actually done a while back: I've had the duck lamp gracing the bottom of my webpage for the story, "Simcoe Day", for a couple of years now.
The background is taken from a painting called "Flying Ducks", which is by J W Thrasher. I got it off the web. Of course, it's only a snippet from the painting, done very small, and "transformed" (as they say) by all the work done to make the icon.
As with other icons with vari-coloured backgrounds, the hardest part was probably finding the optimal colours for the logo. While I wanted it compatible with the palette of the icon, I also needed it to be legible.
Quackers was suggested by waltd (actually initially as "Quackers and Ilk").
Old Flames:
Although the fireplace in the loft appears in many screen captures, it tends to be seen only in part. There are only a handful of pictures that show most of it; and again, there are few that show the carved dragon in detail. (The gargoyles at the sides are even harder to find in close-up.)
At any rate, though some people adore the wooden dragon, which often gets a pat or nose-rub in canon, I think fondest memories cling to the fireplace itself. Nick is so often seen using his remote to turn it on; and he and Natalie often sit on the sofa, looking at it over the coffee table.
Careful clipping gave me the dragon close-up, which had to be lightened twice before the detail showed up properly.
For the logo, I decided to use a Gothic style font to pick up on the obvious age of the fireplace (not to mention its owner). The fact that the final choice of faction name was Old Flames just makes it the more appropriate. The blue colour was chosen to echo the tiles in the fireplace surround; and, at the last moment, I also picked up a thread of paler colour from the flames to outline the letters.
To me, Old Flames is a particularly appropriate name for this faction, since it applies equally to the fireplace and the dragon. So I'm grateful to Andrew for suggesting it.