Angel Squadron Emblem

[The Unknown Angel]

I'm a graphic designer by trade, and sometimes I like doing projects for my own amusement.

Angel Squadron Emblem

Angel_Squadron_Emblem.png (67.62 KiB) Viewed 30084 times

This thing came out of something I was considering writing, and I really wanted to make it. It's a vast improvement over the lone A, don't you think?

Suggestions and criticisms welcomed.

Edit: Made a dramatic change to the wings after looking at some pics of female angels, at the suggestion of another Anderfan.

Angel Squadron Emblem v3

Angel_Squadron_Emblem 3.png (69.03 KiB) Viewed 30080 times

[Marion]

Very nice, but I still think a more abstract design is better.
Being pedantic: not all of the Angels have short hair and - who knows - in Spectrum's future, maybe not all Angel Pilots will be female. Colonel White chose to make them an all-female squadron to remedy the sex-discrimination against female pilots. Now, whilst things are still not as equal as they should be - they're not as bad as they were in the 1960s and, being optimistic, maybe by the 2060s discrimination of all forms (age, gender, race and sexual preference) will be a thing of the past. I certainly hope so!

I also think that in the biblical stories, the Angels who get mentioned (in all the hierarchical levels) are males... Perhaps that's why Gerry Anderson stuck with an abstract A?

[hazel]

I prefer the A. It's quickly and easily recognised - anything more complicated would be difficult to identify at the speed those jets fly overhead!

[Isabelle]

I'm sorry... all I see is a badly squashed fleur de lys...

The wing placement is very odd and anatomically impossible (and the proportions are a little off). Plus while I'm aware that the original Angels might have some religious connotations, this patch (I guess? Not sure where this would be?) almost look like some sort of Christian propaganda...

Plus there are 3 planes, but there are more than 3 people in the squadron, and as Marion said, who said they will be women all the time? In NCS we can see at least one man training for the squadron. Plus you write "Cloudbase Squadron" as if there is more than one. Technically, there isn't. Although there might be other Angels stationed elsewhere in both series, the concept was that they launched from Cloud/Skybase to be ready to fight faster than if they were coming from somewhere else on the ground.

I get the world building and setting up of the characters, but you have to remember that this is still supposed to be a Captain Scarlet story, with the canon characters being the main part and any OC has to be introduced gradually and not take over. People read Captain Scarlet (or any other series' / movie / etc.) stories to get more of the characters they love and might not be interested in a whole new setup with "improved" this and that of what is typical of the series. Having an OC and a whole new universe and changing everything is called... original fiction. It's not fanfiction anymore and you have to remember that the readership for such will be limited.

OCs are very difficult to write, are in constant danger of turning into Mary Sues (or Gary Stus). Many readers will just not read those.

[chrisbishop]

Actually, in the original series, there is no emblem worn by the pilots on their uniforms. They only have the Spectrum emblem upon the sleeves or helmet.

The Spectrum emblem is also stamped on the interceptor. A rather plain black "A" is stamped on the tail, and another very large "A" is painted underneath, which make all the length and width of the craft. I believe the latter is so the craft could easily be recognised from the ground, when flying above either friends or foes.

"Look! the Spectrum Angels! We're saved!" or "Damned! The Spectrum Angels! Run for it!"

In that way, I can understand the idea of using a simplistic black A. The main emblem remains the Spectrum one, so maybe there is no need to "drown" it with another emblem. In addition, I would tend to agree with Marion that there might be male pilots in the future of Spectrum. Who knows? I believe that it just HAPPENED that all of them are just female at the moment, because only these women met the required criteria for Spectrum interceptor pilots.

As for the NCS series, the Angel pilots do wear an additional emblem upon their uniform. To note that the same emblem is stamped on the wing/tail of their aircraft and upon their helmet (along with the name of the pilot). The NCS designers went the same route as for the original series: - it's an equally simplistic black "A", although more stylised than that of the original series.

The emblem you created is not bad - a good design, really. However, I'm not sure it would pass the test for Spectrum. It misses the "A" - and might not quite be recognised for what it should be. Plus, there is all that blue. It might clash with the rest of Spectrum design.

[Marion]

Oh, come on, Chris! You can NEVER have too much Blue...


(I'd post a picture to prove it, but I've forgotten how! )




Waaaaaaaaaah!
Got him!

[The Unknown Angel]

Well then, we've got mixed reactions then. Thank you all for your comments, both good and bad. I was actually considering drawing a male version because of the issues mentioned the above. Also adding a A somewhere, and a whole lot of other changes.

It was just a bit of fun, and meant for something else, as I mentioned. Now I feel kinda bad about posting it. Sometimes you hit, sometimes you miss.

[Marion]

Please don't feel bad about it - it's an interesting concept and we enjoy discussions about new ideas. Maybe because it is so different, it takes a bit of getting used to?

[The Unknown Angel]

Thanks. I should also clarify something. I adore the big A on the bottom of the OCS Angel Inteceptors, and I don't think this emblem would, or should, replace the Big A. Just on the tail, and a patch on the shoulder.

The big A is something I missed on the NCS Falcon Interceptors, even though they're a beautiful looking craft otherwise.

Edit: I may just also do my original idea for a Angel Emblem since I've already whipped up some of the artwork I need for it, a silloute of the underside with the "A" picked out in white.

[chrisbishop]

I'm with Marion.

Don't feel bad about posting it. Stuff like that generates discussion and debate. And from discussion and debate come new ideas.

Isn't that what a forum for?

[Elentari]

I'm not a fan of the design, sorry.

Too much odd looking angel, lettering that probably couldn't be clearly read unless you were the close up and the same for the tiny planes.

I also wonder about Cloudbase Squadron. It would be the smallext squadron on the planet if it's just the aircraft on Cloudbase.

Look at the symbol type logos on commercial aircraft (on the tails) - they can be kind of free form yet identify the company as they have to be recognised at a great distance. Mind you, the angel interceptors don't have a large tail wing space to display like today's commercial planes.

An alternative could be a design on the currently top blank sections of the interceptor wings.

[The Unknown Angel]

Okay folks, back to the drawing board.

My main problems boil down to me having never done something with either a human figure, and was never meant to be viewed no more than a few hundred away. Or maybe there's another isssue.

Thank you all regardless.