A tartan for the Merchant Marine Service

[Hawk]

I am also taken by the beauty of the Southern Cross subdued and also the Southern Cross Cross. Great job so far.....

Hawk

[Antipodean Celt]

I'm partial to the Southern Cross (Ulster). The grey is reminiscent of the gray paint often used on steel ships and it also brings to mind a North Atlantic fog.

Thanks rmccool. Funnily enough, the colour is not grey, it is 'pastel blue' but it definitely looks grey against the navy blue. You have given me an idea though. I am quite taken with the newer tartans such as Isle of Skye and Dutch Friendship Tartan that 'fool' the eye by blending shades. Now I am nowhere near as clever as those designers, but I may have a go and see what I come up with, perhaps using 'battleship grey' as a base to blend the blues and the red/green.

[Antipodean Celt]

I am also taken by the beauty of the Southern Cross subdued and also the Southern Cross Cross. Great job so far.....

Hawk

Thanks Hawk. I appreciate the encouragement.

[Antipodean Celt]

The Australia version seems a bit busy to me, mainly due to all the thin stripes. I also find the grey to be much more dominant for the same reason. Since the blue is meant to represent water and sky, it should be somewhat more than accent stripes. I don't see the green in this new version, did you nix the running lights idea?

I agree AFS1970. It didn't do it for me either. And yes, I was keeping it simple so I dropped the thin stripes for red/green sidelights. I am about to put the helm over and start on another tack just to see where that goes...

[Antipodean Celt]

OK. I agree with most feedback that my first effort was the most successful, probably because it is a tried and true design. But I haven't given up trying to come up with something new that 'works'.

As I just said before, I am very taken with the colour blending that Isle of Skye and Dutch Friendship Tartan (to name just two) use so effectively. Could I do the same?

So simply changing the colour scheme of the Isle of Skye sett (although I don't think I have the proportions quite right), I present for your consideration three variants, red, green and orange. The orange is a significant departure from my design philosophy, but it does go well with the blue and when I look in my wardrobe I see an orange SOLAS lifejacket and hanging on the davits are 2 orange totally enclosed lifeboats, so there is a connection there (OK a bit of a stretch, but worth a try).

Again, no idea how successful these variants are , and I think to get the best effect you have to look at them from some distance to get the 'blending' effect happening.



I have used the 'battleship' grey as the neutral tone to try and tie it all together. In case it wasn't obvious, I am not trying to borrow anyone's IP here, I am just playing around with some colour combinations to see what can be done. Thoughts?

[GM445]

have to say I like the Southern cross paterns, and as an Ex RAN sailor it would be good to have a tartan that recognises both RAN and Merchant saliors

[Nathan]

Feel free to listen to this while designing for inspiration ;)

http://youtu.be/DO_drlO5vSU

[Antipodean Celt]

have to say I like the Southern cross paterns, and as an Ex RAN sailor it would be good to have a tartan that recognises both RAN and Merchant saliors

Thanks GM445. I would very much like to be inclusive, rather than exclusive, so I agree with your sentiments. The perils of the sea don't care about the colour of your boat.

[JohntheBiker]

I am one of those folks that happens to think that less is more. Your earlier southern cross patterns appealed to me more. While I like Isle of Skye, I imagine that it took a pretty practiced hand to achieve that affect.

[Grae]

your last three designs are interesting and suitable for a tartan however if your aim is a marine tartan I think they are straying from a good base, your Southern cross has subtle interest and i know the Atlantic is cold and grey but what about the blue Pacific?