Hornblower Brandmark

[ddqj0428]

4752
Does anyone have any comments on this one? Ways to improve?

[Alcuin]

Brilliant! I’d never thought of that.

Two things come to mind:
The “mark” on the pipeweed barrels was probably a “brand” – literally. A hot iron with the symbol of the maker was pressed into the wood, burning a charcoal brand into it. (That’s how we get our term “brand” for different makes and labels of products.)
You might consider using the Cirth Angerthas, or runes, in “Appendix E” of The Lord of the Rings. This is how Common was usually written. Better yet, Tolkien wrote his “Common” in plain English (well, phonetic English) in the frontispiece of the book and on Balin’s Tomb. (Some folks, like Ori the Dwarf, preferred Elvish characters, the Tengwar, but runes are easier for carving and marking in wood and stone.)But, you know, I’d bet the Hornblower family had a very colorful “real” mark that looked exactly like the one you’ve depicted (using runes) that they displayed in their places of business, and quite possibly as a family banner or badge on festive or solemn occasions.

[Barliman Butterbur]

4752
Does anyone have any comments on this one? Ways to improve?

That is one cool logo! Very middle-earthy! Fits right in, especially including your color choices! Congrats, well done!

Barley

[ddqj0428]

Thanks to help from Alcuin I went back and redid the brandmark, and made a seperate one for their family. I hope I wrote everything correctly for the one written in runes. If I made a mistake or got it completely wrong please let me know. I will also do a family version once I understand how to write more words in cirth. I'm well aware of Appendix E, but am not sure if I actually understand it.



Flotsam and Jetsam

There were the Hornblower brandmarks on the barrels, as plain as plain.

'Yes,' said Pippin. 'It was the 1417 crop, that is last year's; no, the year before, of course, now: a good year.'




4753

It should say:
longbottom (l o ng b o t t o m)?
leaf (l e a f)?
south 1417 farthing (s o u dh / f a r dh i ng)?



Concerning Pipeweed

Tobold Hornblower of Longbottom in the Southfarthing first grew the true pipe-weed in his gardens in the days of Isengrim the Second, about the year of 1070 of Shire-reckoning.



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[Alcuin]

Oh, I like it!

What would it look like branded into a wooden barrel like the one Merry and Pippin found in the wreck of Isengard? Does Photoshop do that, and is it difficult or time-consuming?

[ddqj0428]

You're spoiling my surprises! Actually, before I started to make the brandmark I started on a barrel using the Photoshop 3d Transform Tool, the one I've made is cartoonish right now because I have only used photoshop's textures(comes w/ photoshop, I have to create my own for it to be unique.) I'm going to work right now on completing this barrel.
4755

[ddqj0428]

http://ddqj0428.deviantart.com/gallery/scraps/

is where you can go to find any updates or other versions of my 'Hornblower Brandmark.'