One of my oldest friends, Derek Bradley, said he was looking for a logo for his ranch. They are calling it Makarios Valley Ranch. μακάριος is Greek for “Blessed.” (Strong's Number: 3107 for you Bible nerds).
Before we get to the logo lets take a moment to appreciate this photo of Dereck from about 1990:
That’s me in the green shirt.
Dereck must have told me they also want to make a brand for their livestock. They only have sheep and pigs, and I don’t think you brand them. Maybe he was joking, but I got excited about making a brand. In my work I craft brands all the time, but I have never made a BRAND. This one would take a little research.
Apparently cattle branding is still a thing, and the California Department of Food and Agriculture has a brand registry and brand creation guidelines. Cheggitout. Cattle rustling is still a thing too. Here is a press release about the San Bernadino Sheriff using DNA evidence to bring down a cattle rustler. The world is a strange place. Anyway, the cattle ranching world has their own vernacular around brand styling. A sideways letter is called “Lazy.” If you add little lines to the side of a brand it is “Flying.” A line under the brand is a “Bar.” So a sideways ‘S’ with little wings and a line under it would be called “Flying Lazy S Bar.”
Adding three little lines above a brand makes it “Shining.” I liked the sound of that so I decided to make the “Shining M V” brand. The brand creation guidelines tell you to use a thin consistent line with large counters, and to leave gaps between lines that connect at sharp angles. Here it is:
And here it is photo-chopped onto some leather:
And here it is photo-chopped onto some cow:
That’s pretty good for a cow, but I still want to make a prettier version for non-livestock applications. So today I made the Makarios Valley Ranch BRAND, and tomorrow, I will make the Makarios Valley Ranch LOGO. I hope it doesn’t suck.