Sticker Now Available!

[Greg Collins]

Just wanted to let everyone know that there is a new item available at the store. It's an idea that was kicked around a bit awhile back and was forgotten. Art got in touch with me a couple of weeks ago and we collaborated to produce a 3" by 10" sticker we thought everyone would enjoy. You can view it here:

Got Medals? Bumper Sticker > Soviet Awards on Stickers! > The Soviet Military Awards Page Souvenir Shop | CafePress

or go directly to the store through a link posted on the main awards page. Since the image is rather small, I have included a .jpg of the artwork with this post. This is the first of several offerings we have planned and we will keep you posted. I would also like to thank Alexei for the translation.

For those who enjoy the technical aspects of producing such things, I will tell you that the images are not photos but, rather, vectored line drawings that I have done in CorelDraw, and which I will build a library of, for future use (maybe for the production of a clipart cd at some point).

Anyway, both Art and I hope you enjoy the sticker, buy many, and look for new products in the days to come.

Greg

[Dante688i]

Sticker looks excellent!

I think I am even more excited about the prospect of high-quality Soviet ODM clipart. The "drawings" on the sticker look to be very clear and detailed. :thumbsup

- Sean

[Art]

I agree. Greg did a fantastic job on the artwork. The detail is just at the right level where he captures all the intricacies, but keeps the design bold. That is difficult to pull off and have it come out looking good.

[Greg Collins]

Well, truth be told, the method I used was to manually trace over a photo using a vectored line (the infamous Bezier curve) and then filling shapes with either solid colour or a blend. Early on I chose to deal with shapes and blocks of colour rather than known items- more or less "impressionistic"- letting the eye overide the brain. Sure, there are areas I had to deviate from that approach, but all in all I believe it worked. Other elements I'm currently working on are the Order of the October Revolution, the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of the Red Banner of Labour, the Order of Glory, the Order of Labour Glory. I also want to do a nice rendering of the Vera Mukhina statue of the factory worker and farm girl and, possibly, combine this with the Orders listed above. My primary influences in this are the beautiful Soviet greeting cards that, I'm sure, everyone has seen.

Thanks to all for the kind words.

Greg