Heck Of A Guy

This is the continuation of How To Create An Official Seal – Part 1: The Mechanics and, like its predecessor, is part of the grand scheme to first solve the puzzle of the McHenry County, Illinois County Seal redesign and then revolutionize the art and science of County Seal design.¹

Contemporary Sigillography – The State of the Art

Initially, I envisioned this post as a tutorial on the aesthetics and ordinances governing county seals.

Thank goodness, I came to my senses.

I realized that training isn’t the barrier to becoming a competent designer of seals – because there is precious little to learn. Here’s the deal.

As far as Google and I can determine, designing governmental seals in general and county seals in particular, at least in these modern times, is an ambiguously defined, erratically regulated process that predictably results in products, the artistic quality of which may rise, on rare occasions, to the dizzy heights of mediocrity and the significance of which seldom evokes notice, let alone a response from viewers unless a crisis of symbolism is declared (e.g., a religious symbol is found breaching the sacred legal philosophical barrier between church and state).

There isn’t even a name to reference the field. While the word I’ve shoehorned into the heading, sigillography, is sufficiently bloated, difficult, and enigmatic to serve this function and, in fact, is defined as the study of seals, its use in the context of contemporary county seals is atypical. Sigillography almost invariably focuses on descriptive elements of historical seals, such as the lead seal from the Byzantine era pictured below, and is analogous to the study of heraldry. Still, it appears to be the best approximation available.

That I did not discover a list of principles governing the graphic design of seals does not mean, of course, that they have not been formulated or published, but, if they have, they are not widely known, acknowledged, or followed. The final designs of county seals that have originated or, more frequently, been revised in the last 25 years have resulted from assignments to graphic artists, a competition between citizens, students, or professional artists, the work of a committee of county workers, or, most often by my informal count, the efforts of one individual, usually a county official, who promoted his or her creation among those empowered to render a decision. ²

Without a recognized corpus of accumulated seal design knowledge, the key issue is not undergoing training but obtaining credentials. And, until McHenry Community College sees the wisdom of becoming this country’s first accredited institution of learning to offer a curriculum leading to an Associates Degree in Technology Of Governmental Seal Design, the burden of maintaining the quality of this aspect of civilization falls, as do so many others, to the Heck of a Guy blog.

DrHGuy’s County Seal Design Academy: Certification Process

To qualify for Certification In County Seal Design candidates must meet the following criteria:

1. Successfully complete this post
2. Acknowledge the Heck of a Guy blog as the final authority on all matters relating to the design of county seals and the primary source of the universal life force
3. Vow to use the power of County Seal Design only for good

Section I: Artistic Skills

In this exercise, you will be designing a county seal for your own county, McHenry County, or any other county, real or fictional.³. The only tool needed is the Official Seal Generator. Follow instructions at that site.⁴ Once you have completed your seal, compare your creation with these samples from nearby counties (because the McHenry County seal has been identified as “boring,” it is not included as a point of comparison).⁵

To meet the Artistic Skills requirement, you must be able to answer “Yes” to this question:
Is your seal at least twice as good as any of these?⁶

I thought so. Congratulations.

Section II: Knowledge of Pertinent Legal Principles

What’s Wrong With This Picture?

Were the following an actual seal, it would doubtlessly precipitate a lawsuit. Which image(s) would be the crux of the conflict?

That’s right. That seal has one of those crosses (see below) that have repeatedly been ruled unconstitutional.

If you missed this question, review the Los Angeles County case near the end of How To Create An Official Seal – Part 1: The Mechanics. Then take this part of the quiz again. Take care – only one retake is allowed.

Section III: Survey Of County Seal Trends

While most county seals are round, there are exceptions.

Using the shape of the county as the centerpiece of the seal is popular. Thanks to this trend, one learns that few counties have intrinsically interesting shapes.

Others just seem to be trying too hard to do too much in one seal.

Several counties, especially in Florida, appear unafraid of bright colors and stylized images one rarely sees in the Midwest. Coats of arms are popular, especially in Maryland. The stylized sun is also a frequent image.

And there are those with what the PR folks might call image problems. From left to right: Brunswick County is undoubtedly proud of its fishing heritage, but the term “dead fish” comes to readily to mind on viewing the seal. Does anyone else think Greene County’s seal moonlights as a poker chip? Butte County’s seal is inscribed “First Atomic Power,” but I’m thinking “First 45 RPM record.” That can’t really be a Wurlitzer jukebox on the Chatham County Seal, can it? Calvert County – where it’s always Thanksgiving. Goucester County symbol is, I think, a bee hive, which is a bit drab for my taste, but the real problem is that it’s ambiguous enough to serve as a Rorschach Test with predictably unfortunate results.

And that brings us to the …

Section IV: Interpretation Of Seals
In searching for the DeKalb County, Illinois seal, I also found the county seal of DeKalb County, Georgia, which will serve as the subject of your examination. Choose any one of the following Essay Questions:

Essay Question #1: Convincingly describe and discuss the activity the two figures on the seal are pursuing.

Essay Question #2: Explain why a county in Georgia would depict a behavior on their official seal that most of us would have assumed was illegal in that state.

Essay Question #3: Now really, couldn’t you design a better seal than that?

Grading Key: Are you happy with your answer? Me too. Good work.

Certificate of Certification

Don’t look at me. Having completed the course of study at DrHGuy’s County Seal Design Academy, you are a hot-shot, fully endorsed County Seal Designer. So, produce a seal or two, print up a document with Edwardian script and the usual scholastic boilerplate, sign my name to the thing, and you’re done.

Coming Attractions: The unveiling of my McHenry County Seal Solution is in the offing. Prepare yourselves.

1. The McHenry County Seal redesign has inspired previous Heck of a Guy posts, including the following:
   Sealed With A Dis
   The Great Seal Of McHenry County Not Great Enough
   McHenry County Eye Candy
   McHenry County Seal Makeover Makes The News
   Baseball, Hot Dogs, Community College, and County Seals
   The Passive-Aggressive State of Illinois Seal
   How To Create An Official Seal – Part 1: The Mechanics

   ↩

2. A local example of a county official being the promoter and designer of a redesigned county seal is provided by this account of the 1981 DeKalb County Seal redesign:
   In 1981, then DeKalb County Sheriff Wilbur B. Scott, proposed a design for a new ” County Seal” which depicted the wealth of DeKalb County’s resources. The County Board subsequently adopted this seal as the official County seal.
   
   The center of the seal is divided into four sections with two outer rings surrounding the seal’s center. The upper left quarter represents Agriculture and the Rural Community displaying the many contributions to the Nation’s agricultural needs. In the foreground of this quadrant stands a stalk of corn, representing the County’s leading crop and a noted hybrid developed locally. Also depicted is a heifer steer representing it’s beef industry. An old wind mill and red barn of the past can be seen in the background along with the familiar blue silo, manufactured by one of the local industries. This section is a tribute to DeKalb County farmers.

   The upper right quarter symbolizes DeKalb County’s Industries and Communities. The County’s factories, business community, and employment opportunities are shown along with a train and a large truck representing the large number of products distributed throughout the world. The communities’ skyline includes the DeKalb County High Rise Apartments (home of many senior citizens) and several crosses representing the many diversified religious faiths. This section is a tribute to “Life in DeKalb County.”

   The lower left quarter is symbolic of DeKalb County’s commitment to the Nation’s Future through Education. The foreground illustrates a scene from the past (the little red country schoolhouse) and on the horizon, Altgeld Hall the “Castle” of Northern Illinois University. A diploma and graduation cap represents the thousands of students educated and able to make the decisions of the future. This section is dedicated to the educators, senior citizens, and the youth.

   The lower right quarter represents the numerous recreational facilities in DeKalb County that are available to it’s residents and visitors. The County Forest Preserves, Community and State Parks offer swimming, boating, fishing, hunting, camping, hiking, picnicking, band concerts and magnificent fireworks displays, not to mention a large variety of competitive sports. Depicted in this scene is a lone fisherman doing battle with the famed “fighting tiger muskie” of Lake Shabbona, the largest fish in the County. At the bank of the lake a tree line is shown, portraying one of the County’s numerous Forest Preserves. This section is dedicated to the value of the community’s natural resources and quality of life.

   At the bottom portion of the seal is a banner displaying the year 1837, which was the year DeKalb County was founded. (March 4, 1837).

   In the narrow circle surrounding the four quarters are the words: Service, Pride, Integrity, and Courage. These words are reflective of the commitment employees strive for in their service to the citizens of DeKalb County, IL.↩

3. Those with an interest in American novels and sexual perversity, for example, might create a seal for Faulkner’s Yoknapatawpha County (see map below).
   
   Just keep it clean.↩
4. The Seal Generator is one wonderful gizmo and there are, as you have discovered, lots of fonts, borders, and options from which to choose. My only hemi-hack is for customization of the images in the center of the seal. Just select “no emblem” from the choices offered at Step 3, “Choose Emblem Options.” That creates a seal with a white center. In your favorite graphics program (or PowerPoint), crop and resize the image you want and simply paste it in the center of the seal. This works reasonably well with a simple image on a white background.↩
5. As an advanced version of this exercise, I created a McHenry County Seal using a a random specimen from the DrHGuy Vault of Forbidden Graphics.
   
   It may be a tad unconventional, but it is easily 12 times more interesting and memorable than any of the scintillating sextet of seals used for comparison.↩
6. This is the appropriate question if the seal created for this exercise is the first you have ever created. If you have previously designed one or more seals, your seal must be at least six times better than any of those displayed.↩