Symbols for some groups in my world

[u/StinkyDinky629]

Sorry for the lack of context in the original post, I wasn’t sure how much I needed to reveal without explaining away the mystery I wanted to achieve.

These belong to my world called, Sivrin’s Palace, which is named after the being that created it and has been gone for some time. It is rooted in abstract and cosmic themes and because of this it is filled with non Euclidean spaces; locations that may not logically connect will do so. It is both infinite and extremely small. It is rife with immaterial beings and reality manipulation. Much of the powers and abilities operate outside of a surface level physical plane.

The world will focus on how the current palace is headed towards a path of darkness and self destruction in absence of the creator. These groups are all differing levels of in touch with the true nature of the world and do what they can to make their desired changes to the reality or take control of the entire palace.

I don’t have substantial descriptions for all of them but the most detailed ones I can talk about would be the cultist and the curse

The cultists are a group of strange entities that all wear red hoods and lack physical bodies. They are usually hostile towards everything as they are trying to control as much of the palace as they can. They may have some kind of hierarchy within members under the leader, Xaidrel.

curse is what the most powerful entities in the world belong to. Formless beings of vast cosmic power. Some are more involved than others and they are all responsible for the ambient dark energy that exists in most places which some are able to use for latent “magical” abilities

The lodestar is one that uses these latent abilities. These typically manifest as lights that guide users and others physically or metaphysically such as revealing areas one lacks the vision to access.

The psychic I have nothing for yet I just added it because I thought it was cool but will likely be low level latent abilities like the lodestar

The abyss is for those in the deepest part of the world and the closest to the infinite nothingness of the same name. They were the first to be consumed by a powerful curse in the current timeline of the world. (This is actually the most developed part I have so I’ll probably talk more about it in a different post)

Both the regent and the harbinger currently only encompass one character each which are very important but I’d rather make more art before revealing too much

Lastly the mages (might get a different name) are ones that possess a fragment of Sivrin from which they collectively derive their powers and focus on maintaining the benevolent side of the palace.

Again I apologize if this is not enough information I am a perfectionist when it comes to how I want to present things so I am still changing and developing much of it.

[u/JustPoppinInKay]

These look great, but I can't help but think that they are too similar to each other for factions of a whole world, at least in the radialness of their design. They give off the kind of vibe you'd find in a team deathmatch game where each team has their own symbol design but each symbol had to conform to a roughly standard shape in order to fit in the symbol display slot. If each of them had to fly a banner in some war the regents would likely only use the eye thing while the cultists would likely only use three or so rising tentacles, for example.

In summary, great designs for tagging, showcasing and explaining a faction for real world people, but a bit too similar for in-world use by in-world people.

[u/Timbearly → u/JustPoppinInKay]

Yes, my thoughts exactly.

Insiders of a group usually don't care if their symbolism harmonizes with outside symbolism.

[u/jedisushi72 → u/Timbearly]

On the one hand I agree, but there is also universal or nearly universal convention.

While some flags may look very different from one another, a lot of them share basic themes.

And even if every flag were utterly unique in design... They would still all be flags, with most following a consistent height to length ratio.

[u/EnjoyerxEnjoyer → u/jedisushi72]

Exactly, I don’t think this is as big of a concern as it seems to some folks. It could easily be explained that symmetrical, wheel-like emblems became this world’s standard form of heraldry or national/factional iconography. Just like rectangular flags with common design motifs (stripes, stars, heraldic symbols from our history, etc) became standard in our world

[u/StinkyDinky629 → u/EnjoyerxEnjoyer]

This is also a really good idea

[u/m0ngoos3 → u/StinkyDinky629]

To add on, this is the perfect excuse to have a long fallen empire that standardized things.

Even if people use different languages, the icons could live on, because they harken back to past glory.

Basically, how the European countries treated Rome. Fun fact, Kaiser (the German Emperor) and Tsar (the Russian Emperor) can trace their linguistic origins to Caesar. And in the lead up to WW1, the Germans (which was a brand-new country), the Russians, and the Ottoman, all claimed to be the continuation of the Roman Empire.

The Germans through the Holy Roman Empire, and the Ottomans through having conquered Constantinople, and then immediately adopting the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) lifestyles.

The Russian claim was actually pretty weak, but the Tsars didn't care and claimed it anyway.

All of them adopted bits and pieces of Roman styling and customs, while also having their own shit that was wildly different from each other.

[u/Bestarcher → u/StinkyDinky629]

Consider what art form this derived from. Maybe stained glass, or some sort of needle work

[u/The_Keirex_Sandbox → u/EnjoyerxEnjoyer]

Agreed. But also, they feel a lot like stained glass windows to me. So I think that could be another way to arrive at a standard convention for their shape. Guild halls and the like tend to have a round window like this to display their affiliation. If a new group moves into that location, you already have a round window frame, so a new pattern with the same outline becomes an efficient way to achieve that.

Over time, we could standardize that way - it's just more modular.

[u/BKLaughton → u/jedisushi72]

Point of order, most flags absolutely do not follow consistent height to length ratios.

A lot of the conventions of flags come either from practical considerations (e.g. needs to be recognised at a distance, so big shape and high contrast is good. Better if it uses colours that aren't too expensive or rare, too), or the fact that they were basically a European maritime convention that got foisted on the rest of the world thanks to colonialism.

So, if we want to look to flags to justify why OP's symbols are do similar I reckon we would either guess that there's a practical reason they circular (e.g. most shields are round and they've got to go on shields. Or these factions issue currency and the symbol goes on their coins) and/or all if these factions are following design cues from a recent or existing prestige culture who's rondel designs probably originally had one such practical reason.

[u/jedisushi72 → u/BKLaughton]

Fair point. But most are square or rectangular, and most have stripes. Which makes OPs worldwide faction insignia not that farfetched when compared to Earth.

[u/The_Keirex_Sandbox → u/BKLaughton]

(Partial) counterpoint - flags are generally rectangular. Historically, other things the swallowtail shape, pennons, vertical flags, bunting flags (I kinda love these). Raven banner if you want a really exotic one (and yes, I paused to do some research to get names for some of these types).

Mind you, you were addressing a comment that explicitly called out a specific ratio - but when I was reading the comments, your reply was also much closer on the page to a different reply that focused on generally rectangular shape and not a specific length : width ratio.

[u/Xenos61 → u/jedisushi72]

I was gonna comment about Nepal, then I noticed you said most and I realized I would just be making a fool of myself

[u/jedisushi72 → u/Xenos61]

Oh absolutely. Not all flags are even rectangular, only most. While there's huge variation, there's also abundant consistency, with most variations being exceptions to the rule.

[u/Luncheon_Lord → u/jedisushi72]

Golly I wonder how many people try to fly flags that aren't square. Like a round flag. I can't picture it too well. IDK how it would flap in the wind lol.

[u/jedisushi72 → u/Luncheon_Lord]

Nepal.

[u/Luncheon_Lord → u/jedisushi72]

I was agreeing with you, and Nepals flag isn't round but that's a cool flag.

[u/StinkyDinky629 → u/JustPoppinInKay]

Thanks for the tip! I don’t think most of these would actually be used by the groups they describe since they are referring to godlike or shadowy entities that probably wouldn’t care about a logo. This is more of a way to represent the themes and aesthetic for an outside perspective.

[u/RHX_Thain → u/JustPoppinInKay]

I agree. 

They look like symbols made to record the various factions by one person projecting symbols onto those factions from their perspective.

Which is what it is, in the end. One artist using the same consistent style from their perspective.

[u/Nowhereman123 → u/JustPoppinInKay]

For real, my first thought was "Did they all hire the same graphic designer?"

[u/BonieBones → u/JustPoppinInKay]

Exactly this! My first thought was all of these look amazingly cohesive for something like a video games UI design. Where players would pick a faction.

But for a movie, book, or world I view that as a problem. unlikely that different cultures would share textiles, design elements, or ideas.

[u/DiGiorn0s → u/JustPoppinInKay]

I mean, look up medieval heraldry. There were pre-determined shapes and colors they'd choose from.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraldry#/media/File%3AHyghalmen_Roll_Late_1400s.jpg

[u/lizard280 → u/JustPoppinInKay]

I agree, I think the only way to make it work would be if each of these groups are actually part of a whole. Even if it's not widely known. Like a king who knows the only way to maintain some semblance of balance is to create these factions and allow them to operate "independently" and without knowledge of how the factions started, however due to outside forces they're actually responsible for protecting the realm from various threats due to their unique specialties and knowledge. Players in this world would see the similarities between the sigils, and even become suspicious of how come there's an individual, well-rooted faction who cover each branch of magic who seemingly have no affiliation to one another. But if they investigate too loudly the King, or those tasked with hiding the truth would seek out the players to prevent them from learning the truth. Etc. Etc.

[u/lizard280 → u/lizard280]

So I've just read the description and this "creator" would be a perfect fit for the "king" I described. The creator created these groups to protect the realm from any number of unforeseen threats. They may work on developing new magics and weapons, but by doing so they increase their understanding of the magic they specialise in and are better tasked with defending against "enemies we cannot yet even begin to perceive"

[u/Ilaxilil → u/JustPoppinInKay]

I mean pretty much the entire world uses rectangle shaped flags and a lot of them are the same 3 colors in different conformations

[u/Ark_Great_One]

Looks like charms from Hollow Knight

[u/StinkyDinky629 → u/Ark_Great_One]

That was my main inspiration for these

[u/SpecialistFelt389 → u/StinkyDinky629]

I thought the inspiration was Roblox Pressure for a moment ngl

[u/songinrain]

Somehow I read THE LODESTAR as THE LOBSTER at first glance

[u/Past_Day_8263 → u/songinrain]

we were at a party (eww)

[u/Snifflypig]

These look awesome

[u/Maleficent-Help-4806]

Where did you make these symbols?

[u/StinkyDinky629 → u/Maleficent-Help-4806]

I drew them in clip studio using variations of the symmetry ruler

[u/DangerousCalm]

I don't know about anyone else, but the design of The Curse has the quality of an optical illusion for me and looks like it moves/shifts if I look at it closely. Nice work.

[u/FlameWisp]

Is there an in-game reason they’re all roughly circular? Otherwise i don’t understand why all of these wildly different factions would conform to a standard design. Is it like how flags are in the real world? If so, why do all of them need to have white in their symbols, and why do cultists conform to this national standard. just asking for lore not trying to say it’s bad

[u/StinkyDinky629 → u/FlameWisp]

The current explanation I’m using is that these are more made for representing complex entities and were not designed by their respective groups. They are all pretty loosely defined so it’s a way to keep track of what abilities are present in the world

[u/FlameWisp → u/StinkyDinky629]

I see, almost like another organization or group is making these symbols to help identify and categorize the different group. I like

[u/VictinDotZero]

I’m reminded of the Boss Blind chips in Balatro

[u/Playstack_Wout → u/VictinDotZero]

Nice

[u/VictinDotZero → u/Playstack_Wout]

how did you find this post your honor playstack

[u/Playstack_Wout → u/VictinDotZero]

It came across my timeline as well and thought “these look like boss blinds” so I was delighted to see the comment was already made 😅

[u/WWalker17 → u/VictinDotZero]

BALATRO MENTIONED

[u/Juuber]

They are all WAY too similar if they are for different groups. Other than that, they look awesome

[u/RS_Someone]

These look awesome! I always love a good set, but I also love the overall aesthetics of this. I hope to one day have some symbols this cool for my own setting.

[u/AncientNagual]

Love the architect one

[u/PiousGal05]

How would you wage war? You'd end up mistaking allies for enemies. Identification was the main purpose of war banners, originally.

[u/I_Love_Wrists]

Reverse The Cultist so the tentacles start in the middle and go outward. Cultists don't wanna conform to the circle.

[u/BaptismByKoolaid]

Very cool world concept

[u/Greek_Gamer_12]

I love this! It's so cool!

[u/FreyaAncientNord]

So cool looking

[u/Praytan]

Love that artstyle! It looks like SCP universe faction logos!

[u/Only-Chipmunk1510]

this concept is super cool, excited for more posts

[u/YoshiTheCradleFan]

Nice! But you forgot to make a description for the Architect group?

[u/TheOneAndOnlyJinx]

These look rlly cool, what did you make them in?

[u/ElegantMouse90]

What software do you use to create your symbols?

[u/SunkenN1nja]

These are absolutely amazing and it cured a bit of my writers block (it cured it at 1am but thats beside the point) I just spent a bit of time filling in a plot hole because your awesome designes gave me the thing I was missing in my designs

[u/StinkyDinky629 → u/SunkenN1nja]

That’s amazing to hear, glad I could help!

[u/SunkenN1nja → u/StinkyDinky629]

Not only did this fill a plot hole it answered questions I didn't even know I had yet. Imma 3d printer something and when its done I will be tagging you with an explanation to what you helped me with jsyk

[u/antipogger]

I actually really love these and altho some ppl say they look similar I heavily disagree and think that they all just follow a similar blueprint which can help with consistency and knowing if its one of the groups or some other kind of thing

[u/CyberSosis]

how nice of them to get together and decided to have similar shaped icons

[u/vegetationbread17]

At first glance those symbols look like hollowknight charms

[u/OkDog6701]

Mage looks like something straight out of Hollow Knight

[u/BreadmanGD]

Ooh the Regent symbol is hot hot hot, love me some eye imagery! Eye theming always allows for fun powers and ideologies.

[u/GroundbreakingNote35]

I like your design

[u/Fire_crescent]

They look cool. Any lore on each?

[u/Technical-Row8333]

they look beautiful, nice art, but they are way to complex looking to imagine that these factions actually draw these, wouldn't symbols be something that can be drawn, sewn, painted? these are digital drawings, and would never look like that if they were originally made my human beings holding a pencil. unless your world exists inside a digital virtual reality, why would they be like this.

ie, the abyss could have just been the teeth, and less of them:

VvvV

ΛʌʌΛ

i can draw it even using text characters.

maybe perfectionist isn't the best word to describe it, I think you are a big fan of high detail.

[u/Death_Of_Hope13]

Where did you design these if you don’t mind me asking? They look good!

[u/uthinkther4uam]

These are sexy as hell

[u/The_Keirex_Sandbox]

What I love about these is how they look like they could be stained glass windows. Like just on its own the world feels a bit unique just for having political rather than religious institutions with stained glass windows declaring their affiliation.

I think that's dope, and if it wasn't your plan, maybe consider making it your plan. Like rather than coats of arms or flags, this is how affiliations are oft displayed in this world.

[u/Ancient-Concept4671]

I read the bottom left as The Lobster

[u/SnooWords1252]

They're a bit samey.

[u/fox112]

these are amazing and I love it

[u/di_abolus]

I feel like I have seen the abyss symbol somewhere, is it inspired by something specific?

[u/Edwards_735]

Cool asf. I am fascinated by the abbys.

[u/AfricanCuisine]

Reminds me of hollow night charms

[u/SovietBoiBoi]

Cool designs. What did you use to make these symbols?

[u/kazefirst]

More like very important individuals than factions or groups. Love the designs, though!

[u/QuitsDoubloon87]

Do you mind if I yoink these? They look amazing!

[u/StinkyDinky629 → u/QuitsDoubloon87]

For inspiration is totally fine but I’d appreciate if you didn’t use the exact same images

[u/Green_Ad1255]

I love the differing geometry. I don't know what you'd call it but the shapes that point inward from the border. Some symbols have five, some have six, some have eight. Very interesting and nice design.

[u/luuummoooxdadwarf]

The Seamstress Guild? https://ibb.co/Byhr8Yv

[u/CoreStability]

They all hired the same branding consultant

[u/Glittering_Pear2425]

Cool!

[u/antares1297]

These are beautiful

[u/erilicfartman]

Cool

[u/Amoo_was_here]

These look like they would look very good on coins I might try making some

[u/SwissLancer]

This is so cool

[u/ihavnoaccntNimuspost]

Very nice, like them a lot

[u/toastermeal]

THIS IS SO COOL!!!!

[u/Ok-Golf-2679]

They are too similar, my friend.