Designs with Patches and Badges

Now that I have a good set of badges and patches, I've started putting together more elaborate designs.  Soldiers in Airborne units almost always have earned the badge and now I've combined the 101st (which isn't Airborne anymore but still), 82nd and 173rd Airborne units along with the badge and where they are located.  Infantry unit members would most likely earn a CIB during sometime in their military career and now they can get their unit patch along with the CIB for the 1st ID, 2nd ID, 4th ID and 10th Mountain.   Since the 101st is more an Air Assault unit now, I've included the badge and patch combination.

I tend to find most of my source material for the illustrations online that I run across a lot of different photos of the different badges, patches and military emblems.  I see a lot of them taken directly from online and thrown on products within the online shops.  There's also a lot of quickly created illustrations of the same items.  I pride myself in taking the time to create an impressive representation of the items I illustrate.  If you visit my designs, please hit like or comment on them (if you do) so my designs can get pushed ahead.

As always, if you have a combination or design you want to suggest (no obligation to buy), send it to elpasophoto@yahoo.com. 

Thank you

Spreadshirt

Finally got my first sale on SpreadShirt.  I have 12 designs on there now and customers are able to create their own product using my designs and add text.  It's another option besides Zazzle, which allows customers to customize products, Cafe Press which offers a lot of different products and my Piki Central store.  Since I did make a sale, I know people actually use the site and will load up the rest of my designs (eventually). 

I prefer the ease of use I get with Cafe Press's store but don't like the slow uploading process.   Zazzle allows easier uploading of designs but is slower in the designing of products.  I like Piki Central and Spreadshirt since I can just upload designs and customers do the rest but I'm not sure if they'll take that time if they can find it already designed.   No online shop has all the answers, so I leave it up to the customer as to who they want to use by putting my designs everywhere.

Post your comments if you've used any of these stores with feedback on what you like about your favorite.

If you have shopped at one of my stores, thank you for your support.

Marines and Air Force designs

The Marines have recently completed an agreement with one of my online stores to allow sellers to use USMC themes on their products.  Cafe Press is now an authorized seller of USMC items as long as they meet respectable criteria.  I'll soon be designing the EAG design and getting some things posted on my Cafe Press store.  I already have some EOD themes with the badge, text, a list of all the different types of explosive ordnance handled by EOD personnel.

For the Air Force, they are very strict on what is put out there and so far are only authorizing direct.  Unlicensed designers can not include U.S. or United States in describing the Air Force or it's a violation of their rights.  So basically, I kept the same designs but removed the U.S. to make it legit.  I believe all of their insignia are also off limits, or at least the use is frowned upon, but I need to verify that.

Illustrated Military insignia

I've been illustrating military insignia (mainly U.S. Army) for a few months now.  I started with the badge I earned while serving, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal "crab".  It turned out pretty nice so I started doing other badges that were the more widely worn, such as the Airborne wings, Air Assault and the Combat Infantry Badge (EIB and CIB).  I now have 11 total badges including the Combat Action Badge (CAB), Freefall (HALO), Pathfinder, Aviation, Aviator, Flight Surgeon, and the Navy SEALs trident.   I also illustrated the complete set of Ribbons for the U.S. Army as well as the full Purple Heart medal.   The unit patches I've completed include 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Armor, 1st Cavalry, 1st, 2nd and 4th Infantry, 101st Airborne, 10th Mountain, and the 52nd Ordnance Group (EOD).

You can go to the sections of a few of my stores by clicking the particular badge or patch.