CORPORATE IMAGE
An ancient coat of arms redesigned for the 21st century
The Herdade do Freixo coat of arms, which is used as the company's corporate image, was redesigned by the 3H design studio, together with English master engraver Christopher Wormell. The redesign honoured hundreds of years of history linked to the unique culture of the estate's region.
The first challenge was that the previous coat of arms was not designed to represent the Herdade do Freixo brand across the board, in all forms of communication. It became less elegant when it was made larger and using it on a very small scale was impracticable. The coat of arms also had to be in line with the brand's lettering in order to give a more contemporary edge, while keeping it versatile and and sophisticated. All the while it also needed to remain readable and expressive. Two high contrast versions were made up for use with light and dark backgrounds so as to maintain a uniform appearance in any medium.
Christopher Wormell , respecting the century-old history on the property and the region.
“The crest I have made is a wood engraving and the technique and tools I used are the same as were used in the 19th century.”
“First, I made a sketch of the lions, shield and crown. Once adjustments had been made I traced the image and transferred it on to a box wood block, which had been prepared with a thin layer of grey paint. The grey allows the drawing to be clearly seen, while also showing the cut marks as sharp and bright as the image is engraved. The image is cut using a variety of chisel like tools, each of these cuts the wood in a slightly different way, and therefore makes a slightly different mark.
Once the crest had been cut, a print was made using a Victorian Albion Press; exactly as a wood engraving would have been printed in the nineteenth century, revealing a good impression of the crest!"
