My Family Crest | Social Studies

This year in Social Studies we have been working on our identify unit. This would help us learn more about our culture, heritage, and family background. One of the tasks we had to complete was create an original family crest displaying information about our families and their background.

What is the learning outcome?

Create an original family crest representing the culture, background, and current status of our families.

What features did I include?

To represent my Scottish and New Zealand heritage I included the flags of both countries waving from the top of my crest. I also included the Scottish name of my grandmother - McLeod. My ancestors were part of the infamous Scotland clan, Clan McLeod, many decades ago. 

To represent the geographical background of my family I included the towns of where my family originated and where they are now: Stornaway in Scotland, and Christchurch in New Zealand.

To represent my family in the past I included the patch my grandfather wore while on the first Commonwealth Trans-Atlantic Antarctic expedition with Sir Edmund Hillary. He travelled there in the Winter of 1957 and got a medal from the Queen thanking him for his duties. My grandfather was a mechanic in the New Zealand Army. You can read more about the expedition here.

Finally, to represent my family now I included the logo of my Mum's business, Kreative Kiwi Embroidery. 

What learning process have you been using?

To make the task easier and original, I designed my crest by hand. I used a pencil for my first and second drafts, then used a 0.8 pigment liner on my final draft to make the lines pop. I then used coloured pencils to make the crest more interesting and create contrast. I think this was a much easier process as if I had used a digital program I would have had to rely on Google. By doing it by hand, I could create much more original designs than what Google Images has.

What evidence of this can you provide?

First of all I created a page on Google Slides of what I wanted to include in my design. I used Google Images to find everything.

Then I took to paper with a pencil and designed my very first draft of the family crest. 

Finally I took my time to create my final draft of my family crest. I ditched the Scottish lions for a more original design, coloured everything and traced the lines with a dark, 0.8 pigment liner. I also included the Scott Base Antarctic badge which my grandfather wore. 

What worked, what didn't, and what would you change?

What worked is how I was able to come up with and adjust ideas by designing drafts. I also like how I was able to include my Scottish and New Zealand heritage, and both my family's past and present. 

What didn't work was that it was super difficult to redraw the Scottish lions by hand, so I had to give up on drawing them. They also took up a lot of the crest, leaving not enough space for my design. 

What I would change is I would next time add more detail into my crest. Although I liked what information I included, I did not like the presentation of it. I would change the bright colours to bold ones with yellow tartan, much like the original Clan McLeod tartan. I think it looks too much like a cartoon and if I had pushed myself further, I could have created a much more detailed and extravagant design.