Family crest design for newly married couple.
The couple met at a climbing gym and requested some elements of climbing be integrated into the design; I settled on using climbing rope to create the shield shape and to incorporate a figure eight knot (a common knot used by the climber to tie into the rope) into the design. The figure eight knot in my design entwines two ropes together, symbolizing the joining of two people in marriage.
The couple also has an affinity for Greyhounds and requested that they be incorporated into the crest somehow. I made two Greyhounds frame the shield on either side, similar to popular crests which often have a lion or unicorn in similar poses.
The bride is originally from Virginia and the groom from New Jersey, so I incorporated the state flower of each into the crest, Flowering Dogwood and Common Meadow Violet, respectively. These two plants come together at the bottom center of the shield; the Violet plant's leaf is the shape of a heart, how fitting!
