Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Department of Mental Diseases Credentials

The very talented "anniv111701" brings us this identification card for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Diseases, the government bureaucracy responsible for running mental health facilities in the classic Mythos era. The customizable PDFs for the front and back are here and here, respectively.

3 comments:

Raven said...

Mike, a truly splendid job. Wow. Bravo!

And of course I'm going to nitpick the details. Such quality deserves burnishing to perfection.

Back, fine print: Hygiene, not Hygeine.

Front, Massachusetts seal: lots and lots of white space around it = room for a slightly larger and more legible seal, given that when printed those fine lines will blur a bit. I wouldn't say twice as large, but perhaps 150%?

Otherwise... impeccable.

Out of curiosity: did you have a historical model to draw at least the text from? It has that good old period flavor.

anniv111701 said...

Hi Raven,

Thanks for the kind words!

Gah - okay, the "Hygeine" thing is just plain embarrassing...

I agree with you - it would look better with less white space; I'd been trying to keep the er, "logo" consistent with the original letterhead, but you're right, it's a different aesthetic.

I drew from several different period pieces: A 1920's employee information card from a steel company, a 1920's Conductor Certification from a railroad company & a 1920's British Constabulary Warrant Card (I'd originally been thinking of melding the front/back of the ID together as the top/bottom in an old-style Warrant folder for "flashing" at people, but didn't think folks would necessarily be looking for a big arts & crafts project rather than a straightforward paper prop...)

I'll work on the changes and if our Mysterious Benefactor (rumor has it he's from the Salem branch of the Pickman line...) will be so kind as to consider editing the links from his previous post, I'll email new ones to him straight away.

Thanks for the feedback - it's much appreciated!

Take care,
Mike

Raven said...

Mike: with the polishing -- perfect!

And I must say, what you did to cobble together the text was ingenious and delightful. It certainly resulted in the right bureaucratic (or should I write "burocratic"?) tones for the times! None of the sources were American-governmental, but the finished product sure sounded so. Good research and adaptation!