Ok, just to be clear: I'm not trying to prove anything here nor to convert anyone into my way of thinking.
Just out of curiosity I tried to make one of the badges (found in the first post of this thread) smaller.
Yep, in a way I like it. You can see both the tree and the five stars BUT... You can't see the excact star constellation and the tree is a tree not thee tree
I realise that we are out in a discussion of perception right now. It's important to state I fully agree that the most important thing in our drawings is the SHIPS
What divide us is apparently how much a badge will change focus or not. If you are fond of the badges from war ships and think it gives the ship an unique identity you'll like to present that in the best manner to promote the ship. That's how I see it and therefore make an effort to do the badges correct as possible. Anyway, we also do compromises on the ships to do them in SB-style, and I also have to do compromises (I don't like it
) in drawing the badges. In my own mind I scaled down to that minimum for most of them as tolerable.