USDA art

September 20, 2006 7:07 PM

USDA artwork? I'm looking for meat stamps and the like...

Stuff like this, but .eps or .ai files that I can work with in Illustrator.

posted by sharksandwich to media & arts (5 comments total)

For something like that, I'd be inclined to say that you're better off creating your own from a sample. Shouldn't be too hard to come up with a font that looks right, and stars and circles are easy to do.

Even for something a bit more complex - say, the USDA's logo - using a curve tool should get you good results without a lot of work.
posted by spaceman_spiff at 7:11 PM on September 20, 2006

Well, you can use this list to figure out what the stamps should say. You might also be able to call the folks here. There may be more in this manual but I did get a little tired reading about all that meat.
posted by jessamyn at 7:56 PM on September 20, 2006

This is the guy you want to talk to

Meat Grading and Certification Branch
Chief......................... Larry R. Meadows - [e-mail]
(Room 2628 - So. Bldg.)
[phone]
posted by jessamyn at 7:58 PM on September 20, 2006

I've got access to all these at work (we make flexo printing plates). If you can hang on for about 18 hours, I can definitely email them to you.

FWIW, that's a poultry cert.
posted by nathan_teske at 10:38 PM on September 20, 2006

Sounds like nathan_teske is your man here, but in that I happened to have a few related things on file for some research I was doing, I will pass them on, for what it's worth.

Here are some federal grading & inspection marks, rather smallish tho - you can find a larger quality versions on this page, the marks are in English, but the body text of the page is in Spanish.

You might also look by state - for example, here are some inspection seals for Ohio and Minnesota. Many state agricultural departments also have quality programs with state-specific seals or marks. I think these programs and marks lean more towards marketing and branding than to grading standards.

If you are looking for graphic inspiration for seals or labels ratehr than for a specific mark, eco labels has about 150 seals and labels, many food-related that might offer some ideas.
posted by madamjujujive at 11:32 PM on September 20, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]