New Character Design Project

Here's a new character I'm working on for a T-shirt design competition. It's for a marine construction company.

This is the initial info I had to go on:

"First, I'll have to give you a little history of this dredge. It was formerly named the Eagle 1 when it was owned by Bean. We took over the dredge this year (buyout) and renamed it the Terrapin Island. I was thinking of a Terrapin with eagle wings or something to please both sides. Also, we want to put Columbia River Channel Deepening and Improvements on the shirt."

Here's the first two sketches. This first one is a little more "cartoony" which I like. The second one is more straight forward, but incorporates the island, and shows the turtle in flight. I think on the third version I'll try to keep the animal in flight, but make the character, more of a "character" - more cartoony.

I've got to think about the positioning of the figurative elements, and whether or not it's going on the back of the t-shirt or on the pocket. I know I want to make this a very proud figure with big, powerful, hulking elements (like a dredge).