A look at how it's made!
There's many different approaches you can take when creating a logo or translating a drawing to the computer. Luckily, this is most definitely an asset, and the computer is an invaluable resource that can turn the most basic drawings into a work of art! Although, there's many ways to arrive at the finished piece, here's a look at how I start my process!
First, start with any object you wish to recreate on the computer and sketch it out in pencil. Don't worry about being perfect, but do try to get the general shape and any important details. As you can see, I'm far from a skilled free-hand drawer, but thanks to the computer you don't have to be! Next, scan your drawing and open it in an illustration program like Adobe Illustrator (if you don't have the cash or resources, there's always free, open source solutions like Inkscape that work just as well!) Then, use the pen tool or something similar to trace the outer most edges of the object and then punch out any interior details. It can be tricky, but mastering the pen tool is one of the most useful things a designer can learn in any illustrator program. Check out this great tutorial from tutsplus.com for some tips!
Here's what the lighter looked like after an initial tracing in Illustrator. As you can see, it's pretty plain and uninteresting, but the overall shape is very clean and neat. This is where the tutorial digresses a bit, as the next part is completely open to interpretation. To add accents and details, try to look at the object in diferent lighting conditions and see where your positive and negative space is coming through.
And that's all there is to it! As you can see, there's really not a right or wrong way to finish this off. A good suggeston I received from a drawing professor in college is to try to squint at an object to eliminate some of the color and only focus on the light/dark areas. This will help in picking out the white/black areas of your design and hopefully help it pop!
Like what you see? Click here for more examples of my work, or here to get a free quote! As always, check out my Facebook page and give it a like for more from RTGrafix Design!
