Illustrator Skills DevelopmentTuesday - Wednesday 4

Aims & Outcomes:

• Aims: To reinforce understand of the elements and principles of good logo design.

• To identify and understand the difference between vector and raster graphic types.

• To understand how to use Illustrator tools to create accurate and useable branding graphics.

• Outcomes: You will understand the difference between vector and raster graphic types and how vectors can be utilised in the creation of professional accurate branding elements. You will develop your Illustrator skills by creating a range of different logo devices, utilising correct design and software techniques.

Bridge Task 7 – Tuesday 31st

• Research the principles of good logo design and present in your sketchbook ready to share on Tuesday. Use examples to support your findings.

Understand your audience

• A logo should not only reflect the product for which it stands; it should reflect its target audience, too.

• How might our logo reflect out target audience?

1. Simple

• The best logos are clean and uncluttered. In general, less is more and simplicity is more impactful. Like these:

• Remember that logos are used in a variety of ways, on different platforms and in various formats and sizes, so fine details will be lost.

2. Memorable

• A logo should be easily recalled after just a glance.

• A logo that’s complex, fussy, has multiple parts and pieces or is overly stylized will be difficult for the viewer to “get” and, as a consequence, easily dismissed.

3. Fresh• Telecom is filled with logos featuring globes,

technology and electronics with logos that involve swooshes, and dentistry with logos of teeth or smiles (or both – see below).

• These all make sense and communicate what the companies want them to, but if you do the same you lose all hope of getting noticed.

4. Modern Yet Timeless

• “Modern” is “today,” but not so “today” that in five years your logo will look silly.

• Your overall approach should be modern as should specific elements, colors and typefaces.

Avoid such things as excessive use of current trends such as drop shadow, gradients, light points etc.

5. Proportional and Well Balanced

• The best logos are designed using principles of proportion and symmetry.

• Both the Apple and the Twitter logos utilize circles of proportionate values as well as symmetry to create a pleasing, balanced aesthetic quality.

6. All The Pieces Work Together

• Your logo’s graphic device and your typeface work together (in what’s typically called a lockup) and enhance one another.

7. Versatile• Your logo will be used in a number of ways and in multiple

contexts. Here are just a few:

• On t-shirts, baseball caps, pens, key fobs, water bottles, banners.

• Different backgrounds, colours, patterns, images

• On pens, keychains and water bottles

• Very large and very, very small

• Alongside other company logos, like those for specific products and services

Would these work on a

pen?

Vector GraphicsVectors vs Rasters (Bitmaps)

Starter:

1. What are Vector graphics?

2. Where are Vector graphics used?

3. What are the advantages of Vector graphics?

4. What are the disadvantages of Vector graphics?

5. What common file formats are used for Vector graphics?

• Vector graphics are created from mathematical formulas used to define lines, shapes and curves.

• Edited in draw programs

• Shapes can be edited by moving points called nodes (drawing points)

Node

Handle

Vector Graphics

Examples

Original Image

Resized ImageShapes that make

up the image.

Uses of Vector Graphics

• Graphics that will be scaled (or resized) • Architectural drawings and CAD programs• Flow charts• Logos that will be scaled (resized)

• Cartoons and clip art

• Graphics on websites• Because they have very small file sizes.• This allows them to load quickly.

• Fonts and specialized text effects

Advantages of Vectors

• Resolution Independent• Regardless of how much the image is

enlarged or reduced, the image definition and quality remain the same.

• Small File Sizes• Easily transferred over the Internet.

Disadvantages of Vectors

• Lower color quality than raster images.• They do not support

as many colors.

• Not good for photographic images.

• AI – Adobe Illustrator

• Industry standard used by developers of vector graphics.

• Used to create, save, and archive original artwork.

• EPS – Encapsulated Postscript

• Meta Graphic

• Graphics developers generally save a copy of the AI file in EPS format because it can be opened by computers running different operating systems.

• Exportable file types

• Illustrator allows the creation of different image file types but without the option to re-edit the original.

Common Vector File Formats

Design Task:

• Using the files located on course website, develop each of the logos alongside the template.

• You must use the following where possible:• Grids – to aid in the accuracy of your work

• Guides – to aid in the accuracy of your work

• Lines – as part of the overall object

• Shapes – as part of the overall object

• Also you might like to use the pen tools and the pathfinder palette.

Plenary:• I feel the most important thing I learnt today was?

• With the information I learnt today, I will now be able to…

• After today’s lesson I can now explain.

• Today I was able to make progress because…

• The part of the lesson I found easiest was…

• If was to set homework to build on today’s lesson I would…

• I am proud of myself today because….

• I think it is important to remember what I learnt today because…

• One thing I think I did really well was…

• Next time I would like to learn…