

EPS file for import you can delete the (hidden) background photo layer to keep the file size down. I always lock a layer when I'm not working on it to make sure I don't mess anything up that I'm not working on at the time. The photo layer is locked in the background, and then we add layers, building them up as we go. Illustration How to Create Competent Artwork Lock the photo layer and build up the illustration in layers over the top Although he would be more distressed than he appears to be here, it's better to keep the expression neutral! He has donned an inflatable horseshoe and pretended to be floating as a man overboard would be.

Illustration How to Create Competent Artwork Case Study: Man Overboard! Create Adobe Illustrator Graphicsīelow is a photo of my trusty assistant, Jacob. As good as it is, it overcomplicates things, and it'll take longer to simplify and clean up the resulting artwork than it will to trace what you need from scratch. We then took photos of the items as we wanted them to appear, imported the photos into Illustrator, locked them on a layer and started to trace.ĭon't use something like Live Trace for this kind of work. For this project we first sketched out roughs for the labels - we then knew what text had to go where and what illustrations were needed by way of explanation. There's no shortcut to creating high quality work, but it needn't take forever either. So how did we achieve this? Good old fashioned tracing in Adobe Illustrator. The illustrations had to be clear and easy to follow - if someone has to deploy a rescue sling in a hurry, they don't want to spend five minutes trying to decipher garbled instructions! We were charged with the task of designing and illustrating a series of manuals and labels for marine safety equipment. The project shown on this page is just such a case. So when a project I'm working on involves illustration and the budget doesn't extend to commissioning artwork from an illustrator, I get nervous - but I always find a way through. Now I know I'm a better graphic design than an illustrator.

When I got into graphic design I didn't feel that I had given up painting - just that I'd changed medium. In my youth I did a lot of painting and drawing because I enjoyed it - but I was never really any good.

Usually it's because of my limitations as an illustrator. Many's the time that I've come up against a project that's made me want to throw in the towel. Illustration How to Create Competent Line Art Using Adobe Illustrator Illustration How to Create Competent Artwork - Adobe Illustrator Tips
