The two logos above are a good example of the process of converting from an illustration to a vector and a situation in which this process might need to be employed. There are different approaches to this and I thought I’d share using this example to highlight them.
In this instance, a shire council in rural Victoria, Australia held a competition asking local young people to help choose their logo and visual identity which was to be used on their website and also offline in their print masthead and other materials including large signs. The winning “logo” design, pictured top, happened to be hand drawn in felt-tipped pen (or texta). To be used professionally and to be resized, an amateur design such as this has to be converted into a vector format.
Twilight Emerald was employed to supply the vector art and the result, pictured below, was a manual trace using the pen tool in Adobe Illustrator.
Although Illustrator also has ‘Live Trace’, personally I find it currently doesn’t do a great job for anything even slightly complex. The original illustration just doesn’t look quite the same using that process alone. The Live Trace can work with artistic renditions of a photos, or if a job doesn’t need to be exact. But you can’t beat a manual trace for real attention to detail and accuracy. The final product is far more editable as well. For example, you could change spot colours in specific areas of the illustration to create. Not every designer is up to the task of a manual trace so clients need to be selective of designers with this capability.
Have any experiences with illustrations to vector ? Prefer to use Live Trace or Manual Trace ? If so please feel free to share:”
Lisa is a graphical and pre-press designer with more than 15 years experience. She runs her own agency Twilight Emerald from Ballarat, Victoria Australia.
One of my new clients recently inspired me to write this one. She has started up a new business and wanted an original professional logo design but didn’t want to pay the usual graphic design fees.
She chose and paid for a new and exclusive logo design at bestlookinglogos.com for $50. And then customized her own colour choices for an extra $10. Here it is:
Then she wanted some business cards designed and printed with her new logo incorporated. She was able to have the same professional designer who designed her logo, design her business cards to suit and have 1000 printed for $179 – all inclusive of new artwork. Here is what she had to say about the process and outcome..
“Thanks again for your great service, I just need to explain to my graphic designer client why I didn’t go with them for this but they certainly wouldn’t have been able to provide me with my new identity and business cards for under $250. I am sure you will hear from me again.”
And here is her business card design as it turned out:
For more information on the same service and price contact Twilight Emerald Print Design anytime.
Lisa is a graphical and pre-press designer with more than 15 years experience. She runs her own agency Twilight Emerald from Ballarat, Victoria Australia.
I found an interesting article written recently suggesting that with the future on the internet with the digital age, that good old fashioned hard copy business cards may become obsolete. Click here for more.
So they suggest that google is the new business card, but is it? If you’ve just met a potential client for the first time, will they remember your name in order to google you? Would they go to the trouble even if they did?
I don’t deny for a second that the internet is a powerful way to advertise you and your business, but it has its place. There are still plenty of other relevant media. And a business card in the hand can say so much about your business, it’s traits and your personality. Not to mention reminding the potential client you just met of who you are, when they pull it our of their wallet or pocket again.
Most google listings will consist of a few lines of basic arial font, blue and black text. A hard copy business card, with its stock texture and quality, its colours, its images, its logo and stylised fonts says so much more about you and gives you the chance to portray exactly the customized image and level of quality that you want to portray. I can’t think of a single business who would do without their business cards. Even small start-up businesses who can’t afford anything else will have a basic business card to give out to people they meet.
Can a website replace a business card? Again I would say, they have to remember your url first, and having your website address printed on a business card to hand out is invaluable in this respect.
Lisa is a graphical and pre-press designer with more than 15 years experience. She runs her own agency Twilight Emerald from Ballarat, Victoria Australia.
Believe it or not, I designed this angry black cat vector art for a logo which I thought turned out great but the logo design never went ahead.
Well as they say, one person’s trash is another person’s treasure. I have uploaded this exclusively to Graphic River, and it is now available for download for just $2. Considering the work I put in I think this is a bit of a bargain.
Would make a great logo !
Purchase it here.
Lisa is a graphical and pre-press designer with more than 15 years experience. She runs her own agency Twilight Emerald from Ballarat, Victoria Australia.
