As a child
we were introduced to the joys of tracing drawings. In the
digital world we can do the same, but the one thing that
you should avoid is allowing a drawing package to trace
an image for you. In most cases it will either over elaborate
the image or under elaborate it. For example here's a quick
sketch that I did on the way over to Lund,
Sweden (after spending many long hours in airport
waiting areas):
The network link graphic looks promising, so let's create
a new layer on top of the original sketch, and draw lines
on top of it, such as:
The colour, style and thickness of the lines does not
really matter at this stage. First we can try out a few
ideas, to see the colours, and style that works best:
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1. 150-pixel width with linear
effect for fill colour |
2. 150-pixel width with ripple
effect for fill colour |
3. 150-pixel width with satin
effect for fill colour |
4. 150-pixel width with yellow
fill-ins |
So which one works best? I think No. 4 is the best, followed
by No.2, then No. 3, and finally my least favouriate is
No. 1. The contrast of the yellow against the black works
well. So let's now go back to our design, and use yellow
as the in-fill, and a darker yellow for the hair.
I've added a textured brush stroke to accenuate the shadows
around the figure. This gives it a 3D feel, and lifts
it off the page. Also, the background has been given an
Alpha setting of around 50%.
Next we can add some text, with a drop shadow:
I really like the font used here. If you're interested
it is Kristen ITC. It has a child-like look and, modern
and crisp. Next we can add the text in the background:
and then the cloud is added to the background:
Of course it is important to see if the background actually
helps the look of the graphic, so let's take the background
away:
I hope you agree the previous version is the best, and
more interesting. Finally we can give the image a little
blur, and smooth the rough edges:
We could also just use the image of the person:
