Purpose
This assignment is designed to flesh out concepts from the lecture, and to give you an opportunity to build a few Illustrator files that will focus on the topics from this week.
Directions
- Download the file archive linked above. Double-click on the file to decompress it.
- Inside the archive, you'll find a PDF file and separate folders for each project.
- Read through the handouts at the beginning of the PDF. They are designed to supplement the material in the lectures.
- There are four hands-on projects that are part of this assignment. You will find step-by-step instructions for building these files in the PDF document. Sample files showing you the completed project are also supplied in each project folder.
- One project in this assignment is a Challenge Project where I will give you only minimal instructions. This will be a great test of your mastery of the material from this section.
- When you have completed this assignment return to this week's Module and continue with the next lecture.
Turning in your Work
Follow these steps to upload your completed projects directly to Canvas:
- Place all the completed files into a single enclosing folder
- Name the folder LastNameFirstName_Illustrator2.1
- Compress the folder into a .zip archive. In the Finder, target the folder and go to File > Compress...
Vector Graphics: Working with Color V I S U A L M E D I A D E S I G N 10 5 PROJECT: SPECIFYING COLOR WITH PRECISION This project will take you through a few very useful techniques for specifying and managing colors in an Illustrator project. Scenario: You've been hired to repurpose a file that was setup for print, into a file that can be used on the web. You'll need to convert the document to RGB and then define and use some RGB colors. GETTING STARTED £ Find and open the file Portal.ai £ With the artwork file open, press Cmd-Y on your keyboard. This takes you into Outline view and allows you to look at the structure of the file you'll be working on. It is often useful to see a file without any fills and strokes visible. £ Type Cmd-Y again to return to normal view. £ Right now, the file is setup in the CMYK color space. Go to File > Document Color Mode > RGB Color to convert the file into a web-friendly color mode. £ Go to Edit > Save As. £ Save the file to the Desktop as LastName-_Firstname_ PortalRGB.ai PLAN THE PROJECT For this project, you'll have five colors to define: • Left portal & figure [orange] • Right portal & figure [blue] • Ramp [light gray] • Main figure and Portal 2 type [dark gray] • Background [black] Check out the sample to get a sense of how these colors will be used in the final file. Visual Media Design 105 > Digital Skills for Visual Media 120 DEFINE THE COLORS You can use the Swatches Panel to define, apply and organize the colors in an Illustrator file. £ Go to Window > Swatches to open the Swatches Panel. £ Open the popup menu in the upper-right corner of the panel and go to Select All Unused. This will target all the default colors. £ Click on the trash icon in the panel to delete these colors. £ Click on the list icon in the upper-right to jump into list view. £ Now, define the colors for the web version of the graphic. Try these RGB values: • Orange: 245/145/50 • Blue: 70/170/240 • Light Gray: 200/200/200 • Dark Gray: 125/125/125 • Black: 0/0/0 £ Save your file ORGANIZE THE COLORS Once you have your colors defined, you can organize them into a Color Group. £ In Swatches, select each of the colors you just defined [just like files in the Finder] and use the folder icon to add them to a new Group. £ Name the Group Web Graphics APPLY THE COLORS We're finally ready to use these colors in the file. £ Apply the different colors by dragging the swatches into the shapes on the Artboard. You can also use the Properties panel. FINISH UP AND SUBMIT £ Submit the file to your instructor in the method that they prefer. This may be to the class server or to Canvas. Ask your instructor if you are unsure. 121 Visual Media Design 105 > Digital Skills for Visual Media PROJECT: RECOLORING ARTWORK This project will introduce you to some options you have for editing the colors in a file after they have been applied. Scenario: You have created a series of color icons for a client, but they have changed their minds about the color scheme. You need an efficient way to make these edits without manually changing every fill and stroke. Your clients also need grayscale versions of the icons. GETTING STARTED £ Explore the assets for this project. You have a native Illustrator file and a color swatch in PNG format. You also have a sample of the completed project. £ Locate the file Recolor_Start.ai. £ In the Finder, rename this file Lastname_Firstname_Recolor.ai. £ Open this document in Illustrator; this will be your working file. SAMPLE THE RED COLOR You client has requested colors that are warmer than the ones you initially provided. They have supplied a color swatch that will serve as a starting point; you will first need to import and sample this swatch using the Eyedropper. £ Go to File > Place. Navigate to the project folder and place the file Red.png into your working document. £ Equip the Eyedropper Tool [I] and click on the red swatch. You should see the red fill icon at the bottom of the Tool Panel pick up this color. £ If you needed to see the color numbers for this red, you could double-click on the fill tile at the bottom of Tools. APPLY THE RED COLOR Now, let's apply this color to the first green icon. £ Click on the circle enclosing the lightbulb to select that shape. £ Now go to Select > Same > Fill Color. All the green in that icon is now selected. £ Equip the Eyedropper and click in the red swatch you imported earlier. The green fills should all turn red. £ Save your file.. The Eyedropper can sample color from any source! 122 Visual Media Design 105 > Digital Skills for Visual Media EDIT THE ICON SET Now, you;ll change the colors in the rest of the icons using the new red as a guide. It would be tedious to do this manually, but the Recolor command is here to save the day! £ Swipe through the remaining 4 icons to select them. £ Go to Edit > Edit Colors > Recolor Artwork The Recolor dialog shows you the colors that exist in a file, and gives you options for replacing them with different color values. Note: use the hamburger popup menu to set the recolor sliders to CMYK if necessary. £ Click on the top-most green color and use the color sliders to shift it towards orange [0C 75M 100Y 0K] £ Use the same process to shift the colors in the remaining icons. Every color should be different, and should we warmer than the existing color. £ Be sure to click "Recolor Art" in the lower-left. When you're happy with the new colors, click OK. £ Save your file. The Recolor command is a real time saver! MAKE A GRAYSCALE VERSION Your clients also need grayscale versions of each logo. Recolor makes this easy too! £ Type Cmd-A to select all the paths in your document. £ Equip the Selection Tool. £ Hold down Option and drag out a copy of the icons. £ With these icons selected, go to Edit > Edit Colors > Convert to Grayscale. £ Save your file. FINISH UP AND SUBMIT! Clients love to change their minds! Recolor makes it easy to implement these changes. Once you're happy with your file, save it one last time and move on. 123 Visual Media Design 105 > Digital Skills for Visual Media PROJECT: USING GRADIENTS & PATTERNS The project will introduce you to Gradients and Patterns. It will also give you a chance to refine your understanding of how layers work to organize complex illustrations. Scenario: You've inherited a mess of a file from a junior designer. Your job is to organize the document, and then complete the illustration with color, gradients and patterns. GETTING STARTED £ Navigate to the exercise folder; find the file DeepSea_Start.ai. £ Rename this file Lastname_Firstname_Deepsea.ai £ Open the file in Illustrator and have a look. This file is full of shapes but none of them have been filled or stroked. Your job will be to organize the file, define colors, gradients, and patterns to bring these raw outlines to life. CREATE LAYERS First, let's create some layers to organize this file. £ Go to Window > Layers to open the Layers Panel. £ Use the controls along the bottom of the panel to add 4 new layers to this file: • WaterBack • Fish • WaterFront • Clouds £ Select all the paths that make up the fish with the Selection Tool. £ Now, drag the small yellow square from the Background layer to the Fish layer. The layer thumbnails will update to reflect the new layer content. £ Do the same thing for the Clouds, WaterFront and WaterBack layers. £ Drag the Fish layer so that it is in between the two water layers. The layer order reflects the stacking order of objects just like in Photoshop. £ Scale, rotate and reposition the fish so that it roughly matches the screenshot. £ Save your file and move on. Visual Media Design 105 > Digital Skills for Visual Media ADD A GRADIENT SKY The easiest way to get started with Gradients is to use one of the presets that ships with Illustrator. Let's use a preset to add a gradient sky background to this illustration. £ Go to Window > Swatches £ In the lower-left of this panel is a small library icon. This is a shortcut to all the gradient and pattern presets £ Choose Gradients > Sky. The Sky gradients will appear in their own panel. £ Target the Background Layer. For the moment, hide the other layers in the document. £ Equip the Rectangle Tool and drag out a rectangle that fills the artboard. £ To fill this shape with the Sky gradient of your choice simply drag from the panel into the rectangle! £ Save your file. ADD PATTERNS TO THE FISH £ Jump back into the preset libraries in Swatches as you did in the last step. £ This time, choose Patterns > Nature ? Nature_AnimalSkins £ Fill the fish body with one of these patterns. £ Save your file. COMPLETE THE PROJECT Make your way through the rest of the file, and add color, gradients and patterns until you're happy with the illustration. A few useful tips: • There are presets that lend themselves obviously to this project. Explore the Sky, Water and Foliage gradient sets, and the Animal Skins and Foliage pattern sets. • One of the nice things about using layers is that it allows you to hide elements temporarily so that you can focus on individual components of a complex illustration. FINISH UP Lots of room for experimentation in this project! When you're happy with your illustration, save it one last time and move on. 125 Visual Media Design 105 > Digital Skills for Visual Media CHALLENGE PROJECT: A CUTE MASCOT This project will expand on techniques from ealier in this section, introduce you to a super-useful color brainstorming tool, and give you an opportunity to select and apply colors of your choosing in a fun illustration project. Scenario: You have been hired to complete a character-study illustration for an animation project. You clients want you to colorize black and white artwork, and also to give the piece a more rough organic feel. GETTING STARTED £ Locate the file Skull_Start.ai. £ In the Finder, rename this file Lastname_Firstname_Skull.ai. £ Open this document in Illustrator; this will be your working file. CREATE ORGANIC EDGES You can use Illustrator Effects to roughen up the clean shapes that Illustrator creates by default. £ Select the elipse with the Selection Tool. £ Go to Effect>Distort & Transform> Roughen £ Try out the settings in the screenshot; enable the preview to see the effect on your shape. Lots of interesting possible effects are lurking in this part of Illustrator. You'll have an opportunity to explore them further at the end of this project. £ Open the Appearance Panel. You'll see the effects you added in the list of other properties of this shape. You can always edit or delete effects from this panel. £ Apply a similar effect to at least one other element of the illustration. You can always edit these effects later! £ Save your file and move on. 126 Visual Media Design 105 > Digital Skills for Visual Media BRAINSTORM ON A COLOR PALETTE Getting the colors right in a project like this is part science, and part magic. Adobe has a wonderful resource, Adobe Color, that can assist you in building color palettes for any digital art project. £ Jump into your web browser [Chrome, Safari, Firefox] £ Go to www.color.adobe.com £ Browse or search for a color palette that you think might work for this project. I searched for "Spooky" and found lots of great options. £ Click into the palette to see details about color values. If you click into "Color Modes" you can see the color specs in a variety of color models. APPLY THE NEW COLORS Now the fun part: apply the colors! £ Make your way through the illustration and apply colors from the