Objective

To learn advanced Illustrator drawing techniques. To experience Illustrator's live trace and pathfinder cutting techniques by recreating the following logo by designer Jay Vigon:

Download starter file

Discussion

Translating vector to pixels is easy. Going the other way is hard. Often pixel art has to be meticulously traced by hand. As imperfect as live trace is, we were able to capture the essence of this original art with one click. However, this technique will only work with art that already looks "imperfect" and we wish to retain its imperfections.

Procedure

prepping illustrator

1. launch Illustrator, file > new (cmyk), save as "trace.ai"
2. file place "one.psd", rename layer "art"
3. practice Illustrator's navigation shortcuts (download Illustrator keyboard shortcuts)

creating the art in illustrator

1. select placed image, zoom in to see detail
2. object > live trace > tracing options: preset=detailed illustration, mode=b&w (preview=yes, ignore white=yes)
3. expand traced object
4. view > outline (cmd-Y); inspect art
5. direct select tool: select outer art (option+click)
6. copy and paste into new layer "yellow", restack below "art"
7. fill yellow, adjust size and position
8. dupe "yellow" layer, rename "blue", fill blue, adjust size and position
9. new layer "type"; add type (Futura Bold), adjust size, tracking, color
10. save, save as "trace.eps"
11. type > create outlines
12. select white type and art, object > compound path > make (this cuts the type out of the art)
13. delete unused layers
14. save, print

grading

1. submit b&w laser proofs with your name on it for grading
2. file graded proof in your 3-ring binder for individual review