Design Your Mind

After exploring the internet for hours last night searching for answers to all my 3D logo questions I found some good and not so good information on how to create them. There are plenty of tutorials out there that show you how to spice up a logo if you already have it as a 3D Object. But, for me, I didn't have the object made so I had to start from scratch. Not to many tutorials show you how to do this from scratch. I decided to fill in all the blanks with this tutorial, starting from square one. This is not meant to show you how to make a specific project but only aid in helping you with your 3D project.

Enjoy,
Aaron James Trigg



Creating 3D Text Tutorial: From Start To Finish




First off you must start with three programs: Adobe Illustrator, Blender 3D and Adobe Photoshop Extended. I'm certain this is not the only way to do this but it workes for me. Luckily Blender is free.

Start in Illustrator

1. Open Illustrator and create an new document whatever size you need for your design. The setting will not matter much, we'll be saving only the path information.



2. Use the text tool to create your desired graphic. Note: You can also make a complete logo if you want but this will create more work for you in blender. Refer to this link for instruction on multiple layers within Blender:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1iqbsiXe48&feature=related
For simplicity sake we will be only working with text this time around.

3. Right click the text after your done editing and click create outlines. This will make the text into paths that can be used by Blender. Note: If there are any overlapping paths you may consider merging the paths using pathfinder. This can help from creating headaches for noobies in Blender but is not a must if you are creating a complex logo.



4. When finished designing your text (or what ever you have been designing) save it out as an .SVG. Choose .SVG from the pull-down menu. This format stores all the path information and is easily read by Blender. You can use the default .SVG setting for this.



Time for Blender

5. Open up Blender and delete the default cube (press X and click).

6. Import the .SVG file you created in Illustrator. File--->Import--->Paths. Choose Inkscape (.svg) from the second menu to import your file.



7. Press tab to enter your object and 0 on your Number Pad to set the camera up in a useful position. Note: if you have any negative space paths in your original Illustrator file it may result in funky portion of you design either missing or transparent (this happened to me and drove me nuts for a few hours). You can fix it by selecting the negative space nodes (while hovering over press L key) and deleting (DEL key).

8. With your object selected increase the Extrude amount in the Curves and Surfaces pallet to a depth that is pleasing to you. I used a value of .40. You can also add Bevel Depth and Resolution if you require it. This will round your edges. To check the look of your design press 0 on the Num Pad the 5 to bring into perspective. Toggle back and forth to get the desired results.



9. After you have made your tweaks you must export the object. Choose File--->Export--->Waterfront(.obj). This format works seamlessly with Photoshop Extended. You can use all the default settings for this export.



Finally Photoshop!

10 .Open Photoshop and create a new document. Important:Be sure to make the document 32bit! This will allow for best results when importing your 3D layer (this was another one of my big hang-ups when I first learned to do 3D layers).




11 .To import your 3D object choose Layer--->3D Layers--->New Layers From 3D File. Choose All Formats in the Files Of Type drop-down menu to view your all files. Find your file and click OK. The object should appear on its back in the composition.

12 .Double-click the 3D object's little icon in the layers pallet. This will allow you to position the object using the tools at the top of the page.



13 .Once you have the object positioned it is time to change the bit depth so you can have more options for editing. Before changing it make sure to rasterize the 3D object layer by right-clicking the layer and choosing Rasterize Layer. Choose Image--->Mode--->16Bits/Channel. Now all common editing options should be enabled and ready for use.

14 .This is where you can take control of you design, whatever it may be. I will not go into depth as to how I got to my end result but I'm sure you can find all that info on the net especially Youtube.com. Remember to have fun.


This images is only an example of 3D text. By no means is this all that can be done.

My two main definition of art:

Art is: context, placment and perception.
Art is: art is anything that is appreciated.

Lately I have had to write a few essays that have been really bogging me down in school. Write is a very difficult thing for me to do when I find myself not interested in the subject. I was relieved to find out that my typography class' essay would be about a topic a care very much about which made it an easy essay to write. Design is something I hold dear to my heart and writing about one of my favorite designers is just something I thought would be appropriate.

-Aaron James Trigg

David Carson: Non Traditional Design

The term graphic design can refer to a number of artistic and professional disciplines which focus on visual communication and presentation. Various methods are used to create and combine symbols, images and/or words to create a visual representation of ideas and messages. All graphic designers have there own creative way of solving the problems of visual communication. David Carson is no exception; he is one of the great designers of the time as he breaks the mold of traditional design. He is the master at creating solutions for problems that would challenge the boundaries of design and logic. He is perhaps the most influential graphic designer of the nineties. If Harry Houdini is the master of illusion in magic then Carson, for graphic design, is the master of making magic from chaos and rebellion.

David Carson is an American graphic designer who is known for his innovative magazine design, and use of experimental typography. His designs are governed totally by feel and he often says he does not care about the people who do not like what he creates. If a graphic designer had to live by one quote it would be of Carson's, “...don't confuse legibility with communication just because something is legible doesn't mean it communicates. More importantly it may not communicate the right thing.” He was one of the first designers to completely shatter the rules of graphic design. Legibility was no longer the main focus of graphic design with the introduction of Carson's work. If a design could portray a feeling then the goal was met. The text no longer matter as much as the meaning that could be gained from the work.

Carson was born September 8, 1952 in Corpus Christi, Texas and has traveled much of the world. He was a very talented young artist yet his first significant exposure to graphic design education came as part of a two-week workshop in Switzerland, where the Swiss graphic designer Hans-Rudolph Lutz influenced him in the early 80's. He did also have a graphics class in 1980 at the University of Arizona but was not as influential as his later journey to Switzerland. A Bachelor of Arts in Sociology was Carson's main course of study.

Many people are astonished to find that Carson is not trained in the art of graphic design. A degree in Sociology and his professional surfing background are the only training that has acquired. All of his design work is gaged primarily on the message that he feels needs to be conveyed, nothing more. It must effectively portray the core meaning of what must be communicated for Carson. Similarly, when one knows when he or she has fallen in love Carson knows when a piece has been flawlessly executed. There could be loose ends defined by the standards of traditional design but if it does not help the meaning it is usually left as is.

In November 1995, the same year of the Oklahoma City Bombing, Carson published his first book the End of Print. It sold in five different languages over 200,000 copies and soon became the best-selling graphic design book of all time. He has gone on to publish a series of six other books: David Carson: 2nd Sight: Grafik Design After the End of Print , Fotografiks: An Equilibrium Between Photography and Design Through Graphic Expression That Evolves from Content, Surf Culture: The Art History of Surfing, The Book of Probes, Trek: David Carson, Recent Werk, and Ortlos: Architecture of the Networks, all of which are critically acclaimed and have sold very well. In addition to Carson's arsenal of great graphic design books he has also been apart of some of the most cutting edge magazines to date. He is the art director of the Transworld magazine series and was the co-founder of Ray Gun, a magazine of international standards which had music and lifestyle as its motivating subjects.

Not limited to just magazine layouts and other type oriented design, Carson has worked with major companies such as Pepsi Cola, Ray Ban, Nike, Microsoft, Budweiser, Giorgio Armani, NBC, American Airlines, Levi Strauss Jeans, AT&T, British Airways, Kodak, Lycra, Packard Bell, Sony, Suzuki, Toyota, Warner Bros., CNN, Cuervo Gold, Johnson AIDS Foundation, MTV Global, Princo, Lotus Software, Fox TV, Nissan, quiksilver, Intel, Mercedes-Benz, MGM Studios and Nine Inch Nails. These major companies have put Carson's work on the map as some of the most innovative designs to come from America. We can only hope that he will continue to be inspired and inspire.

Here are some links that Carson is apart of:

http://www.raygun.com/