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© 1999 by Gary Priester. All Rights Reserved.
There's an old expression, make the hard ones look easy and the easy ones look hard. Or in the case of this month's column, EZ, as in EZ Metrics, Foster Coburn's cool 2D to 3D product. EZ Metrics is designed for architects and engineers who need to convert 2D Corel drawings into various 3D views including Isometric, Trimetric, and Axonmetric projections, (all of which sound like eating disorders to me). The interface is straightforward and easy to learn and use. The dialog consists of a single menu and all functions are as simple as pressing the appropriate arrow buttons. It's designed to work with CorelDRAW files but unlike competing products (whose names I could mention-but won't) written in CorelSCRIPT, EZ Metrics is written in C++, so all functions execute faster. EZ Metrics is the classic case of making the easy ones look hard. Or is it the other way around?
Foster asked me to design a logo for EZ Metrics. I said, sure! Looks like a cool product. Unfortunately, at the time, the product was in Beta format, otherwise I could have used it to create the logo that I came up with. This month, I'm going to deviate from my usual format and show you how the logo was created and share with you some of my thinking.
The first avenue I almost always explore when designing a logo is type. Although it is rare that the final logo will end up as a type treatment, it is a painless way to get the process, and the creative juices, flowing. Here are three of the several dozen type treatments I explored. For the first example (a), I broke the words apart using my latest discovery, Ctrl K-as in Break Apart-which breaks paragraphs into sentences, sentences into words and words into characters. I skewed every other character in the opposite direction creating a kind of 3D, folded panel look. The next approach (b), used a variety of fonts including a very ornate Z to emphasize the EZ portion the product's name. The third example uses an Image Club Graphics font called Seven Sans that has a distinctive look.
With a few pages of type explorations under my belt, I was getting into the right rhythm. But I felt I should try a few solutions that reflected the nature of the product. The two designs shown here used all five projections (Trimetric and Axonmetric each have two types). I think there might have been some break-through design lurking in these explorations, but for the life of me, I can't say what. So I moved on.
These four examples attempted to make the logo look 3 dimensional, as if they had been (and well might have been) constructed with EZ Metrics. Of the four designs, I liked the last two (c) and (d) the best. They were simple designs but at the same time visually described the product and it's function. Foster and I both liked the logo inside the grid, but in the end, decided that the grid would not hold up when the logo was used in small sizes such as the product's interface, which is the most important and visible use for the logo.
As Foster lives in Arizona, and I live in California, and travel expenses were not built into the budget, I created a web site and posted my 10 favorite designs for Foster to view. I find increasingly that this is an efficient way to present logo designs to an out of town client. (Or even to an in-town client. No having to get dressed up, no traffic to fight, and no parking space to find). After he had had a chance to look at the designs, Foster and I connected by phone and looked at the designs together and discussed the merits of each. The logo shown here is the final version of the logo. It's basically the same as Figure 3c, but with a few tweaks and modifications.
I wanted to create an Isometric cube/grid in which to construct my logo. Not unlike drawing a design on graph paper, but in 3D. I'm not exactly sure how I decided to do this grid, or why, but here's how I did it. Using the Polygon Tool, set to 6 sides and the Polygon (vs. Star) option selected, I constructed a hexagon. With Snap To Objects enabled, I used the Freehand Tool to snap a line on the left and a line on the right side of the hexagon. I selected the two lines and created a 15-step Blend. (DRAW 9 users will have to use the Interactive Blend Tool or create a custom Blend Docker).
From the Miscellaneous Blend Options icon on the Property Bar, I selected Split and clicked the wavy arrow cursor on the center line of the blend. I stretched the center line until it snapped to the top and bottom of the hexagon. I selected the blend, and separated it (Arrange > Separate) Ungrouped All, and then regrouped the 17 lines. The hexagon having served it's function as a template, was deleted without so much as a by your leave. It went off into oblivion (or wherever redundant hexagons go) muttering something about ingrates.
The lines were duplicated (the + key) and the duplicate lines rotated 60 degrees.
Another duplicate set of lines was created and rotated 60 degrees again creating a 3D isometric cube grid. The three grids were grouped, and using a new function of DRAW 9, locked (Arrange > Lock Object) to keep them in their place. Are you with me so far? Editor's Note: Lock Objects first appeared in Draw 8.
As with a piece of graph paper, I constructed an E on the top of the cube using the Freehand Tool and with Snap To Objects enabled and the grid as my guide.
I constructed the left and bottom sides.
The other sides were added.
And fill colors applied to all sides.
I constructed the Z on the right side of the cube.
Sides were started.
Taking advantage of DRAW's unique ability to rotate guidelines, I aligned one guideline to the diagonal section of the Z, duplicated the guideline (you can do that you know), and positioned it where the other side would go, and then used this guideline to draw the parallel side.
Fill colors were applied to the shapes.
I reduced the E and Z by 50% and using the grid, position the E and the Z. The E and Z wanted more space between them so it would be easier to read the Z as a Z and not an N.
When I added the EZ Metrics type under the logo it looked awkward because of the angles to which the E and Z were aligned. I experimented and found that by rotating the E and Z 30 degrees clockwise, the letters would now align parallel to the text.
Because Foster would be using the logo for 4-color printed materials, I selected a palette of Trumatch CMYK colors. This would ensure the accuracy of the colors when printed.
The final logo.
Now that I've done this logo the hard way, here's how I could have done it with EZ Metrics. I created two 1.125" square grids using the Graph Paper Tool (inside the Polygon Tool flyout). With Snap To Objects selected, I used the Freehand Tool to create the E and the Z, just as I had done on my Isometric cube.
Here's the entire EZ Metrics dialog! After loading the application, I opened the Script and Preset Manager (Tools > Corel Script) (This refers to DRAW 9. Earlier versions of DRAW may vary). I located the EZ Metrics logo, and double clicked to open the EZ Metrics dialog. Everything you need to know is covered in the Help menu. For this project I used the default setting, Isometric (30°> <30°).
With the E selected, and the Create Face radio button checked, the red square with the T, (as in TOP) was clicked causing the E to rotate in the proper direction. (It took a little trial and error to see that for the E to be in the desired projection, it would have to start out on its side). The other option, Revert Face, is used to Undo an operation. For example, if the angle was not correct, clicking on the red square with the T with the Revert Face option checked, will undo the previous operation.
After more trial and error, I decided that an Extrude offset of .35" was the correct distance for the extrude operation. I pressed the down-facing red arrow and pressed Enter. (If the distance is wrong, merely change the setting and press Enter again until you arrive at the correct distance).
The Z was selected and this time the green square with the R (as in Right side) was pressed. Pressing the top left green arrow added the appropriate extruded depth. Does this seem like it's too easy?
Using a guideline rotated 30 degrees, the E and Z were aligned. Both objects were rotated 30 degrees clockwise. Each object was selected, Separated (Arrange > Separate) and then Ungrouped. The colors were changed to the final colors.
There's another expression which I will modify here slightly; There are two ways to do something, the hard way, and the EZ Metrics way!
Of all the logos I've designed recently, I like the EZ Metrics logo the best. And I'm not just saying that because Foster pays me to write these columns. My measure of a good and effective logo is one that communicates, without words, what the product or service is about, and this logo does just that. The colors are bright and inviting and the characters on two separate planes creates a dynamic that is almost Escheresque. Click here to find out more about EZ Metrics.
It's not the same as a Logos for the Design Challenged Boot Camp, but it's the next best thing. I will be presenting two Logos for the Design Challenged sessions at Rick Altman's CorelWORLD Conference in early October in Orlando, Florida. I won't be alone of course. Many of your favorite DRAW persons will be there as well including Foster and Pete, and Debbie Cook, and of course, Rick Altman, to name-drop a few. So, if you get a chance, join us there. You can get more information at http://www.altman.com
That wraps up this edition of Logos for the Design Challenged. If any (or all of this) makes no sense at all, contact me in the Graphics Unleashed Forums and I'll attempt to do right by you, and left by you and…
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