Graphic Abstraction

This exercise will be the first part of a personal logo design project. Through the method of Simplification, you will abstract a chosen object down to its basic two dimensional parts exploring line and shapes. You will look for both the lines and shapes that make up your object as well as the lines and shapes created by the light and shadows falling on the object. Working through the design process (thumbnails, roughs, and creating a comp), you will draw your object first from different points of view, then create a series of thumbnails, refine those thumbnails into rough drafts, and finally scan them and draw a comp in Illustrator.

This exercise is all about observation. Observing lines and shapes and simplifying those down to their most basic parts. Observe where lines and shapes start and stop, how they are placed next to one another, how the object naturally divides negative space, etc. Simplification means understanding how to change what your seeing to a basic, easily understandable, representation of your object. You will also hone your skills at working through the design process, and understanding how to use Adobe Illustrator to create a vector graphic.