Vector Ribbons

Some large ribbons and logo recreations I made up for a client... (Recreate logos to spheres, gradient mesh ribbons, vector plotting path, printed on adhesive vinyl, laminated, plotted, taped, applied.)

Loveland Police

Quick vector line drawing recreation for Loveland Police (30 minutes)

Minnie Mouse Vector

There's a song featured on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for Minnie's Bow-tique. It's been stuck in my head the last couple of days. Free vectors attract viewers, so hopefully you will stay to look at other features on the site. Wishful thinking :) Enjoy!

JPEG (BotW Source Image)

DOWNLOAD Vector EPS of Minnie Mouse

Interlocking Motifs

I like the rat-like creature...

Sam Brade

Adobe CS6

From WinBeta

CS6 is expected to be a major release compared to CS5, with the inclusion of several new enhancements such as a new interface, improved content-aware pixel manipulation, integration with Adobe's cloud services, improved 3D editing, layer filtering, file searching, and more.

Ice Cream Cone Clip Art

Ice Cream Cone Clip Art

It seems like I create ClipArt-like imagery like this once a day for a client, so I thought I'd share with the public. I'm sure it'll get some hits in the image search category.

Balloons (Vector)

Download Zipped EPS File (Simple Balloon Vector by wdsiemer ii)
The "Flare Tool" in Illustrator makes adding a shine to balloons easy.

Quick, Easy Vector Balloons

Standard Ligatures

Standard Ligatures
When modifying kerning between letters, check that Standard Ligatures are disabled for a consistent spacing appearance.

Letter Spacing

Awkward Letter / Number Spacing
Treat your text with care. Avoid visually unappealing letter spacing.

Mr. Potato Head Vectors

Mr. Potato Head Vectors

Not really sure why I created these Mr. Potato Head Illustrator vectors. I guess I was inspired after illustrating a vector ping pong ball the other day. It is what it is.

Download Zipped EPS File (Mr. Potato Head Vector by wdsiemer ii)

Mr. Potato Head Vector

Mr. Potato Head Gradient Mesh Vector

Mr. French Fry Head Vector

Ping Pong Ball

Me and a friend played 19 games of ping pong over two hours tonight in beautiful weather while building up a sweat. Yeah, we're cool.

In dedication, I spent 2 hours on this Illustrator Ping Pong Ball. Awesome, or what?

Ping Pong Ball. Design of the Year - wdsiemer ii

Live Trace

Breaking the Rules: "The Sketchpad" logo has been Live Traced.

Live Trace: Friend or Foe?
William D. SIEMER II


Live Trace! Oh joy! Back in the day I used to scan in hand drawn illustrations and convert them into vectors using a program called Adobe Streamline. They looked alright. Now we are blessed to have Live Trace as a button in Illustrator--or cursed.

It seems like lately when I ask people for a vector of their logo, all I get in return is a low-resolution image saved as an EPS, or better yet, a Live Traced version. Live Trace converts raster images into vector images. It gives everyone in Illustrator the potential to be dangerous.

Sometimes I get files where the text has been live traced and it looks miserable, images are converted through live trace into textures and have thousands of little stray blobs, and logos are completely ruined. If a client says they don't care if their logo isn't streamlined, I will usually recreate it as long as I know it's not going to drastically effect my time (which translates to lost money). I can't get myself to use a Live Trace logo if it compromises the design.

There are some decent uses of Live Trace. It can give the appearance of screen printing and it traces line drawings very well. Designers decide how effective Live Trace can be.

Missing Fonts or Images in Illustrator

Quick Tutorial for the Beginning Designer

Trying to open someone's Illustrator file (ai/pdf/etc), but have missing fonts or images? Place them.
I've tried to keep this straightforward while keeping it understandable.

File> New...
(Make a new document)

File> Place...
(Browse for the document you need to open)

Make sure the check box called "Link" is checked and "Template" is unchecked.

With your file selected, click Place.

Your image is now placed as a Linked File.

If you want to be able to make some edits, you'll have to outline the fonts and embed the images, this is how to do it... (Don't click "Embed" if you're missing fonts because this will force you to make substitutions for them)

Object> Flatten Transparency...

In the pop-up box..
Preset: High Resolution
Line Art and Text Resolution: 1200ppi
Gradient and Mesh Resolution: 300ppi
CHECK Convert All Text to Outlines
CHECK Convert All Strokes to Outlines

CHECK Preserve Overprints and Spot Colors


Click OK

Flatten Transparency Box

(Sometimes these settings need to be changed for more advanced imagery with effects like drop-shadows, etc.)

You will now see that the document is editable.

File> Save

Discussion: Is Vector a Form of Art?

Cropped illustration by Sean Kelly

Discussion: Is Vector a Form of Art?
LoungeKat on May 24th 2011

Original artworks can be highly sought after, but how does digital media fit into the equation? Because a Vector file can be infinitely reproduced, will this form of art ever be held in the same esteem as its traditional cousins? Join us in our community discussion: Is vector an art form?

|Read the Discussion|

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poWErful DESIGNers

Designs We've Seen (a lot) Series 05/16/11
Designs Like These... Prominent Letters

Tacky Souvenir T-Shirts

Souvenir Designs We've Seen (a lot) Series (Tacky T-shirts)

I figured I'd transition designs we've seen a lot to souvenir designs we've see a lot by including a two for one. One is the increasing usage of Live Trace in Illustrator to make a photo "vector", and the the other is the abundance of tacky T-Shirts with large images often seen in places like Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

The following T-Shirt is also available in Mountainscapes, Seascapes, Howling Wolves and Grazing Deers.

Illustrator Letter Height Script

Design Tip/Trick of the Day:
Illustrator Letter Height Script

Sometimes it can be difficult to set your letter height in inches (withour making preference changes) instead of points in Illustrator, so this script will automatically do that for you. That means with the words "The Sketchpad" the "T" would be set to whatever letter height you enter. Give it a try!

DOWNLOAD Illustrator Letter Height Script and Instructions