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Drawing childrens letter blocks

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billmack30

billmack30

MIS
Mar 27, 2005
16
US
im trying to create childrens letter blocks, i've looked up tutorials on cubes and fooled around with extrude but i cant seem to get what i what.

i'm trying to make them with all 6 sides of the cube have a border and a letter in the middle

quick google image search provided this perfect result

how do I:
1. get the borders and letters to be raised off the cube itself
2. obtain the wood grain effect

i've tried it this way so far, the maximum size of the cube is to be 100 X 100 X 100, so i drew a 90X90X90 cube and i was trying to put a 5pt border and letter on each of the six sides (well the three sides that you would actually see) but i'm having the hardest time calculating exact x -y-z axis measurements

please help a newbie, thank you
 
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...are you trying to create a 3D illustration or are you trying to create something you can print out and make up to an actual physical cube?

Andrew
 
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...if you require a 3d illustration you can try the 3d extrude and bevel options and map imported images of the letters that have been created in photoshop into illustrator...

...to map the images they need to be made into symbols and then you can select them in the map art options of the 3d and extrude dialogue list...

...with this method you will need to create each side separately in photoshop with the wood texture, borders and letters, perhaps a bit of embossing to the letters and borders to give them a raised look or an indication that they are raised...

...the bevel and extrude function can be memory intensive and slow sometimes, so best to keep the images to be mapped at actual size and resolution required. The moment this tool has to do too much calculation it will take a while to process it and illustrator will crawl...

...other than this a dedicated 3D app would what I'd use if you can get access to one. The other option is to manually go about it. I think your best bet is the 3D and Extrude tool with pre-prepared mapped images made in photoshop...

Andrew
 
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perfect..you pretty much hit the nail on the head.

i was on my way after I read your first 2 replies, but got stuck on 1 thing. how do you get your grain to be darker than the face of the cube?

basically when i do everything in photoshop and then do the extrude i get the face of the cube and and grey sides, then i take a blank grain like yours and replace the grey but its the same color shade as the face of the block

i like your wood grain better, do you use noise then motion blur?

i also like the font you used, which one is it?

thanks for all your help
 
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...i have updated the link a bit now with slightly improved perspective...

...i actually used an image of a real grain and enhanced it a bit in photoshop...

...it is here if you want to download it (300dpi RGB, 100x100mm):


...the typeface is american typewriter from mac os x system install...

...here is the 3d settings I used for one of the blocks:


Andrew
 
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...diffuse shading in the 3d options is turn on, i moved the point of light and also the ambience setting...

...in the map art dialogue i turned 'shade artwork' on (at the bottom)...

Andrew
 
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...start with a 5mm rounded rectangle filled with white and then apply the 3d settings above, change the perspective value to help it...

Andrew
 
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...you may find that there are white gaps between each of the sides/segments that make up the 3D shape, upon export to pdf I discovered they were still there, whether these will print or not I've no idea as I don't have access to a postscript rip...

...in any case I would advise that when you are happy with your masterpiece then select the blocks and rasterize them using the 'object > rasterize' option. Raster them at the resolution of the placed photoshop file (300dpi in my case). This appears to render better when done so I have the feeling it may print better too...

Andrew
 
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...also you will need to rotate the wood texture on some sides by 90 degrees clockwise in the map art options, do this in the preview window holding the shift key...

Andrew
 
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i'm still not able to get the sides of the block to have the wood grain. i followed all your instructions and i still get a cube with the right front but the sides and different shades of grey. i tried to "paint" the tops and sides with my plain grain symbol but it doesnt work. any ideas?
 
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...are you choosing other surfaces in the map art dialogue to select the sides to apply the the plain wood grain symbol to?

Andrew
 
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...there is more than one surface to choose from in the map art dialogue...

Andrew
 
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...the surface options are on the right hand side of the symbol list in the map art dialog, click the arrows to choose another surface and in the main document window it should change colour to highlight which surface you are currently on...

...apply the symbol for the plain wood grain and rotate it in the preview window of the map art dialog to get the grain going in the right direction...

...you can experiment and if necessary go back to the 3D options of an object by selecting the object in the layers palette, double clicking the effect that is applied to it in the 'appearance' palette (window > appearance). Make adjustments and so on...

Andrew
 
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...let me know if you have success, we'll get there I'm sure...

Andrew
 
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success! thank you so much for all your help. you truly know your stuff and it's good there are people in the world willing to go above and beyond helping people. I got everything that I wanted, now it's just a matter of tweaking everything to my liking. I'll post my final result for your critique when I'm done.

what web sites/books if any do you utilize? I've done google searches for illustrator tutorials but was surprised at the small amount of quality results

do you have a web site, do you illustrate for a living?

thanks again
 
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...great to hear you've had success and thank you for the good words too...

...i work in the graphics trade, predominantly prepress on apple mac os x, some design work is involved but I largley problem solve client artwork issues before commiting to print...

...the honest answer to your question is that I am largely self taught, experimenting here and there when I can. I've not had the fortune of working for a company that has provided training so it has all been very much learn as I went. I don't have a website for freelance work, i've picked up a lot from other peoples work that I have had the pleasure (and the grief in some cases) of working with...

...it is hard to keep up with it all with software releases changing the way applications function...

...check the design centre out at adobe here for tutorials:


...as for books, this one is well worth investing in:


Andrew
 
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