Following the instructions below you will learn the steps of creating
a custom sign board. The base of a good shop sign design is the text
which is the message itself conveyed towards the possible customers. All
the rest of the sign should be built around the text.
The building blocks in this case are the logo (a spoon), the name of
the store (Vectortuts),the description of the store (Spoonfed Vectors)
and any additional information (like since 1935). For this tutorial, I
used CorelDRAW but the techniques discussed apply for most vector editing software. Let's get started!
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Step 1 - Organize the Text
The store name is the most important so this will be the biggest,
while the description part should be about 2/3 of the size for a good
visual contrast and legibility. Any other elements should be much
smaller (like the logo and additional information) to avoid stealing
focus from the main parts.
Step 2 - Find the Fonts
You will need two different fonts with as much contrast as possible.
Bear in mind while selecting the font that the final work should be
ready for cut on a vinyl cutter-plotter and these machines don't really
like too many nodes.
The shop name should be a fancy and bold font while the description
should be a solid, legible one and preferably sans serif (once again
consider cutter-plotters). For this tutorial, I've picked two great
fonts from dafont: BigTop by Shamrock and MarketDeco by Steve Ferrera.
Step 3 - Convert Text to Curves
Once you are satisfied with your typography, grab the text and make
curves out of them, which means their nodes will be editable. In
CorelDraw use Command + Q or select Convert to Curves in the right click
context menu.
Step 4 - On to the Board Design
Surround your text with rectangles and put the logo in a circle. Weld
the geometric forms together making one object out of them.
Shift-select all the rectangles and the circle. When two or more shapes
are selected simultaneously, CorelDraw offers Boolean operations like
Weld. These icons are shown in the Property bar. Press the weld icon.
Step 5 - Visual Detail
Add some more small circles and rectangles for visual detail and weld
them to the main shape. If you are planning to make a real world sign
board don't overdo this part, as it will make it difficult cutting the
board.
Step 6 - More Visual Detail
If you have any additional information, you can expand your board by
pulling down the lower part of the shape. Select the Shape tool (F10).
Right-click on the line of the lower part and choose the To Curve option
from the context menu.
Double-click the middle of the lower part with the Shape tool - thus
adding an extra node. Grab this node and pull down a little creating an
extra curvature on the board. These lower curvatures make the board look
really cool and can be used for placing additional information or some
kind of design element, for example a flourish or swirl.
Step 7 - Contour Over Contour
When the board shape is ready, give a wide contour to it. Actually,
we are going to make three contours: a thick one and two thin ones.
Select the Interactive Contour tool from the special effects fly-out.
Click on the board shape and in the Property Bar select the outside
option and type in a contour offset. Experiment with this setting until
you are pleased with the outcome.
Step 8 - Second Round of Contour
With the board still selected, choose from the Arrange menu the Break
Contour Group Apart Option, or press Command + K. If this option is not
active, click on the board shape once again with the Interactive
Contour tool. Now select the offset shape and give it a new contour like
in the previous step, but this time make it thicker.
Step 9 - Third Round of Contour
Following the previous steps create one more contour, preferably the same thickness as the first one.
Step 10 - Trimming Contours
If everything went right you have four shapes: the original board
shape and three offsets. Select the original shape and Shift select (add
to your selection) the offset below it. When two or more shapes are
selected simultaneously, CorelDRAW will offer Boolean operations like
Trim. These icons are shown in the Property Bar. Select Trim, which is
our best friend in this process.
Step 11 - Giving Depth
Select the resulting shape and move it down a bit. Before releasing
the left mouse button press the right mouse button thus making a copy of
the original shape. Trim the original from the duplicate. Select the
resulting shape and press Command + K breaking it apart. Delete the
lower portions of the broken shape. Grab the bottom most offset board
shape, move it down a little, and duplicate it. By the end of this step
you should have a 3D-ish effect.
Step 12 - Detailing Text
Grab the two main texts and move them down and sideways a bit, then
make a copy of them. Trim the original text from its copy and move the
resulting shape once again down and sideways.
Step 13 - Color Scheme
By now you have a pretty neat sign board design, so you can start
looking for the right colors. Wash out and pastel colors make a great
old time effect. You can further improve the overall atmosphere of the
design by adding some extra text effects.
Step 14 - Text Effect
Offset the main text with the Interactive Contour tool, but this time
chose Inside. The contour offset should be minimal. Break apart the
contour group and pick the smaller top shape.
Step 15 - Steampunk Gradient
Draw two rectangles wider than the main text. Place one of them about
the middle of the text shape and make it really thin. Place the other
rectangle at the bottom of the text shape and make it six to seven times
wider than the other (thin) rectangle. Pick the thicker rectangle and
select the Interactive Blend tool from the effects fly-out and pull the
blend to the thin rectangle. Change the Blend Steps to 5 in the Property
Bar.
Step 16 - Doing the Trick
Select Break Blend Group from the Arrange menu or simply press
Command + K. Shift-select the resulting rectangles and group them
(Command + G). Trim the group of rectangles from the text shape offset.
Delete the group of blended rectangles and you have the infamous
steampunk gradient effect.
Conclusion
Using the techniques discussed above you can create almost infinite
variations for a shop sign board. The strength of this procedure is that
you will have a custom shape sign board perfectly adopting to the text.
If you are preparing the design for a real world project, always pay
great attention to minimize the number of nodes deleting stray or
unneeded nodes. Keeping your nodes tidy will ease the work of the
cutter-plotter resulting in better cuts.
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