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New Book (I promise, this one is better)

Rick

Rick

Certified Enneadecagon Designer
The last book I recommended was a decent book for a newbie sign person, but when the author of the book showed up on the forum, it left a bad impression about the writer, the content, his opinions and his abilities... so please forgive me on that one.

This new book, and it's writer knows his stuff.

"Vector Basic Training" by Von Glitschka... I have been following his participation on other forums for over 10 years now. The book heavily slants on Adobe Illustrator but you can apply it to any vector program. He also describes his process and tips on doodling and designing. It's not just a how to on Illustrator, it's also a design book, and a very good one.

Here is a sample of the book for your review:
http://www.vonglitschka.com/2010/12/24/vector-basic-training-book/
http://www.vonglitschka.com/downloads/VBT_Chapter_3.pdf

here is where to get it:
http://www.peachpit.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=0321749596

I give it a 9 out of a 10 on the Signs101 corn dog scale.
:corndog: :corndog: :corndog: :corndog: :corndog: :corndog: :corndog: :corndog: :corndog:
 
David Wright

David Wright

New Member
I received an email from Amazon suggesting this one. I almost bought but for the heavy Illustrator slant. Do you really think it would be good for Corel users?
 
Rick

Rick

Certified Enneadecagon Designer
David Wright said:
I received an email from Amazon suggesting this one. I almost bought but for the heavy Illustrator slant. Do you really think it would be good for Corel users?
Click to expand...

I think if you are trying to be a better Corel user.. then no, it is about using Illustrator. If you want to be better at drawing or illustrating with a vector program, most of it can translate over to Corel, the book is worth it for that.
 
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Letterbox Mike

Letterbox Mike

New Member
Von does really awesome work, some of the best out there IMO. I've met him a couple times, he's spoken at some local events. One of our clients, Scott Hull, is his agent so we've gotten to print some of his stuff too and it's top notch. I didn't know he had this book coming out, definitely purchasing that one! Good find Rick!
 
CES020

CES020

New Member
Thanks Rick, I just ordered it. It looks really good and looks like something I've been hoping to find. Thanks for the info.
 
CES020

CES020

New Member
Thanks for the recommendation Rick. 95% of what I do is in Corel, because it works nicely with our laser, but I've been making an effort for some time to get better with Illustrator. I say that as a reference point for my comments, as if you are a seasoned pro with Illustrator, then your mileage may vary.

First of all, I didn't realize it came with a DVD! Second, I didn't realize the DVD had videos on it for a few hours :) I thought it was just example files, which I browsed through :) That'll teach me for not clicking on the html file that was there next to the readme file :)

I'm about 1/4 way through the book, and some things really discouraged me at first, but now those same things are starting my brain working and I'm getting excited about having the time to work on some things just for trial.

One thing that's kicked my tail is that stupid bezier tool. I've been through tutorial after tutorial, but being it's not something I use every day, it really beats me down. I think after what I've seen so far, my days of fighting with that thing are close to being over. I understand there will always be issues, but I look forward to working it all out.

So far, being I'm still working through it, as what I consider very much a beginner, I'm really enjoying it and finding it quite insightful and very helpful.

I'll report back more once I get further through it. Amazon's showing 7 left, so if you don't have it and are interested, you better hurry up!
 
G

GypsyGraphics

New Member
hey that big meanie call me maggot!

my design butt sure could use a swift kick lately, could be just what i need to get back on track...

sir yes sir!!!
 
Rick

Rick

Certified Enneadecagon Designer
CES020 said:
Thanks for the recommendation Rick. 95% of what I do is in Corel, because it works nicely with our laser, but I've been making an effort for some time to get better with Illustrator. I say that as a reference point for my comments, as if you are a seasoned pro with Illustrator, then your mileage may vary.

First of all, I didn't realize it came with a DVD! Second, I didn't realize the DVD had videos on it for a few hours :) I thought it was just example files, which I browsed through :) That'll teach me for not clicking on the html file that was there next to the readme file :)

I'm about 1/4 way through the book, and some things really discouraged me at first, but now those same things are starting my brain working and I'm getting excited about having the time to work on some things just for trial.

One thing that's kicked my tail is that stupid bezier tool. I've been through tutorial after tutorial, but being it's not something I use every day, it really beats me down. I think after what I've seen so far, my days of fighting with that thing are close to being over. I understand there will always be issues, but I look forward to working it all out.

So far, being I'm still working through it, as what I consider very much a beginner, I'm really enjoying it and finding it quite insightful and very helpful.

I'll report back more once I get further through it. Amazon's showing 7 left, so if you don't have it and are interested, you better hurry up!
Click to expand...

I remember Von was making the transition to Illustrator from Freehand and his frustration with it. It was actually kinda funny because he was really hating Illustrator.

I have had the 2 plug-ins he discusses for a while and really work great. I consider myself a fairly knowledgeable Illy user, the one thing I have been practicing since getting the book is the "clockwork method". I just added control points while I was drawing with no real process... right now I'm drawing a little slower, but I know once I get used to it, (bad habits are hard to break) it's gonna save me a lot of time and some frustration. Glad it's helping...

I forgot to add the review on the DVD... one big help for me learning software is getting a good designers files and breaking them down. It's really great as a newbie to get these complex files to see how they go together. The videos are very informative for the newbie and I liked the last one best, he shows a project folder and a little of the process.
 
CES020

CES020

New Member
My update- I had several hours of graphics work (okay, probably 15 minutes for someone that knows what they are doing), but none the less, it was a couple of hours on and off, while a machine was running.

One was a lot of text, and I thought it was a great place to work on my skills.

I was using CorelDraw, so no illustrator on this one. I tried to really pay attention to the PPP and the clock deal. I found myself putting points in places I would not have normally done so, and on some stuff, I had fonts that were close, so I converted them to curves and used the PPP method to refine the points. Man, they were WAYYYYY off and WAYYYY too many according to the techniques used by Von.

I found myself learning a lot about drawing correctly, or maybe not correctly, but using techniques that were superior to my own. Using the symmetry tools he mentioned casually, I found it much easy to make very smooth transitions from one curve to the next. A couple of shapes I wasn't happy with and I went back on them several times and just didn't like it. So I plotted it to scale (it's a wall logo) and sure enough, it was very clear where my work remained. I went back to the drawing, I deleted those problem areas completely and started over using the shapes method he talks about. With some PPP work going on, I was finally happy. Plotted it again on paper and it looked perfect.

It was a very good exercise for me, trying to incorporate the techniques into daily workflow.

Heck, I even had a pad out while watching tv last night, sketching letters and shapes. Granted, there wasn't a pencil in the house, so it was done with a Bic pen, but that's another story ;)

I certainly can't speak for those that are already good with this stuff, but for my skill level, I'm still really enjoying this book and the video clips. Okay, the video clips. The book is destined to go under the wobbly table leg :)
 
omgsideburns

omgsideburns

New Member
Arrived in the mail on like.. monday.

Read through it that night. I caught a few notes on the process that I should take, which is usually the hardest part for me.. going from my sketch to the illustration because I have a hard time figuring out how to layer the pieces sometimes.

Now I need to go back through the book and pay attention to what I'm reading, and then mess with the DVD.
 
artsnletters

artsnletters

New Member
book

im gonna order it today!!! My illi skills are suspect. I find myself designing in Flexi cause its pretty simple but Von's very impressive blog/portfolio really won me over. Thanks for the link Rick!
Tim
 
Custom_Grafx

Custom_Grafx

New Member
That looks like a great book, and great reviews on amazon too! Gonna order it while the AUD's powering :D

I converted from corel to illy back in around 2006. Took me a good 3-6 months before I could call myself "almost competent". Very difficult learning curve, especially when you're so used to corel.

I have to say though, that I'm no hater of either program - but they definitely have their places in different parts of the industry. Some things are just so dam convenient and easy in corel. Other times, illy is just so dam liberating, and pro-like.

Again, thanks for the post! Appreciated :thankyou:
 
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