Greetings,
This is my first post here at the Inkscape forums.



The graphic was created using Inkscape with some screen captures for the box edited in GIMP.
The graphic is too large to display in the forum so I have included a link.

Graphic: http://www.vitalbodies.com/site/uploads ... 1080_2.png

I created a graphic for the MakeHuman.org project and would like to add the graphic to the Showcase in support of the project and Inkscape.
SHOWCASE: http://www.inkscape.org/showcase/index.php?lang=en
Within the showcase there are categories like BRANDING, ICONS and such and perhaps I could add SUPPORTING OPEN SOURCE PROJECTS.
I could even do a write up with some Inkscape screen captures for the showcase.

I THINK the showcase is part of the main Inkscape site not the wiki or forum but I was not totally sure?

Would love to hear any comments on the graphic and any advice on how to add the graphic to the showcase.

C'mon guys, lots of views and no replies

I think this is great work, i'd love to see more how it was made.
Was it drawn from scratch in Inkscape?
It should also be a great contribute to the Inkscape showcase gallery to illustrate what can be made with Inkscape.

Thanks

Thanks for your comments!
I started with the idea of a software box that I saw on a forum.
It looked like one of those boxes that was generated as a box from flat images using software rather than drawn - it did not even match it's own vanishing lines correctly which is classic with those boxes.

I wanted more of the hand drawn from scratch look for artists software - hand drawn with with software : )

I drew a box quite simply (just a few lines) and then added all my vanishing lines in Inkscape.
I then adjusted my crude box to the vanishing lines.

Vanishing Lines: http://www.vitalbodies.com/site/uploads/images/graphics/vanishing_lines.png


I made the vanishing lines as a number of triangles.
I grouped them into two groups, (right and left) so I could resize them horizontally with the SELECTOR tool to get them out of the way and put them back in place quickly.
I could alter the size of the small side of the triangle with the NODE tool while holding the Ctrl key to align it to lettering or graphics so each and every element was foreshortened the correct amount.

For a fun challenge I made the boxes entirely in the profile you see as I knew this would be the final view of the box - this created challenges as everything needed to be drawn with vanishing lines and foreshortening.
Drawing it flat then foreshortening would have been easier but the final result would not have been as dramatic, and the joy of drawing would not have been there in the same way.

There are crashes that can happen with envelope deform (SAVE OFTEN) that I used on the RING/CIRCLE also that caused some set backs but otherwise Inkscape performed really well.

The only photo/images are the screen captures that I foreshortened in gimp.

The logo and official MakeHuman font are all drawn from scratch also in Inkscape.

Getting the foreshortening of the ring around the MakeHuman character was challenging also, and took me a few tries to get it to look right. That ring tended to show up in odd place if I moved the box which might be a bug of some sort.

As artists you know that some of your art comes out better than others, and for me this was an exciting piece that I continually looked forward to working on - I wanted it to really "pop" as an artist friend of mine would say, and for me at least, I made to that level.

I have no idea how to get artwork into the show case and everything in the show case is fairly old.

Thanks for explaining , I thought you did something like that.

I found that making the first box with the 3D box tool was a great way to start, when i was happy with that i could draw out all guide lines on a separate layer above so i easily could turn it on/off when needed.
It's not all easy to run the Modify Path->Perspective on all text and elements and get them right when they are a bit complex though
To bad we can't do a skew and perspective on text and still have it editable.

Jmx wrote:Thanks for explaining , I thought you did something like that.

I found that making the first box with the 3D box tool was a great way to start, when i was happy with that i could draw out all guide lines on a separate layer above so i easily could turn it on/off when needed.
It's not all easy to run the Modify Path->Perspective on all text and elements and get them right when they are a bit complex though
To bad we can't do a skew and perspective on text and still have it editable.

I had to work with each unit/line of text one by one rather than as a whole - which is why the triangles helped so much.

I found that OBJECT > Transform > Skew was enough to get the look without losing text editing.

In the final version (if it matters) you can take it further - depends on size and resolution as to if it matters...
I came up with what this entire box "should say" as a NOOB.
So, keeping it so it could be edited helped - to say the least.

If you are secretly making a box, it would be fun to see it!

I see you use Linux, personally i use OS X mostly.
For these box designs i think that making the graphics separately and the 3D boxes in a 3D program would be the best way.
I've only played a little in Cheetah 3D but not enough to do these things.
The cool thing with 3D and separate graphics is that you can set camera angle and do animations how ever you like.
So making the box graphics in Inkscape and then use it in a 3D program would be perfect.
I know Blender is available for Win, OSX and Linux... but from what i've seen Blender is a bit to much to learn.
I'll try make an Inkscape box and post it
And if i find the time, i'll try make a box with graphics in Cheetah 3D.
Basically i think that it would be much easier to visualize things in 3D.... you put in all hours at one picture and can later rotate and render any new picture with new backgrounds, perspective and lightning without having to change the material.

Personally i've mostly use Inkscape for graphics to videos and web pages and love the way it's all vector but can still have nice blur shadows... save as originals and re-edit when ever i need to.

In most ways I agree with you on making the box in 3D and them applying a png to the box within the 3d program.
Blender will do that for sure.
That is ones best bet in the long run I would say.
But you still have to come up with the box/label design you like to apply to the box.
For me it is a perception thing and this was the best route for the space I was in at the time.
For this project I think I did better staying in Inkscape as that is what seemed fun and inviting.
Plus I did this on a lark - I saw a box in a forum and just jumped in feet first.
For so many other things, 3D combined with other graphics from GIMP or Inkscape or the like rocks.
In fact, i just bought my first 3D controller which is like a high end mouse from 3dconnexion.com to help me learn 3d and to try to learn Blender which might be challenging.
I have no fear learning most any graphics app but then there is 3d - oh my - In the past I could somewhat make my way around DAZ studio, Carrera and 3d Studio Max but blender seems like a challenge...
These apps never hit 2nd nature for me like GIMP or Inkscape and there was a long way to go to get that point - with Blender i can just keep upgrading to the latest version for free so I want to give it a solid try.
One thing about blender though, if you learn it you are set to go for a long time - updates are free and development is rapid, plus it can do so much.
Linux is really awesome and I am so happy to be all open source and to try to "give back" by donating stuff like graphics.

I thought if this MakeHuman graphic made it into the show case I would be giving back to two programs at once!

Today i worked on the XHTML and CSS code for a download button as a small way of giving back.
Forgive the typos...
Inkscape Gallery: http://www.vitalbodies.net/site/art-design/inkscape-gallery.html

I actually used a Mac/OS 7 1993-95 for music, then went PC/Windows 1995-2005 until i got fed up and switched over to Mac/OS X in 2005.
I've only tested a few Linux versions and i absolutely like Ubuntu best... it is very OS X'ish these days
Since i need Aobe programs and good video editing i feel Linux is out of the question, the ease of using OS X and all available software makes my life so much easier.
But i love the idea of open source and allways check out each release of Ubuntu, if it wasn't for open source i wouldn't have found Inkscape which i feel i can't live without today... i much more prefer Inkscape over Illustrator.

Btw... no box to post today, i'll make one soon

Btw 2... your button looks great, but the text, graphic and shadow moves a bit on mouse over... it doesn't feel they move the same, maybe it's intended?.

It seems all the OSs take bits and pieces from each other and draw from the same ideas.
Originally the I wanted to use 3 button states (images) but could not figure out (in the time I had) how to do that with pure CSS.
One button is raised compared to the other but they are on clear backgrounds rather than a dedicated color so that effect does not come through in CSS version.
I was not sure where all they (the MakeHuman team) might use the button or what the background color would be.
This could have been done with Javascript but I was not sure they would want to deal with all that.

I think I would just need to NOT have one button raised in the PNGs to fix the moving issue, or learn new CSS tricks for getting what I have to work.

I would think you could do most anything these with Ubuntu - even video.
Although, if you have to run certain programs like Adobe for work (or whatever) then it might not work out unless they run under WINE.

It has been fun to try to really embrace the Ubuntu and open source philosophy so I now even use open source fonts and file formats on all new things I create.
Shifting out of "proprietary" has freed me! It was a big jump and worth the effort. This shift helps more and more as time goes by.

I like how you used that bold font on the front cover. What font is that? I've never tried anything like that.

mystery wrote:I like how you used that bold font on the front cover. What font is that? I've never tried anything like that.

That font is not a "font", it is custom hand drawn lettering.
For logos and such you/I/we can be free from "fonts" and just create...

Another artist, I know not who, created that lettering and I had to recreate it in Inkscape.

I liked the boldness also.

It looks a lot like Univers. When you do hand-make the font, how do you keep the precision in the shape?

One way to hand draw lettering and make the letters consistent, is to make "Guide Boxes" from boxes and triangles and circles.
The "guide boxes" are reusable for each letter. It can be a fun learn-as-you-go adventure if you try to do all the letters and numbers.
The more elaborate the lettering the more sophisticated the guide boxes would need to be.



In the example I made for you above, we have a simple box.
In the box are other boxes that divide the simple box up.
Added to that are some triangles in red.
The whole thing can be called a"guide box".

Note the guide boxes have thin lines and the letters have none - this can help in the beginning to keep it simple and precise.
One can flip or rotate the guide box if one groups it first - note the "A" is flipped.

To make the "I", I just duplicated the "V" and moved the path nodes around - I added a few nodes also.

Also shown are some snap lines in the upper illustration.

From here one can rough out some letters and get a sense of what one wants - I wanted bold simple blocky letters - so I did not use any circles.
Once one has ones logo (name) created in this way, they can then add more style as a second step, once one feels their flow and "the style thing" is happening.

Generally one draws lettering pretty darn large, to add detail, then reduces as needed as a final step.

I would suggest starting with the most complicated letter and working back to the simplest - that way the guide box has all the details and is less likely to change as much along the way.

By simply changing the guide box, one can change the style and look of the lettering.



Does this help?

Yes it does. Guides are always useful and geometric letters are always the easiest.

It is fun that what I wrote helped. If you create something with "guide boxes" post it - if that is fun for you.



...Because, GeoMetric is where the fun just begins : )