Vector. What is good and what is bad? (Part 2)

End of the article on preparing vectors for stock

SCALE AND PLACEMENT OF ELEMENTS

There are many ways to organize elements of composition in the working space of an image. The difference between vector and raster is that vector images can be altered at any moment and the composition can be supplemented with new elements or excess elements can be removed. However, incorrect decisions regarding composition and scaling of elements can render all our efforts futile.
In the first illustration, all elements are tied to the vertical and horizontal sides of each other. Such a layout of elements in the illustration creates discomfort and hinders the viewer’s eye movement.
A small space looks organic when filled rationally. However, the second vector illustration shows irrational planning of a fairly large space, while elements carelessly pushed to the edge and cropped indicate a lack of sufficient professionalism from the author and a lack of understanding of composition.
Elements should not be clustered in the center, as done in the third illustration. The composition in the third example looks ill-conceived, and there is a clear absence of prior intent from the author; the objects are placed haphazardly and in haste.

To demonstrate the key points, we need to see the last, correct illustration. Notice how the elements are grouped into three sections: foreground (television and stand), midground (armchair, camera, and table), and background (basketball poster on the wall). Such grouping of elements creates an organic composition and helps the viewer’s eye travel through each part of the illustration, as if unfolding a story before them. Did you not notice this? Then let me try to explain…
So, the foreground. The elements in the foreground are not too scattered and do not touch each other in random places. There is a small, but noticeable space between the armchair and the television; it signals to the viewer that these parts are interconnected, but do not belong to the same story.
Now, the midground. Here, the objects do not overlap, allowing the viewer’s gaze to freely advance in perspective from the edge of the table to the chair through the camera. However, such a compositional trick doesn’t always work. The author wanted to give the viewer space but also not to go beyond the means of creating depth.
In the background, there is only a poster on the wall. However, the lamp, which serves as a connecting link between the midground and background, gives a nudge for the eye to move towards the poster. Thus, the viewer automatically understands that the poster exists, but at the same time, this poster does not act as the semantic and compositional center of the illustration, and the viewer’s gaze instantly returns back to the foreground.

PROPORTIONS OF ELEMENTS

Styling and exaggeration of the human figure is a working feature, and leading stock agencies approve its use in works. But remember, there is a measure to everything! Styling is also subject to the basic rules of proportion. To demonstrate this fact, take a look at the classic proportions of the human body.
The first illustration is an example showing various violations of proportions. Unrealistically small head, arms and legs of different lengths and sizes; the figure looks simply foolish. The author clearly hasn’t heard about classic proportions.
The second illustration, despite strong stylization, retains the basic proportions of the human body. The limbs are of the necessary length, and the arms, furthermore, are of corresponding size (remember, a human palm is approximately the same size as a face). The second illustration is an excellent example of how to create a stylized figure based on the foundations of human body proportions.

MORE ABOUT ELEMENTS PROPORTIONS

It is quite common in works to have small errors like misplaced layers, incorrect perspective, or poor proportions that can significantly affect the fate of your image. Before filling your illustration with various details, take a pause and look closely at the basic shapes. Are all objects correctly fitted into perspective? Are all shapes placed on the correct layers? How do the proportions look? The main task is to identify problem areas before you finish your work.
For illustration of this situation, take a look at the first example: good colors, decent composition, a demanded concept. But the proportions of the lady ruin all the positives. The lady’s legs are of different lengths and widths, and her ankles, elbows, wrists, and knees have unnatural angular shapes. The lady looks simply awful. One can only marvel at how she manages to hold a glass in which the forces of gravity have no control over its contents. Even good light and shadows do not save this poor lady.
And here’s the second, “correct” example: the same background, the same details, the same drawing… But look how favorably the figure with good proportions stands out! The limbs are bent correctly and naturally, and there is an excellent balance between sharp angles and smooth lines. The lady’s figure is perfect, and it only remains to detail the drawing.

WORKING WITH ONE BUTTON?

Most filters for Photoshop and Illustrator are activated by pressing just one button. Listing all the various effects offered by these applications will take a lot of time. Distorting and stylizing filters can save you a significant amount of time, but you need to apply such filters wisely. Moreover, you’re unlikely to create a good stock vector illustration with filters alone, and buyers on stock platforms are not eager to pay for something that a monkey could do easily. Therefore, for now, put the filters aside until you learn to draw with a pen properly.

ON DESIGNING

To create a good vector illustration, you should not forget about preliminary planning. First, sit down with a pencil and a piece of paper and envision what you want to achieve, how your illustration should look in the end. Creating a sketch of the future illustration will help avoid unnecessary problems. It is much easier to correct mistakes on paper than to sift through a finished illustration. Sketches of your future illustration will allow you to experiment with composition easily before you start working with the pen in Illustrator.
To demonstrate the importance of design, take a look at the first illustration. It clearly suffers from a lack of design. Totally useless gradients are used everywhere, elements are unfinished, different stroke thicknesses are applied, and some similar elements don’t even have outlines. From a compositional standpoint, the objects are placed chaotically, with no perspective adhered to.
In the second illustration, all the elements that contributed to the image’s disorder and confusion have been removed. As a result, a clear and striking composition was created. Gradients are used minimally, and more attention is paid to details. Everything is neatly aligned. The curves are smooth. The colors are chosen to reflect the mood of the image (somewhat reminiscent of old space books), and the outlines have been completely removed. In this image, perspective is maintained. The craters on the planet are drawn in accordance with this perspective. They add additional integrity, realism, and depth to the composition of the image.

STYLISTICITY OF THE ILLUSTRATION

There are many techniques that can add a unique style that belongs only to you in your illustration. An unforgettable effect is achieved through the combination of means: color palette, type of stroke, complexity of graphic execution, light and shadow solutions, textures. The difficulty lies in selecting an appropriate style and maintaining it in your work. Mixing and combining styles can quickly lead a designer into a dead end, where professional help becomes necessary.
In the first example, all characters are delightful. But stylistically, they do not match each other at all. In one spot, we have ordinary cartoon ladies in the background, a gothic lady in striped stockings with thick black outlines, a realistic businessman, and a beautifully drawn cartoon girl in the foreground. This effect breaks the composition apart; the elements are disjointed, lacking cohesion. No matter how hard you try to incorporate elements from existing compositions, first think about whether they fit into your new composition.
However, the second example is already well executed, in one style. All the characters are simple, geometric, and angular. All the colors in the illustration are uniform; there are no gradients or painted light and shadows, and the color scheme is built on contrasting warm and cool shades of red and green. Looking at this drawing, one does not get the impression that someone has shown up at the wrong party.

USING GRADIENTS

Once again, we return to the topic of using gradients. Time and again, the works of novice illustrators are rejected by stock platforms due to the use of gradients. Yet people continue to use them without understanding why this happens. This is perhaps the standard mistake of all beginners.
A gradient allows you to quickly and easily achieve depth and volume; with just one click, the surface can shine. It’s only necessary to understand how light falls, and the gradient will be a powerful tool in skilled hands.
The first illustration could have been a good example of linear technique. But let’s improve it with a gradient? Somehow it didn’t work out. The gradient looks ugly here. Often, when a gradient transitions from a bright saturated color to white or black, the end result appears rough and cheap. With such a contrasting gradient, the cigarette filter looks just terrible. Moreover, the filter is paper, not chrome. On the white part of the cigarette, the gradient looks much better. Here the contrast isn’t as harsh. However, despite this, the gradient clearly does not suit the style of the image with its thick outline. And the Ministry of Health warns against this.
In the second and third illustrations, the outline remains the same, while only the technique for coloring the elements changes. The example on the right has simple solid fills. In the center example, light shading is used to depict volume and depth. This is the most optimal for the illustration style.

Let’s look at another example of using gradients. In the first image, we have a linear illustration that we tried to turn into something completely non-linear using gradients. Gradients can be used to create a chrome effect, but not in our situation. Again, the gradient stretch looks too contrasting and unnatural. The transitions are unreasonably sharp at the edges of the castle. There’s one more thing that gives our illustration the style of cheap clip art from the 80s. It’s the technique used for the lock’s crossbar. The gradient of the main element transitions from dark to light from bottom to top, while the darkened areas do the opposite. By the way, what’s with that crooked gradient on the end of the lock?
In the second illustration, all gradients have been replaced with solid fills. These fills turned out to be the most effective and suitable for this illustration, which is executed in such a technique. The upper part of the lock has enough highlights and shadows to convey volume, and they are all obtained exclusively with solid fills.

GRADIENT + OUTLINE + HIGHLIGHTS. OOPS! (Spotblind)

In the search for your style, it’s easy to get carried away and waste a lot of time. You can endlessly add new strokes, textures, gradients, patterns. You think, “Why should I limit myself to just one effect?!” But it all depends on their combination. This combination is quite subtle, and the more unnecessary elements you introduce into your illustration, the more shocking the result will be. This is a key aspect that shouldn’t be forgotten when creating works for microstocks. Often, distracting and competing effects can significantly hinder the buyer’s ability to discern the valuable idea in your illustration that they would want to purchase.
When designing your future illustration, it is essential to determine what the final result should be. Think about what you ultimately want to achieve, try to define what goal you want to accomplish. Should your illustration be bright, rich, and clear, or, on the contrary, delicate and soft? Funny, simply cute, or serious and moving? After you determine your task, all the elements you create should serve your intention. However, you can always change or adjust the initial idea. But if you clearly understand what you intend to convey to the buyer, the likelihood of achieving the expected, clear, and concise result increases exponentially.
The floral theme has been and remains the most popular on photo stocks. The illustration with the flower presented in the first example has quite good quality, but… it could still be just a tad better. In order for the illustration to compete with the vast number of floral illustrations available in stock collections, it needs to be of the highest quality. This illustration has noticeable defects that are apparent to the naked eye. One of the drawbacks is the hard, broken, crooked curls that do not blend at all with the soft and non-contrasting gradients on the petals and leaves. The highlights also leave a negative impression. They are overly contrasting (perhaps the author was trying to draw a plastic flower). By the way, why are veins drawn on some leaves and not on others? Why are the veins drawn so sloppily? The conclusion is one, and it is not encouraging: bees will never be attracted to this flower!
Now, let’s look at the second illustration of the same flower. In this example, the flower is depicted as one that you could proudly present to a loved one. The dissonant motifs have been removed. A large number of mismatched and unclear leaves have been eliminated. They have simply been replaced with two specific and clear leaves, drawn in the same style. The soft coloring creates a subtle hint of volume and depth. Harsh gradients and contrasting highlights have been softened. Additional elements with soft gradients were added to each petal of the flower. These elements give a three-dimensional effect. So, how does it smell? Can you sense the light aroma of the flower?

AND IN CONCLUSION, I’LL SAY…

As the very old saying goes, “It’s better to see once than to hear a hundred times.” And I believe there’s nothing more to add. Illustrations speak for themselves; you just have to look at them…

Source of materials in preparing the article – http://www.istockphoto.com/article_view.php?ID=367