Icon-A-Day, Icon # 69, Help

Help, Help, I have to do the Help Icon.

Thursday, March 10, 2005 by mormegil | Discussion: Icons

Icon 69 (Help)

I wanted to do the Scanners and Cameras icon today, but I want to put some time into that one, so I am going to put it off for a few days. I am gearing up to do the big portion of our move on Saturday, so I am going to do a some of the simpler icons we have left to do.

A while ago we did the "Folder Options" icon, in the process we made a glass checkbox. I liked the way it looked, and I think I am going to use that element to do several of the "Start" icons. Today we will start this process with the Help icon.
 
Step 1:

First thing we do is copy the Folder Options icon.
Step 2:

I delete the folder, and the reflections. And use the mesh tool to change the color of the center rectangle to blues.

Step 3:

Now I type myself a "?" and convert it to curves.

 
Step 4:

Now using the perspective tool I tweak my "?" to look like it is the same perspective as the glass block.

Step 5:

Now using the
contour tool I give our "?" a "poor mans bevel".

Step 6:

Once more with the
contour tool I give the "?" an inner contour to give it some depth.
I also give the "?" some
glare.


Step 7:

I put a temporary gray box behind the icon to see how it will look on darker backgrounds.
I also give the "?" a nice new
drop shadow.



Step 8:

Last thing we have to do is give it our standard
Reflection.



Finished Icon Design.





Click here to download the finished icon.

This should start us off on a bit of a string of  "Start" icons. Check in tomorrow for the "Run" icon. Se ya then.

Read the other Icon-A-Day Articles:
(Icon-A-Day Index)

Check out the CorelDRAW for Skinner Index, for links to all the related Video Tutorials.

And don't forget to check for all the Icon-A-Day icons as they get made, in the
Miscellaneous Icons Gallery at Wincustomize.com
All Images and Text in this tutorial are © Paul Boyer, and may not be reused without written permission.

Corky_O
Reply #1 Thursday, March 10, 2005 10:40 PM
Nice mix of the techniques and material looks, Paul.

Thanks.
DigitalCHET
Reply #2 Friday, March 11, 2005 1:38 AM
Wow.. now this is a killer icon. I love it. Great work as always.

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