This class, Plan and Set Up a Reflected Butterfly Using a Symbol and Assets, is the 2nd in this 3-part series to introduce you to the Asset Studio and the creation of an intricate, layered, multi-faceted illustration. This class will illustrate the use of a symbol to create a symmetrical mirrored layout. I will be using a butterfly image as a starting point, and I will show you tons of inspiration. We create a bunch of flowers as well as other assets we deem usable for our final illustration.

This second class in the series explores a multiple of methods for creating these assets. Of course, I am going to tie in plenty of tips and tricks to make it challenging for you. The great thing is, by the end of the class, you will have all the info you need to produce assets of your own to fill your Asset Studio.

I take you step-by-step through the whole process of auto-tracing as well, and I cover 3 methods for doing so, all free. Auto tracing is the basis for adding originally raster images, such as those done in Procreate, to your Affinity Designer Asset Studio as vectors. The Asset Studio is what makes the production of a series, or collection, attainable. The cool thing is that we can use the Asset Studio any time we open a new document. It travels with the program, and I will show you how to accomplish that.

At the end of the three classes, you will have a professional illustration that can not only be enlarged beautifully but could also be the start of a beautiful collection for you.

In this class I’ll walk you through:

my step-by-step method for auto tracing with Adobe Capture
free programs such as Vectornator and online converters to vectorize
how to use clipping masks to add textures to your assets
creating vector pattern files to add to your assets
layering, color and design considerations

This class will reinforce everything you have learned thus far with Affinity Designer, and my guidance will help you through any challenges that crop up. I strongly believe the class will benefit anyone looking to add vector illustration to their list of skills and accomplishments.

The key concepts I will include:

thinking and planning ahead when faced with a challenging project
pre-planning that will make the production of assets possible
efficiency with all aspects of vector art production

Learning another Affinity Designer skill is valuable, even if you are not sure what you will use the vector art for! Learning vector software workflows is essential in our profession and is critically important for you to learn. We will do it, step-by-step, and this class will further reinforce all the Affinity Designer theory which is difficult to learn in isolation.

Intro to Plan and Set up a Reflected Butterfly in Affinity Designer

This short intro will give you an overview of the class.

Lesson 1: Inspiration, Reference and Mood Board

In this lesson I will show you a ton of inspiration. I explain what style we are trying to achieve and introduce you to some wildly successful licensed artists.

Lesson 2: Plan and Create the Rough Sketch

In this lesson, I go through the entire process of sketching out the design I am planning. I show you how I use reference without copying it. I explain why I do sketches and how they improve design, over-all.

Lesson 3: Refining and Cleaning the Sketch

I start this lesson by cleaning and refining my sketch. Then we will talk about importing colors that we will later use in our composition. I recommend an Application Palette as it will travel with the software and be available even with new documents. I share lots of other tips in this lesson.

Lesson 4: The Reflection Template and Add Textures

We will work through the process of creating the symbol which will become our reflection template. I give you plenty of advice for what works for me. We begin the process of adding texture to the parts of the motifs we create here.

Lesson 5: Creating the Basic Butterfly Shape

This is the lesson where we start to use our reflection template and block in the basic shape of the butterfly. I also show you a fun method for making the antennae. I share lots of tips and tips about Affinity Designer along the way.

Lesson 6: Adding Details and Placing Assets

In this lesson, I show you many alternate methods to add details. I place many of the assets I need to fill out my design, all the while explaining my rationale. I show you a few ideas I have.

Lesson 7: Honing Placement and Altering of Assets

In this lesson, we talk about perfecting the placement of assets. I speak to the instances where I might change an asset or create a new one. We are getting closer to the completion of the project, so design is the name of the game.

Lesson 8: Creating the Background Elements

In this lesson, I show you the entire process of creating my background elements. I speak to the layering as well and in the last lesson, we will move this below the butterfly. I show you things like grouping and adding to create single elements from leaves and stems, for example. This prepares us for the next class in the series where we will be adding texture.

Lesson 9: Conclusion and Wrap Up

We will conclude everything about this stage of the design process in this lesson. I gift you a bit of a pep talk. I talk about what I think is so great about Affinity Designer and we end with a chat about next steps.

Concepts covered:

Concepts covered include but are not limited to the Affinity Designer Asset Studio, Affinity Designer Vector Persona, Affinity Designer Raster Persona, layering, Affinity Designer Symbol Studio, Affinity Designer Transform Studio, Affinity geometry and Boolean operations, Affinity Designer canvas settings, importing and applying textures, Affinity Designer composites, Affinity Designer Color Studio, Affinity Designer Transform Studio, shapes, color swatches and importing colors, texture fills, and much more.

You will get the bonus of…

1 hour 22 minutes of direction from an instructor who has been in graphic design business and education for over 40 years
knowledge of multiple ways to solve each design challenge
an outline in either Word format or a PDF version

Anton Smid

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