Tips for Technical Illustration
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Tricia Spayer NEO STC Program 10 September 2015 9/11/2015Tricia Spayer 1 Tech writer/ illustrator – Pressco Technology 19 years Created computer graphics for 22 years STC Associate Fellow, past STC Board member Tricia Spayer 2 Is the most important skill for journalists in 2015 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zach- kitschke/post_9445_b_7456664.html Tricia Spayer 3 Making illustrations more useful How to NOT scream “amateur” Following ISO standards for icons Drawing from scratch Enhancing imported illustrations and photos Enhancing screen shots Tricia Spayer 4 Highlight areas of focus Use line weights for emphasis Fill in Call out Self-explanatory Do not be redundant Tricia Spayer 5 "Interface lg" by Original uploader was Joshgeake at en.wikipedia - Transferred from en.wikipedia. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interface_lg.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Interface_lg.jpg Tricia Spayer 6 Jim Hatch technical illustration: http://www.hatchillustrations.com/Technical-Illustrations-Line-Tone Tricia Spayer 7 Tricia Spayer 8 Fonts Colors Too cluttered Inconsistent Too much (of anything) Tricia Spayer 9 Instead of… Do this… 10 Tricia Spayer 11 Tricia Spayer 12 Tricia Spayer 13 IEC 82079-1: preparation of instructions for use ISO 7010 – standardized safety signs IEC 60417 and ISO 7000 – graphical symbols for use on equipment Symbols generally: 5 mm min. height (14 pt) Safety signs: 10 mm min. height Tricia Spayer 14 Tricia Spayer 15 Tricia Spayer 16 Tricia Spayer 17 Tricia Spayer 18 Abstract concepts What do you want to say? Less is more Tricia Spayer 19 Tricia Spayer 20 Tricia Spayer 21 Tricia Spayer 22 Tricia Spayer 23 Projecting a 3-D object Use guidelines and gridlines Make sure angles are the same (or correct for perspective) Tricia Spayer 24 Tricia Spayer 25 Tricia Spayer 26 Tricia Spayer 27 Line drawings vs. photos Hardware documentation – get engineering drawings Photos – grayscale vs. color Contrast Focus on subject (remove background clutter) Be consistent throughout documentation Tricia Spayer 28 Import – vectors whenever possible Get rid of: ◦ Anything that gives away private company information or trade secrets ◦ Irrelevant objects: Extra doors Cables Vent holes Lines that obstruct focus Tricia Spayer 29 Before After 30 Before After 31 Tricia Spayer 32 Highlight areas of interest Lighten areas of no interest Show screen orientation (for partial shots) Make items clear and readable Tricia Spayer 33 Tricia Spayer 34 Tricia Spayer 35 Keep it simple Get rid of details that do not matter Use fills and line weights for emphasis Use symbols and drawings that already exist Tricia Spayer 36 [email protected] www.linkedin.com/triciaspayer/ Tricia Spayer 37 .