I really struggled to choose a topic for this one, so I ultimately decided to break down something I was familiar with myself. I chose a camera because when I was learning my way around a camera, it took me a while to figure what all the pieces were and what each button was for.
I chose to do a somewhat exploded view of the camera because many beginners or those unfamiliar with cameras at all are not aware of what actually sits behind the lens, if they’re aware the lens can be removed at all. I was able to find some simple drawn diagrams of cameras without lenses on Canon’s site and used those to complete the body of the camera. To complete the lens, I had to find another drawn diagram that included a lens in relatively the same angle as the camera. Once I thought they looked enough like they were actually supposed to fit together, I moved the lens down at an angle to give it the “exploded” effect. There were several pieces of the camera marked on my resource diagrams, but I chose to mark only the ones I thought were the most basic and important to know.
To make the camera look as realistic possible, I used a gradient in essentially every shape I drew for the diagram. I actually didn’t use any 3D effects because I couldn’t figure out how I would get the shape I wanted that way, so this is made up of a lot of flat shapes on different layers. The gradients for the pieces of the body and the lens are all some type of black to gray, but I was able to play around with a point gradient for the lens.
When I was done with the main illustration, the page still felt pretty empty, even with the labels pointing out. I didn’t think I had room to do another diagram, and I wasn’t even sure what I’d do it over, so since this diagram was for beginners I thought it would be nice to fill the empty space with some tips. These are tips I’m already aware of, but I used a blog for the source because I wasn’t sure what would actually be best for a beginner to know. The blog had more tips listed, but I only chose a few key ones to highlight them and be able to fit it in the design.
Creating this diagram took me MUCH longer than I had anticipated, but I was and still am extremely proud of the way it turned out. I would say this is the best thing I’ve managed to create in Illustrator, which is nice because it’s made me realize how much skill I’ve really gained in the last few years that I’ve been using the program in my classes.