Rockstar Icon Designer - Kate McInnes [21]
Zero-point perspective has no vanishing points, the most common example is a natural scene.
Zero-point perspective is easy to draw, works exceptionally well with small icons, and allows designs to take full advantage of the image grid. Even the most professional of icon designers will find some forms of perspective hard to apply to certain objects. If you're a beginner, using zero-point perspective will allow you to work out the subtle rules of pixel rendering and scale restrictions without having to worry about form and anti-aliasing on diagonal shapes.
The most popular example of zero-point perspective is glyph-style icons. You may see this style of icon design on Toolbars and mobile devices. The best place to start when you're making this style of icon is to use vector shapes. By using editable shapes you can tweak the proportions and form in a non-destructive way. Adobe Photoshop is extremely popular among icon designers for its precise pixel control, while Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Fireworks and Inkscape are also suitable for the job.
Vector icons by FreshPixel.
How to Draw Zero-Point Perspective
The following instructions will guide you through the basic process in drawing zero-point perspective. This is the most basic of all icon styles, but there is some tips to help you cut down time in the computer rendering stage.
You Will Need:
Graph Paper
A Grey Lead Pencil
An Eraser
A Ruler
One or two colored pens or pencils
Tracing paper (optional)
-OR- A suitable drawing application. If you must to use software to follow along with this tutorial, only use the Brush and Pencil tools, the aim of the tutorial is to teach you how to develop icon designs by hand.
Step 1
Begin by drawing a square in a color other than the one you will be sketching in, this will help to distinguish the available area for the illustration. Make sure that the square is large enough for a moderately detailed design. If you're drawing more than one icon, take this time to make a few more squares.
Draw a square to define the boundaries of your icon designs.
Step 2
Make some small thumbnail sketches at the side of the main drawing area. These will help you to develop a clear concept for the icon before you begin to sketch the final design.
Think about the design you're about to draw, which elements need to be included and which ones can you leave out? Remember to keep the detail to a maximum of three elements, anything more than this will over-complicate the design.
Make some thumbnail sketches to plan and decide on the design.
Step 3
When you have a thumbnail sketch that you like, lightly draw the outlines of the design you have chosen, once it's completed take a ruler and draw along the straight lines to refine the edges. You can use a drawing matt or compass to accentuate the curves, but a steady hand will often do the trick. Remember, this is just the planning stage, leave perfection for the rendering stage. Erase any stray lines to clean up the sketch.
Draw your design into the square. Refine the lines when you have a sketch that you like.
Notice that the heart element in front of the envelope appears to be some distance away because of its placement a few pixels to the right and below the bottom edge of the envelope. This is how zero-point perspective is used to create a sense of depth using scale to create hierarchy.
Step 4
Once you have a sketch that you're happy with, move onto the next design. If you're drawing the same element more than once you may find that tracing the image with some sketch paper or a sunny window/light box is handy. Again, this is just the planning stage, so a few small changes in the main elements aren't a major problem.
Once you're finished the designs will be ready for rendering.
Once you've finished your designs, look at them as a set and make any necessary design tweaks.
One-Point Perspective
One-point perspective is a method of drawing an object with a single vanishing