Icon-A-day, Icon # 22, Sharing Overlay.

Sick and tired of Globes.

Published on January 28, 2005 By mormegil In Icons

A Icon a day Keeps the Creative

Icon 22 (Sharing Overlay) We have had enough of globes for awhile, but we have a lot of non-glamorous icons to create if we are planning on completing a full icon pack. One of the icons that always seems to be a problem is the Sharing Overlay. The thing you have to keep in mind with this one is where it is going to be used. We have established a convention with this pack of using cables to represent network connections, so I am going to go with that for our Overlay, something similar to what we have used in the Network Computer icon.
Step 1: First thing I do is mock up the general shape of our overlay. I place it on top the existing folder icon, to make sure it fits.	Step 2: Now since what is shared the most are folders and drives, I make sure it looks ok overlaying the Hard Drive icon as well.	Step 3: Now I copy over the Network Computer Cable just to use as a guideline for our new cable. I use the Mesh Tool and a Rectangle to start molding our new cable.
Step 4: To save a bit of work I copy the join I used in the Network Computer Cable and tweak its size, making it useful for our new cable. Then I create another cable with the mesh tool.	Step 5: Now using some circles and Radial fills I make my "Plug" that will connect to the icon that we are overlaying.	Step 6: Now I pull a shadow off our cord, and using the Interactive Transparency tool I fade out the edges of the cables and shadows.
Step 7: Last step is to place these overlays over the folder and drive icons to see how they look.	Finished Icon Image	Click here to download the finished icon.
Tomorrow I will try and do something a bit more exiting. Also check in for the next installment of CorelDRAW for skinners. Read the other Icon-A-Day Articles: Icon # 1, Icon # 2, Icon #3, Icon # 4, Icon #5, Icon # 6, Icon # 7, Icon # 8, Icon # 9, Icon #10, Icon # 11. Icon 12 & 13, Icon # 14, Icon # 15, Icon # 16, Icon #17, Icon #18, Icon # 19, Icon #20, Icon # 21. CorelDRAW for Skinners. Part 1: Mesh Tool 101 & Gloss 101 Part 2: Drop Shadows 101 & Reflections 101 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

Comments

Corky_O

on Jan 28, 2005

Wow, gotta practice sculpting - for a looooooooongg time.

You have given me at least 2 months of home work already, keep it coming, Teach.

Thanks, Paul.

-OZZY-

on Jan 29, 2005

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