Outstanding isometric technique at VT

VectorTuts is that rarest of online vector tips and tricks sites — it’s updated often with reasonably high quality work and useful tips, even for salty old dudes like me who started on Illustrator 5 on a Mac Quadra. But this post back in January blew my mind: a totally new way to think about rendering in isometric perspective.

“How to Create Advanced Isometric Illustrations Using the SSR Method“

Isometric Perspective tutorial: the SSR method by Cody Walker

The mad genius behind this is Cody Walker, of VanishingPoint Studios. He’s a technical and architectural illustrator by trade, which explains the elegant numbers-geekiness behind his method.

Inset: laying pavement. (Click for full image)

We’ve used isometric perspective a lot to explain how (or why) things work, but my method uses a lot of hexagons, the shear tool, pure eyeballing-it, and an ancient grid template file that I pull out in emergencies. Of course, the trickiest part is trying to figure out how to draw the people in this world. The best advice I can give is “make ‘em really small,” like in this inset piece. Otherwise, it’s hard to avoid the whole “Money for Nothing” look.

As an aside, the full graphic describes the process of re-spanning the Tacoma Narrows in Washington. The first bridge spanning this stretch of water was the infamous “Galloping Gertie,” which literally blew apart in a mild wind. YouTube has the unbelievable video from 1940. The bridge stood for only four months, but changed engineering forever.