Book Image

Up and Running with Affinity Designer

By : Kevin House
Book Image

Up and Running with Affinity Designer

By: Kevin House

Overview of this book

Affinity Designer is a widely adopted creative application, and in a reasonably short space of time, it has become a leading design and illustration application. Affinity Designer, along with Affinity Photo and Affinity Publisher, is part of a suite of award-winning creative software applications developed by Serif Europe. Built on the latest technologies, which make it fast and smooth, Affinity Designer is quickly becoming the go-to professional creative application for vector drawing and pixel-based painting. Up and Running with Affinity Designer is a comprehensive hands-on guide to the Affinity Designer software. Whether you're new to the creative industry, a seasoned professional looking for a proven alternative, or an enthusiastic hobbyist, this book will help you get up to speed in no time. You’ll learn how to create documents and explore workflow best practices while working through practical exercises using the knowledge and skills developed in each chapter to solidify your understanding of the fundamentals. Finally, you’ll bring it all together with real-world practical applications by building a fun logo and professional illustration, forming a base for in-depth exploration in your own projects. By the end of this Affinity Designer book, you'll have gained the knowledge and confidence to use Affinity Designer as part of your creative toolset.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
1
Section 1: Getting Familiar with Affinity Designer's Interface and Layout
5
Section 2: Deeper Exploration of Affinity Designer's Documents, Tools, and Workflow
9
Chapter 7: Tools – Pixel Persona
12
Chapter 10: Workflow: Symbols, Assets, and History
13
Section 3: Bringing It All together

The process in brief

All of the larger areas of metal, including the red panels, both engine assemblies, and the wing struts, were hand-painted in the Pixel Persona using 2-3 pixel layers as follows: a soft, dark initial shadow layer above the flat base color layer, then a highlight layer above the shadow layer, and finally a texture layer above the highlight layer. All of the rivets were created using the 3D and Outer Shadow effects. The panels, door opening, and bare-metal housings above the flames all have Bevel effects. I used a few white, tapered, and Gaussian blurred strokes along the fuselage and engine assemblies for a subtle metal reflection to enhance the roundness of these shapes. I will break down some of these process steps visually in the coming pages.

Figure 13.11 – The finished rocketship with notations

If the image in Figure 13.11 looks a little overwhelming, I apologize. That wasn't the intention. I just wanted to make sure I...