Transform Words into Dingbats or Snowflakes
DTP in different fonts turned into shapes and snowflakes.
© J. James
The basic process: Type a word, convert to curves, duplicate and rotate in 45 degree increments until you've made a circle. Experiment with different fonts to change the appearance. Fat, blockier fonts create more solid shapes. Thinner, more delicate fonts create more open shapes. Try out upper and lower case words to change the look. Words with O or C in the middle will usually create a shape with a hole in the middle.
You can take it a few steps beyond the basic solid color shape by changing the color of some of the duplicate copies. To create the more delicate snowflake-like shapes, use the combine feature of your drawing program.
In the illustration, the top two shapes are from DTP written in a serif font. The shape on the right had the combine command applied. The other three shapes are dtp (lower case) in a rounded sans serif font: 1) all words in one color, 2) 4 words in blue and 4 words in pink, 3) all objects combined.
Comments
What specific software did you use to get the letters turned into shapes, ie the snowflakes? Also, do you recommend any software that is simple that does this “artwork” with letters? Thank you
Angie, I created the examples in Serif DrawPlus but any vector drawing program (Illustrator, CorelDRAW, etc.) would do the job. You might want to check out some of the reviews and lists of vector graphics software from Sue, our About.com Graphics Software Guide.
What a splendid idea! I’d used wingdings but never words. Thanks.
I love the idea but don’t have the software. Can this be done in Word or Publisher?
Sue, this really is a technique that needs a drawing program. I did it in Illustrator CS2. As Jacci says, there are other programs.
For those of you with Illustrator, after you create your shape, open the Pathfinder palette. Make sure the entier shape is selected and click on the little arrow on the right for the flightout menu. Click on “Create Compound Shape” You can also click on far right box under “shape modes”. Once you hae created a compound shape, apply a stroke of 2 or 3 points in a contrasting color. The results are vey cool and bring out more of the pattern you created and less of the letter forms.
Where do you find the “combine” option in Illustrator CS2?
Jen, I don’t use Illustrator but I believe the commands you’re looking for are in the Pathfinder palette. See the previous comment from AmyB.