How to Create Advanced Isometric Illustrations Using the SSR Method

Cody Walker on Jan 13th 2009 with 55 comments

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This is the second part of a series of tutorials I’m doing about creating isometric illustrations in Adobe Illustrator. If you’ve missed that first tutorial I suggest you start with Working with Orthographic Projections and Basic Isometrics. Let’s get started!

Final Image Preview

Below is the final design we will be working towards. And below that is an example of this process taken further. Want access to the full Vector Source files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join VECTORTUTS PLUS for just $9/month.

Introduction

In the last tutorial I covered how to make an isomeric grid and build simple blocky shapes on it. In this tutorial I’m going to talk about another method of creating isometric shapes that doesn’t require
a grid and is much more useful if your objects are complex or curvy.

When creating a complicated isometric illustration it’s best to begin by breaking down your object into its simplest parts. This will help to make the project more approachable. It is possible to make the most complex objects entirely on an isometric grid using the method I discussed in the last tutorial. There is another method that is much more useful for creating curvy or complex isometric objects in Adobe Illustrator. I’m going to call this method scale, shear, rotate or SSR.

The basic idea behind the SSR method is that by using tools in Adobe Illustrator you can place an object onto an isometric plane without using a grid. This method is most useful for curvy or complex objects but it will work for anything. I’ll begin simply by making an isometric cube. Follow the steps below for the SSR Method.

Step 1

Create a 4 inch square with your Rectangle tool.

Step 2

With the square selected double-click on your Scale tool. Scale the square 86.062% vertically.

Step 3

With your object selected double-click on the Shear tool and shear the object 30 degrees.

Step 4

With the object selected double-click on the Rotate tool and rotate it -30 degrees. You have now created the top of your cube.

Step 5

To create the left side of the cube, begin with a 4 inch square. Scale vertically 86.062%, Shear -30 degress, and Rotate -30 degrees.

Step 6

Use the selection tool (black arrow) to line up the front corner with the top of the cube.

To create the right side of the cube, begin with a 4 inch square. Scale vertically 86.062%, Shear 30 degrees, and Rotate 30 degrees.

Step 7

Next, move the pieces into place with your Selection tool. You have now created an isometric cube without using a grid.

The power of this method becomes apparent when you try to create an object that would be very difficult to construct on a grid. This method only works if you have a set of orthographics to work with.

Making a Stratocaster Using the SSR Method

For this example I’m going to build the body of a Guitar. To make this complex shape in isometric using only a grid would be a challenge. The complex curves and compound shapes would be very difficult to recreate accurately.