Brutalism Layout (Illustrator script)
Grid generator in brutalist style with various settings, ability to add custom decorative symbols, change grid frequency and information.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/iqb57qcmo8l3b8pvidcn2/brutalist_grid.jsx.zip?rlkey=b9p3mp8bl0mah4o5zfwby22hv&st=042e422l&dl=0
IBM Plex Mono font is required to start.
https://fonts.google.com/specimen/IBM+Plex+Mono
Grid generator in brutalist style with various settings, ability to add custom decorative symbols, change grid frequency and information.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/iqb57qcmo8l3b8pvidcn2/brutalist_grid.jsx.zip?rlkey=b9p3mp8bl0mah4o5zfwby22hv&st=042e422l&dl=0
IBM Plex Mono font is required to start.
https://fonts.google.com/specimen/IBM+Plex+Mono
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Stroke trimmer
I made a simple tool that trims part of a path. I needed it for drawing icons, when an outline shouldn't reach certain areas. Might be useful for you too.
Installation (before opening Illustrator)
1/
Unpack StrokeTrimmer into ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/CEP/extensions/ (Mac) or C:\Users...\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\CEP\extensions\ (Win).
2/
The panel is unsigned, so you need PlayerDebugMode: on Mac — defaults write com.adobe.CSXS.12 PlayerDebugMode 1 (if your Illustrator is older, replace 12 with 11).
3/
Restart Illustrator → Window → Extensions → Stroke Trimmer.
I made a simple tool that trims part of a path. I needed it for drawing icons, when an outline shouldn't reach certain areas. Might be useful for you too.
Installation (before opening Illustrator)
1/
Unpack StrokeTrimmer into ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/CEP/extensions/ (Mac) or C:\Users...\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\CEP\extensions\ (Win).
2/
The panel is unsigned, so you need PlayerDebugMode: on Mac — defaults write com.adobe.CSXS.12 PlayerDebugMode 1 (if your Illustrator is older, replace 12 with 11).
3/
Restart Illustrator → Window → Extensions → Stroke Trimmer.
👍1
The purpose of a pictogram is to be recognisable by its distinctive shape. The plasticity of the graphics allows you to tell an aeroplane from an arrow quickly and effortlessly.
By placing a pictogram inside a square, you unify its shape and cancel out the characteristics built into it. The eye has to overcome one more graphic obstacle in order to read the pictogram. The eye prefers to ignore the icon, so as to spend less effort making sense of the image. Because of the shared outer shape, the icons become uniform and impersonal.
The same applies to round backings beneath an icon. This mistake is typical of designers who cannot work competently with free forms, and who get lost when alignment has to be optical rather than to a little square. The only compromise: make the backing barely noticeable.
Preserving the icon's original shape guarantees that it works.
By placing a pictogram inside a square, you unify its shape and cancel out the characteristics built into it. The eye has to overcome one more graphic obstacle in order to read the pictogram. The eye prefers to ignore the icon, so as to spend less effort making sense of the image. Because of the shared outer shape, the icons become uniform and impersonal.
The same applies to round backings beneath an icon. This mistake is typical of designers who cannot work competently with free forms, and who get lost when alignment has to be optical rather than to a little square. The only compromise: make the backing barely noticeable.
Preserving the icon's original shape guarantees that it works.
The irradiation effect (blooming)
Light objects on a dark background (inverted) will always appear larger in size than the same dark object on a light background. This is down to the structure of the eye: a heavily illuminated photoreceptor affects the neighbouring receptive fields; the zone of excitation on the retina becomes wider than the optical image. As a result, we see the light shape spilling out beyond its own boundaries.
This is precisely why any fine serifs get lost, absorbed by the halo of the thick strokes.
So, then. This needs to be compensated for in wayfinding, because internally illuminated media are often used (+2 to the halo). For white text we choose a weight one step lighter than for black. For example, bold for black, and medium for light.
Image A shows an example of how white appears optically thicker. I've added extra halo to the lower caption to illustrate the merging effect. In image B everything has been compensated for.
Light objects on a dark background (inverted) will always appear larger in size than the same dark object on a light background. This is down to the structure of the eye: a heavily illuminated photoreceptor affects the neighbouring receptive fields; the zone of excitation on the retina becomes wider than the optical image. As a result, we see the light shape spilling out beyond its own boundaries.
This is precisely why any fine serifs get lost, absorbed by the halo of the thick strokes.
So, then. This needs to be compensated for in wayfinding, because internally illuminated media are often used (+2 to the halo). For white text we choose a weight one step lighter than for black. For example, bold for black, and medium for light.
Image A shows an example of how white appears optically thicker. I've added extra halo to the lower caption to illustrate the merging effect. In image B everything has been compensated for.