Design Projects > Ferret Icon 2

Objective: Search the web to find a suitable picture of an assigned animal (in my case, I was assigned a ferret). Use Adobe Illustrator to turn the illustration into a bitmap using only 3 exact complementary colors. Once created, reduce the picture in size to create a computer icon. Exaggerate the animal's distinctive features so that it is still discernable as such when the size is reduced. For extra credit, we were challenged to create a black-and-white version of our icon. Analysis: This project was an assignment for a foundation digital design course at DePaul University. The main difficulty was finding a suitable photograph of a ferret that would still look like a ferret when reduced to icon size. While not perfect, my final draft was definitely more successful than my first attempt. It was noted that the animal's distinctive long neck, mask and whiskers were its defining features. While the icon could still be mistaken for a raccoon or perhaps a prairie dog, at least these are animals in the same family as a ferret. The extra credit component of the assignment was exceptionally difficult, since two colors are very limiting; the icon can only hope for a "cartoonish" likeness at best. The dark border I placed around the black-and-white icon was probably a bad decision as it drew emphasis away from the central figure.