I created this logo for a client, and I now need to convert it into one color versions (all black/all white).
Because there are so many overlays of text and graphics, I am having issues changing it into one color without it becoming one big blob of unreadable text and graphics.
I am working in Illustrator CC 2018 and have tried all I can think of with compound paths and pathfinder options. I’m sure there’s a way to accomplish what I need to, I just haven’t found a way to get there. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions on how to make this work!
Logo:
Example of issues I’m running into:
(The black lines are actually cut through to the background, they’re not just black strokes.)
UPDATE
I have come along this far in the conversion. The last thing I’m stuck on is how to get the stroke around the text (what you see in black) to punch through to the background. I’ve been able to do this for the other graphics but am having trouble with the text itself. Any option I try in the pathfinder panel gives me unwanted results. What’s the best way to achieve this?
UPDATE 1/8/18
I had left this project over the holidays, and when I came back to work on it today I finally figured out a way to “punch” the text through the various background items.
First, I selected the letter and added an offset path around it. I then copied and pasted [Cmd + F] that offset path a particular number of times (equal to however many background items that letter touched).
I selected one copy of that letter’s offset path, added one background piece to the selection [by holding the Shift key and using the Direct Selection tool], then clicked the Minus Front option in the Pathfinder window. I repeated this process for each of that letter’s offset paths and the items it touched, and then for all of the letters that needed to have the “punched through” stroke effect.
This achieved what I needed!
Answer
You need to understand several things. If you do not separate the “fundamental” vs. the “accidental” you are flying blind.
Your artwork is an illustration, not a logo. A logo is defined by a shape, not by a gradient, not a lens flare, not a color.
I present you, your logo. And in this illustration is a dark image over a background.
It is not a white shape with an outline. The outline is an “accident” it is not the shape.
Then we have a background, a gem with stars, a city, and a grid. Yes, if you worked on that idea you potentially merge into a logo, but not as it is.
Let’s see some examples of a gem logo Gem Logo search
But let us work on what we have. Let’s contrast this. Dark night, bright stars and grid (the method I used “deleted” the lines on the upper part of the gem, but you got the idea):
We have a problem with the cityscape, but it is starting to get a shape, some buildings in white, some in black.
The black ones are not well defined, so we are going to rely for the first time upon the outline. The same as the outline of the logo (the real logo).
Now the title. Yeap, that is a title, not part of a logo. The problem here is that as it is it relies totally on the simulation of the material but that effect depends on the gradient, and a gradient is not black/white but grayscale. You probably need to redo that part with simpler shapes.
So, you need to understand the elements one by one. Of course, you can make adjustments on the values of the outlines, etc. As you have the source files you can work better on this version.
Here I made the outline of the logo wider.
Understand the elements, why they are dark, why white, what is a background, what is important, what is the shape, what is the proportion, what is just an effect.
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : SJF , Answer Author : Rafael
