• HOME
  • ABOUT US
    • Iced E-Brochure
  • OUR SERVICES
    • Web Design
    • Branding
    • Design
    • Digital
    • Print
  • OUR PORTFOLIO
    • CASE STUDIES
  • GET IN TOUCH
    • Start Your Project
  • LATEST NEWS
  • CALL US
  • EMAIL US
  • HOME
  • ABOUT US
    • Iced E-Brochure
  • OUR SERVICES
    • Web Design
    • Branding
    • Design
    • Digital
    • Print
  • OUR PORTFOLIO
    • CASE STUDIES
  • GET IN TOUCH
    • Start Your Project
  • LATEST NEWS
  • CALL US
  • EMAIL US
4 MIN READ

Create a Cube Desk Calendar with InDesign

13th February 2017
-
Graphic Design

In this tutorial I’m going to create a cube net utilising some of the great functions in InDesign, including smart guides, X and Y positioning, and the height and width text fields. The usual choice for vector graphics work would be Illustrator, but for me it’s faster to work in InDesign – the program has many of the same functions as Illustrator, so it can easily be used to create simple vector-based graphics.

You can always lay out the cube net in InDesign and save it as a PDF to import into Illustrator to finish.

For this tutorial, it’ll be useful to be able to spread your work over multiple pages. Also, make sure your smart guides are turned on. They are found under View>Grids and Guides>Smart Guides, and help with aligning the squares of your map.

Step 01

Take some time to plan your calendar: you’ll need to work out how many cubes you need and what will go on each face of each one. I’m going to work with four cubes – one for the days of the week, two for the date and one for the month. This can be done by doubling up some of the information on the week and month cubes.

Step 02

In a new document, select the Rectangle tool and double-click on the page to open the Rectangle panel. Enter your cube face measurement in the field: I’m creating mine at 50mm square. Using the Selection tool, hit Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/Alt+Shift and duplicate the image frame, then drag the frame into position.

The smart guides will show you when the frames are lined up, then duplicate the boxes until you have six faces to match your plan.

Step 03

To create the tabs on the net, duplicate one of the frames and align it to the left side of the net.

Select the central-right option from the Reference Point tool in the Application bar, and using the width measurement fields, reduce the size of the box by four by adding /4 to the end of the measurement value.

Step 04

Use the Direct Selection tool to select the top-left point of the tab rectangle, and affix the + symbol followed by your width measurement (for example: +12.5) to the end of the measurement in the Y text field. This moves the point to create a 45° angle. Repeat the process at the bottom on the tab using – instead of +.

Step 05

Use the Selection tool and hit Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/Alt+Shift to duplicate and place all the tabs down the left side of the cube net. Select all three tabs and use Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/Alt+Shift to duplicate, aligning them to the right side of the net. Select the central point on the Reference Point tool and use the Flip Horizontal tool in the Application bar so they face the correct way. Duplicate one last tab, and use the 90° Rotation button to align it with the bottom edge of the net.

Step 06

Open the Layers panel and name your layer ‘cube net’. Create a new layer naming it ‘design’ and copy (Cmd/Ctrl+C) and paste in place (Cmd/Ctrl+Opt/Alt+Shift+V) just the six faces of the cube onto the new layer. Now lock the layer. The new layer will be used later for adding the design elements you want to the faces of your cube.

Step 07

Now to add some print markers. Return to the original cube net layer and select the six faces of the cube. Open the Stroke palette and apply a 0.25pt stroke, Select Dashed from the Type drop-down menu and select Adjust Dashes from the Corners drop-down menu.

In the dashes and gaps text field at the bottom of the box, enter 10pt in the first dash field and 40pt in the first gap field. Turn to screen preview mode to check your print markers are correct.

Step 08

Select all the tabs and repeat the process. With the Direct Selection tool, select the internal frame edges of the tabs and delete them – this is to reduce the number of markers that will be printed, getting rid of the ones you won’t need.

Step 09

Return to the design layer, locking the cube net layer. Now you can start adding your design elements to the cube. To create a live text guide, reduce the height and width of each of the frames you duplicated earlier by 10mm, making sure the central reference point is selected. You can also add a ruler guide to mark the centre of each cube face to help line up the design elements.

Step 10

In the Pages panel duplicate the page three times; on each of the pages add the design elements for each of the cubes, referring back to your plan. When you have placed and kerned all the copy, I find it best to make the text into outlines (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+O) – this makes it much easier when placing the elements and finessing your design. Use the Align panel to make sure everything is placed in the correct position.

Step 11

When everything is designed, you’re ready to print and assemble your calendar. Print at 100% on coloured card, and use the print markers for cutting and scoring your final calendar.

Article Source: Creative Bloq/ Jo Gulliver

Tags
adobe
calendar
cube
desk
graphic design
indesign
← PREVIOUS POST
10 Cities Beautifully Rebranded by Graphic Design Students
NEXT POST →
10 Things They Probably Didn’t Teach You About Print in Design School

admin

Recent Posts
  • Exciting New Website For Everyday People Books From Iced
  • The Eazi-Rider Wait is Over
  • Flakefleet Primary School Goes Live!
  • Chorley FC Emirates FA Cup Programme
  • Totally Locally Halloween Spooktacular
Archives
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • April 2015
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • November 2013
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
Categories
  • Career
  • competition
  • Digital
  • Ecommerce
  • Email Marketing
  • Freebies
  • Graphic Design
  • In The Press
  • Inspiration
  • Latest News
  • marketing
  • Press Release
  • Print
  • Seo
  • Uncategorised
  • Web Design
Follow Us
Follow us on Twitter
icedgraphics
Six sided roll fold leaflet designed and printed for @trulytherap Truly Therapeutic needed the new leaflets for th… https://t.co/z61OrMPrwn
4 hours ago - icedgraphics
@absoluteradio @OC @RichieFirth @TheNewsAtGlenn Strangely Velma https://t.co/3usX91Wr4o
5 hours ago - icedgraphics
More leaflets designed for @chorleyfc Cfc's printer @ThePrintQuarter have done a great job with print #shoplocal… https://t.co/fuMS3IWKDx
23 hours ago - icedgraphics
RT @McrGiants: Thanks to @DShepherdLtd for supporting our latest Business Club event, that took place prior to Friday's game against Plymou…
2 days ago - icedgraphics
@chorleyfc @StockportCounty Another great result
4 days ago - icedgraphics
@MarcIles so no options on the bench today at all
4 days ago - icedgraphics
Latest News
  • Exciting New Website For Everyday People Books From Iced 1st March 2018
  • The Eazi-Rider Wait is Over 20th February 2018
  • Flakefleet Primary School Goes Live! 13th February 2018
  • Chorley FC Emirates FA Cup Programme 10th November 2017
  • Totally Locally Halloween Spooktacular 27th October 2017
Latest Work
Quick Links
  • About Us
  • Get In Touch
  • Home
  • Latest News
  • Our Services
    • Branding
    • Design
    • Digital
    • Print
    • Web Design
  • Portfolio
  • Privacy Policy
  • Start Your Project
©2013 Iced | Web Design & Creative Digital Agency | Privacy Policy | Contact Us
Web. Design. Digital. Print. Designers Chorley. Preston. Lancashire. UK.
Web. Design. Digital. Print. | Iced | Create a Cube Desk Calendar with InDesign