Category Archives: Vector Illustration

MetLife Asset Transfer Kit Tower Illustration

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Randal Birkey created this Adobe Illustrator vector-based illustration of a high-rise tower building for use on the cover of a MetLife Asset Transfer Kit, through a New York City ad agency. This style of architectural illustration is called an axonometric. The footprint of the building is drawn to scale and proportion (width and depth). The third dimension (height) is created by popping up off the footprint at a consistent angle, all of the vertical elements. There are no perspective or foreshortened lines in the illustration, yet it delivers a 3D aerial perspective visual sense to the viewer. This copyrighted work was done in 1995.

MetLife Tower - Adobe Illustrator vector art

MetLife Tower - Adobe Illustrator - Digital Vector Art

First Bank Place Interior Lobby

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Randal was commissioned to produce this 3D wireframe illustration for a fellow architectural perspectivist in the 1980′s. The view is of the interior rotunda lobby of First Bank Place in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The address of the completed building is 201 6th Street South, Minneapolis, MN, and it was designed by the world famous architect, I.M. Pei (The Grand Pyramid, The Louvre, Paris).

First Bank Place Interior Lobby Wireframe

First Bank Place Interior Lobby Wireframe


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Shands Healthcare Campus Map and Floor Plans

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Randal was contacted through his new web design firm by Shands Healthcare in Gainsville, Florida. This organization is affiliated with the University of Florida, and located near its medical research facility. Shands has recently completed the construction of a new cancer hospital and needed to add some new floor plans and campus map illustrations to their existing website at www.shands.org.

Randal and Taylor Birkey worked from engineering drawings and references supplied by the hospital to create a series of floor plans and a campus map illustration using Adobe Illustrator software on Apple Macintosh computers.

Shands Healthcare Campus Map

Shands Healthcare Campus Map

Shands Healthcare - Floor Plan 1

Shands Healthcare - Floor Plan 1

Shands Healthcare - Floor Plan 3

Shands Healthcare - Floor Plan 3

The illustrations will be used for both print and web applications.

San Francisco CityFlash Street Map

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San Francisco CityFlash Street Map

San Francisco CityFlash Street Map

This is a detail section of a San Francisco Street Map that Randal Birkey produced for Rand McNally/Hallwag in 1989 as part of their CityFlash Map product line. This was the first Rand McNally map product produced on desktop computers. Randal and his team used Apple Macintosh FX, CX and CI computers running Adobe Illustrator and Aldus Freehand software.

The street map portion of each CityFlash Map included street level details such as street names, locations of post offices, hospitals, banks, theaters, pharmacies and illustrated points of interest. Also included were vicinity maps, shopping center maps, public transportation system maps, all in an easy-to-use, two-sided folded format.

Other cities produced were Chicago, New York, Washington D.C. and Boston.

Chicago CityFlash Street Map

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Chicago CityFlash Street Map

Chicago CityFlash Street Map

This Street Map of Chicago was produced by Randal Birkey and his team as a part of an entire new map product line for Rand McNally in 1989. This was the first product line offered by a partnership of Rand McNally and Hallwag, called CityFlash Maps, produced completely digitally on desktop computers comprised of Apple Macintosh FX and CX computers running then current versions of Aldus Freehand and Adobe Illustrator.

The software used produced vector Postscript files which were supplied to the printer, converted to 4-color process film (CMYK) and plates, then used for 4-color offset printing.

5 US cities were completed as a part of the CityFlash product project:

  • Chicago
  • New York
  • Boston
  • San Fransisco
  • Washington, D.C.

For each city map product, the team produced a range of maps including: street level detail maps including points of interest like this one, public transportation maps, and shopping district maps.

Boston Vicinity Map

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Boston Vicinity CityFlash Map

Boston Vicinity CityFlash Map for Rand McNally

Randal Birkey created this Boston Vicinity Map as a part of an entire new map product line for Rand McNally in 1989. This product series called CityFlash Maps was the first product line offered by Rand McNally and European partner Hallwag, produced completely digitally on desktop computers. Randal and his team used Apple Macintosh FX and CX computers running then current versions of Aldus Freehand and Adobe Illustrator.

The digital vector Postscript files were supplied to Rand McNally’s printer, and converted to 4-color process film (CMYK) and plates, then used for 4-color offset printing.

For each city, Randal and his team produced additional maps including street level detail maps including points of interest, public transportation maps, and shopping area maps.

5 US cities were completed as a part of the CityFlash product project: Chicago, New York, Boston, San Fransisco and Washington, D.C.