CorelDraw Tutorial : Logo of BMW

 This is my seventh  post about logo designing and in this post I am going to explain the drawing method of the logo of  Bayerische Motoren Werke AG in CorelDraw X6. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is basically a German organization that manufactures automobiles, motorcycles and engines. This organization was founded in 1916 and most commonly known as BMW. In the following image you can see the logo of BMW drawn by me using CorelDraw X6.

Logo of  Bayerische Motoren Werke AG  (BMW)

While drawing this logo, I have used  some very useful and wonderful tools of Coreldraw X6 including the Ellipse Tool, Convert Outline to Object, Fountain Fill, Power Clip and Fit Text to Path etc. Following are given the steps through which you can draw the same logo within a very short period of time.

How to draw the logo of BMW using CorelDraw X6?

Having created a new document, first of all select the Ellipse Tool either by clicking on it in the Tool Box or by hitting  F7 on the keyboard.

Ellipse Tool in the Tool Box

 As soon as you will select that tool, pointer of your mouse will assume the shape of a plus ( + ) with a tiny shape of an ellipse at the bottom right of it. Then put that plus sign shaped pointer of your mouse anywhere on the document and draw a shape of an ellipse by dragging your mouse in any direction and keeping it’s  left button pressed.

 Having drawn the shape of an ellipse, select it with the help of Pick Tool. As soon as your will select the shape, it’s properties including it’s width, it’s height and it’s Outline width  will be appeared in the Property Bar. In order to convert the selected shape of an ellipse into a perfect circle, set it’s width equal to it’s height ( Width= 8.0, Height= 8.0) in the Property Bar by typing the values in the relevant boxes and hitting the Enter Key. As soon as you will hit the Enter Key, the selected shape will assume the same width and height and will be transformed into a perfect circle. Then fill black color inside that circle by selecting the thumbnail representing black color in the Color Palette with left mouse click and select the outline width for the selected shape equal to 10 pt out of the different options given in the drop-down menu named Outline width according to the picture below.

Black circle with 10 pt wide outline

After that, make a duplicate of that circle by hitting CTRL + D on the keyboard. As soon as you will hit CTRL + D on the keyboard, another circle of the same size ,color and outline width will be appeared on the document. Then select that duplicate black circle with the help of Pick Tool and set it’s width and height equals to 4.5 in the Property Bar by typing the values in the relevant boxes and hitting the Enter Key. As soon as you will hit the Enter Key, the selected duplicate circle will assume the same width and height. Then change it's color from dark black to light grey by selecting the thumbnail representing light grey color in the Color Palette and change the Outline width for the same circle from 10 pt to 8 pt by selecting 8 pt  out of the different options given in the drop-down menu named Outline width according to the picture below.

Duplicate circle with altered size, color and Outline width

 Then, make another duplicate (this time of the selected grey circle) by hitting CTRL + D on the keyboard. As soon as you will hit CTRL + D, a duplicate of the selected grey circle will be appeared on the document.Then select that newly appeared duplicate circle with the help of Pick Tool and reduce it's width and height from 4.5 to 4.3  by typing the values in the relevant boxes given in the Property Bar and hitting the Enter Key.  After that fill dark grey color in the selected circle’s outline by selecting the thumbnail representing dark grey color in the Color Palette with right mouse click according to the picture below.

Duplicate grey circle with altered size and outline color

After that select all the shapes on the document by hitting CTRL + A on the key board. Having selected all the objects, the next thing which is supposed to be done right after that is to set them on the same spot. For that purpose, get inside the Arrange Menu and select the option named Align and Distribute. As soon as you will select that option it’s side menu will be appeared containing a few more options( including  Align Left, Align Right, Align Top, Align Bottom, Align Centers Horizontally, Align Centers Vertically, Center to Page, Center to page Horizontally, Center to Page Vertically etc.) .

Side menu of the option named Align and Distribute

Out of these options , select  Align Centers Horizontally or hit E on the keyboard to align the centers of all the selected objects on the document horizontally according to the picture below.

Three selected shape on the document with horizontally aligned centers

 After that, get inside the Arrange Menu again and again select the option named Align and Distribute by clicking on it. Then, out of the options given in the side menu of Align and Distribute, select Align Centers Vertically by clicking on it or by hitting C  on the keyboard. As soon as you will do so, centers of all the selected objects will be aligned vertically too and you will have all the objects on the document placed on the same spot, according to the picture below.

Circular shapes on the document placed on the same spot

 After  that, select the biggest circle (black circle) on the document by clicking on it with the help of Pick Tool and convert it’s 10 pt wide outline into a separate object by getting inside the Arrange Menu and selecting the option named Convert Outline to Object or by hitting CTRL + Shift + Q on the keyboard. 

Option named Convert Outline to Object given in the the Arrange Menu

As soon as you will select that option, the outline of the black circle will be converted into a separate object. After that click the small arrow that can be seen at the bottom-right of the Fill Tool in the Tool Box by clicking on it. As soon as you will click that arrow a menu will be appeared containing a few  options regarding fill (including Uniform Fill, Fountain Fill, Pattern Fill, Texture Fill, PostScript Fill, No Fill and  Color). Out of the options given in the menu of the Fill Tool, select Fountain Fill either by clicking on it or by hitting F11 on the keyboard.

Opened menu of Fill Tool

  As soon as you will do so, a window or dialogue box named Fountain Fill will be appeared. At the top of that window, under the head of Options there will be seen a drop-down menu named Type. Out of the options given in the drop-down menu named Type, select  Linear  by clicking on it. Then set the Angle for the Linear typed Fountain Fill equal to -120⁰ and set the Edge Pad equal to 8.0 by typing the values in the relevant boxes. Further in the same window, there will be seen two radio buttons named Two Color and Custom  under the head of Color Blend.  By default you will find the radio button named Two Color selected in that window with all it’s setting options visible but here we need to select the other option named Custom.
As soon as you will select the radio button named Custom, the setting options of Two Color will be disappeared and the setting options of Custom will be appeared in the window. These options are consist of a Color Palette, a box named Position (by default inactive), a small rectangle named Current (that shows the color inside the currently selected area), a large rectangle ( used to set the position of different colors in the single object) with two tiny squares at the top left and top right corners of it, and right beneath that rectangle, there will be seen a drop-down menu name Preset.
Further, you will notice that the tiny square at the top left  corner of the large rectangle will be black by default that means that the left part of the selected object remain ready to be filled with any color by default through that window. So fill dark grey color in that part by selecting the thumbnail representing dark grey color in the color Palette given in the same window with left mouse click. As soon as you will select that thumbnail, dark grey color will be filled inside the selected part of the rectangular shape according to the picture below.

Selected Type, Angle and Edge pad in the window named Fountain Fill

Then, select the tiny square that can be seen at the top right corner of the rectangular shape by clicking on. As soon as that tiny square will be selected, it will turn black and indicate that the right part of the shape is  ready to be filled with any color. Then fill dark grey color in that part of the shape too, by selecting the thumbnail representing dark grey color in the color palette with left mouse click. As soon as the grey color will be filled inside that part of the shape, the shape will turn totally dark grey according to the picture below.

Grey color has been filled inside the entire shape

After that, put the pointer of your mouse anywhere inside the dark grey rectangular shape and hit the left button of your mouse twice. As soon as you will do so, a slide will be appeared right above the grey rectangular shape with a tiny black arrow pointing toward  the selected area and the formerly inactive box named Position will become active showing the current position of the recently appeared black arrow in the slide.
Then, set the position of the black arrow equal to 50 by typing the value in the box named Position. As soon as you will type the value 50 in the box named Position, the black arrow will move at the center of the slide pointing toward the central area of the rectangular shape. Then fill light grey color inside the central part of the rectangular shape by selecting the thumbnail representing light grey color in the color Palette with left mouse click. As soon as you will select that thumbnail, light grey color will be filled inside the central part of the rectangular shape according to the picture below.

Central part of the shape with light grey color filled inside

 After that click OK to apply that setting on the outline of the black circle according to the picture below.

Black circle with light and dark grey outline

After that, select the black part of the biggest circle on the document by clicking on it and once again open the window named Fountain Fill either by clicking on the option named Fountain Fill given in the menu of Fill Tool or by hitting F11 on the keyboard as I have explained earlier. Having opened the window named Fountain Fill, first of all, select Radial as the type of Fountain Fill out of the options given in the drop-down menu named Type. As soon as you will select the option named Radial, the formerly inactive boxes named Horizontal and Vertical under the head of Center Offset will get active and, at the same time, the formerly active box named Angle will get inactive. Then, set the Edge pad for the radial typed Fountain Fill equal to 20, set Center offset (Horizontal) equal to 90 and set Center offset (Vertical) equal to -95 by typing the values in the relevant boxes according to the picture below .

Radial as selected fill Type in the window named Fountain Fill

 After that, in order to apply that setting on the selected black circle, either click the button named OK given in the same window or hit the Enter Key on the keyboard. As soon as you will click the button named OK or hit the Enter Key, the required setting will be applied on the black circle according to the picture below.

Black circle with glistening surface

After that, select the small light grey circle with the help of Pick Tool and change it’s color from light grey to pure white by selecting the thumbnail representing white color in the Palette.

Selected smaller circle with white fill inside

 After that, select the Rectangle Tool either by clicking on it in the Tool Box or by hitting F6 on the keyboard.

Rectangle Tool in the Tool Box

 As soon as you will select that tool, the pointer of your mouse will assume the shape of a plus ( + ) sign with a tiny rectangular shape at the bottom right of it. Then put that plus sign shaped pointer of your mouse anywhere on the document and draw a rectangular or square shaped object there by dragging your mouse in any direction while keeping it’s left button pressed.
 Then select that newly drawn shape with the help of Pick Tool and in order to convert it into a perfect square, set it’s width equal to it’s height in the Property Bar by typing the values ( width=3.0, Height= 3.0) in the relevant boxes and hitting the Enter Key.As soon as you will hit the Enter Key, the selected shape will assume the same width and height and will be converted into a perfect square. After that, select  the outline width for the selected square equal to 8.0 pt out of the different width options given in the drop-down menu named Outline width and fill dark grey color in that 8 pt wide outline of the selected square by selecting the thumbnail representing dark grey color in the color Palette with right mouse click according to the picture below.

Perfect square with 8.0 pt wide grey outline

 After that hit F11 on the keyboard to open the window named Fountain Fill again as I have explained earlier. Then in that window select Linear out of the different options given in the drop-down menu named Type, set the Angle equal to 139.9^o and  set the Edge pad equal to 24 by typing the values in the relevant boxes.  Then out of the different color options given in the two apparently hidden Color Palettes  named From  and To, select dark cyan color and light cyan color respectively according to the picture below.

Type, Angle, Edge pad  and hidden color palettes named From  and To in the window named Fountain Fill

After that click OK to apply this setting on the selected square with 8.0 pt wide outline. Then, make a duplicate of that cyan square either by getting inside the Edit Menu and selecting the option named Duplicate or by hitting CTRL + D on the keyboard. As soon as you will do so, another cyan colored square will be appeared on the document. Then with the help of Pick Tool set both the squares in a way that the bottom- right corner of the first square could touch the top-left corner of the duplicate square according to the picture below.

Two squares on the right place

 After that, select the duplicate square with the help of Pick Tool and convert it’s outline into a separate object by getting inside the Arrange Menu and selecting the option named Convert Outline to Object or by hitting CTRL + Shift + Q on the keyboard. Then select the cyan part of the same square by clicking on it reduce it’s width and height from 3.0 to 2.8  by typing the values in the relevant boxes given in the Property Bar and hitting the Enter Key. As soon as you will hit the Enter Key the selected part will assume the same size and white page will begin to peer from the empty area  generated by the reduced size of the selected square according to the picture below.

Selected square with reduced size and outline converted into a separate object

After that, hit F11 on the keyboard to open the window named Fountain Fill one more time.  Having opened that window, the only thing which is supposed to be done is the selection of colors out of the different color options given in the two hidden Color Palettes named  From and To.  So select dark blue color out of the options given in the hidden Color Palette named From and select dark cyan color out of the options given in the hidden Color Palette named To according to the picture below.

Select dark blue as From and dark cyan as To

After that in order to apply that setting upon the selected shape click the button named OK . As soon as you will click the button named OK, the required setting will be applied on the selected shape according the picture below.

Two squares on the document with different colors filled inside

 After that, select both the squares and  the outline of the second square with the help of Pick Tool by clicking on each object one by one while keeping the Shift Key on the keyboard pressed. Having selected these three objects, group them together either by getting inside the Arrange Menu and selecting the option named Group or by hitting CTRL + G on the keyboard. Then, get inside the Effects Menu and select the option named Power Clip given there.  As soon as you will select that option it’s side menu will be appeared containing a few more options. Out of the options given in the side menu of Power Clip select Place Inside Frame. 

Option named Power Clip with it's side menu

 As soon as you will select that option, the pointer of your mouse will assume the shape of  a remarkably  thick black arrow.

Mouse pointer has been converted into a remarkably thick black arrow

 Then put that thick black arrow shaped pointer of your mouse anywhere inside the small white circle and hit the left button of your mouse once. As you will do so, the selected group of two squares  and the outline of the second square will be placed inside the small white circle according to the picture below.

Selected group of two squares and the outline of the second square has been placed inside the white circle

If you notice anything wrong about the position of the group inside the circle, you can edit it easily. For that purpose, get inside the Effects Menu again and again select the option named Power Clip. Then out of the options given in the side menu of Power Clip select Edit Power Clip.

Option named Edit Power Clip given in the side menu of  Power Clip

As soon as you will select that option, the position of the group inside the white circle will get ready to be edited while rest of the objects on the document will get dimmed. Then with the help of Pick Tool place the group at the right position according to the picture below.

Place the group on the right position with the help of  Pick Tool

Having placed the group on the right position, in order to finish the editing , get inside the Effects Menu again and again select the option Power Clip. After that, out of the options given in the side menu of Power Clip select Finish Editing this Level.

Option referred as Finish Editing this Level given in the side menu of  Power Clip

As soon as you will do so, editing will be finished and the group will be appeared inside the white circle at the appropriate position according to the picture below.

Edited  position of the group inside the white circle

 After that select the Text Tool either by clicking on it in the Tool Box or by hitting F8 on the keyboard.

Text Tool in the Tool Box

 As soon as you will select that tool, pointer of your mouse will assume the shape of a plus ( + ) sign with a tiny but prominent letter A at the bottom right of it. Then put that plus sign shaped pointer of your mouse anywhere on the document and type   B M W there (hit the Space Bar once  after typing  each letter). Then select that recently typed text with the help of Pick Tool . As soon as the text will be selected , it’s properties will be appeared on the Property Bar.

Then, select Arial Black as Typeface for the selected text out of the different options given in the drop-down menu named Font List, specify the font size for the selected text equal to 120 pt either by selecting 120 pt out of the different options given in the drop-down menu named Font Size  or by typing the value inside the box. Then fill light grey color inside the selected text by selecting the thumbnail representing light grey color in the Color Palette with left mouse click and fill black color in the selected text outline by selecting the thumbnail representing black color in the Color Palette with right mouse click according to the picture below.

Recently typed text and it's properties

 Having set the properties of the text, get inside the Text Menu and select the option named Fit Text to Path given there.

Option referred as Fit Text To Path given in the Text Menu

As soon as you will select that option, pointer of your mouse will assume the shape of a (not so thick) horizontal black arrow with a prominent letter A and a tiny twisted line at the bottom right of it. Then put that pointer of your mouse inside the black circle and set the position of the selected text according to picture below.

Selected text is being placed at the accurate path

Have set the position of the selected text inside the black circle hit the left button of your mouse once to put the text permanently at the same position according to the picture below.

Logo image almost ready to be saved

Then select all the objects on the document by hitting CTRL + A on the keyboard and group them together by hitting CTRL + G. Then the logo of BMW will ready to be saved, so save it in CDR format either by getting inside the File Menu and selecting the option named Save or by hitting CTRL + S. In order to save the same logo in any other format (e.g. PNG, JPEG, AI, GIF etc.) select Export out of the options given in the File Menu or hit CTRL + E on the keyboard as I have explained in the my post Illustration of Pakistani flag in CorelDraw X6.

I hope you will enjoy this post, so have fun with it but kindly don’t forget to subscribe your comment.