Vector Graphics

On several occasions I've wanted to make a desktop image or other piece of artwork with a design from a favorite book or series, but I was limited by the (usually) small size and (often) low quality of the bitmap images commonly available on the Internet. Defined with mathematical functions rather than as an array of pixels, vector graphics have the convenient property of being almost arbitrarily resizable without loss of quality. But since I usually couldn't find any on the Internet when I looked, I decided to make my own—and here they are.

Please send me any comments on the current images or suggestions for new ones, particularly from anime. The formats below are the most commonly useful, but may not be suitable for all purposes; feel free to e-mail me requests for specific formats and/or sizes. Though it probably goes without saying, all the designs seen on this page are © their respective creators, not me, but I would prefer to get some credit for making these if you use them for anything. Feel free to download them for whatever purpose.

Currently, files are available for the following:

• Firefly
• Hellsing
• Lord of the Rings
• Martian Successor Nadesico
• Metal Gear Solid
• Neon Genesis Evangelion
• Portal
• Star Wars

A few people have sent me photos of the graphics here being used in the real world, and I've posted them below. Send me yours and I'll put it up too. (For another example of vector graphic usage in real life, take a look at my Fanboyism page.)

Firefly

• Blue Sun logo

  

  As ubiquitous as Coca-Cola and friendlier than Weyland-Yutani, the Blue Sun megacorporation deals in everything from T-shirts to coffee to creepy guys with blue gloves. Both versions of the corporate logo seen in the show are presented here. The first and older one, as seen on Jayne's shirt, is written 靑日 and pronounced qīng rì in Mandarin. The newer logo written 蓝日 appears in other places and is pronounced lán rì.

  • AI (both), 418 KiB
  • PDF (old version), 26 KiB
  • PDF (new version), 28 KiB
  • PNG (old version), 1432 x 1600, 54 KiB
  • PNG (new version), 1432 x 1600, 58 KiB
  • SVG (both), 476 KiB

Hellsing

• Alucard's sigil

  

  This is the device that is seen on the back of Alucard's gloves. It appears to be a binding ward, probably part of the ability protection spell that Hellsing uses to keep his powers in check. A slightly modified form was seen in episodes 8, 9, and 13, in which the bars at the bottom were replaced by an extra word of Theban text (the script around the outer perimeter). Unfortunately, I haven't seen any source images good enough to make a vector graphic of that version.

  Fun fact: the phrase "Gott Mit Uns" is German for "God With Us", and appeared on various Nazi paraphernalia such as belt buckles.

  • AI, 212 KiB
  • PDF, 213 KiB
  • PNG, 1453 x 1600, 211 KiB
  • SVG, 242 KiB

• Alexander Anderson's gloves

  

  The one, the only, Paladin of the Vatican's Section XIII, the Order of Iscariot, Alexander Anderson... or at least his gloves. The vector files contain both graphics, of approximately actual size (for any would-be Anderson cosplayers out there).

  • AI (both), 170 KiB
  • PDF (both), 40 KiB
  • PNG (left), 1644 x 1600, 116 KiB
  • PNG (right), 1582 x 1600, 127 KiB
  • SVG (both), 199 KiB

Lord of the Rings

• West Gate of Moria

  

  This is the design inlaid in ithildin on the doors of the western entrance to Khazad-dûm—or more accurately, the page from The Lord of the Rings that describes it. (There is an image of the doors themselves, as well.) The large Elvish text across the top reads "The Doors of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak, friend, and enter." Beneath that: "I, Narvi, made them. Celebrimbor of Eregion drew these signs." The font is Dan Smith's Tengwar Sindarin.

  • AI, 484 KiB
  • PDF, 220 KiB
  • PNG, 1006 x 1600, 121 KiB
  • SVG, 648 KiB

• Eye of Sauron

  

  This graphic is derived from the "Eye of Sauron" device that appears on the covers of some editions of The Lord of the Rings. This is one of the few times that I have chosen neatness over strict accuracy: the original was clearly hand-drawn and somewhat sloppy. The text of the inscription was written with Johan Winge's wonderful Tengwar Annatar font.

  • AI, 294 KiB
  • PDF, 111 KiB
  • PNG, 1217 x 1600, 230 KiB
  • SVG, 352 KiB

Martian Successor Nadesico

• Nergal logo

  

  The logo of Nergal Heavy Industries, the builders of the Nadesico. Not coincidentally, "Nergal" is the name of the Babylonian god associated with Mars. The source image was taken from a DVD screen capture from the first episode.

  • AI, 144 KiB
  • PDF, 28 KiB
  • PNG, 1600 x 1600, 43 KiB
  • SVG, 155 KiB

Metal Gear Solid

• FOXHOUND logo

  

  "The nuclear weapons disposal facility on Shadow Moses Island, in Alaska's Fox Archipelago, was attacked and captured by next generation forces being led by members of FOXHOUND..."

  The vector version of the logo was originally drawn by my roommate's friend Chris Shields. The color version is depicted here in two nice shades of olive drab instead of the more traditional green-and-yellow, but you can change the colors easily enough if you want.

  • AI (both), 124 KiB
  • PDF (color version), 55 KiB
  • PDF (B&W version), 51 KiB
  • PNG (color version), 1498 x 1600, 199 KiB
  • PNG (B&W version), 1498 x 1600, 165 KiB
  • SVG (both), 145 KiB

Neon Genesis Evangelion

• NERV logo

  

  The year's at the spring;
  And day's at the morn;
  Morning's at seven;
  The hill-side's dew-pearled;
  The lark's on the wing;
  The snail's on the thorn;
  God's in his Heaven -
  All's right with the world!
  — Robert Browning, "Song"

  Ah, NERV. Dedicated to protecting Tokyo-3, no matter how many times they blow it up in the process. This is the first logo I converted to a vector format, mainly out of desperation since I couldn't seem to find one anywhere else, and it's still one of my favorites. It seems to be one of the most popular, too. (It even makes a nice desktop image.) Usually it is represented as red on a black background, but a black-on-transparent image like the one available here is often more useful.

  • AI, 180 KiB
  • PDF, 179 KiB
  • PNG, 1386 x 1600, 56 KiB
  • SVG, 213 KiB

  User photos

  • Alfonso Luege from Mexico used versions of the logo with CAD/CAM equipment and machined this kickass aluminum block. Is that hardcore or what?

  • Uriel-sama used my logo to make his notebook a whole lot cooler.

  • Carl Burchell made a pretty sweet T-shirt.

Portal

• Aperture Science logo

  

  Making holes in things for over 50 years.

  • AI, 52 KiB
  • PDF, 55 KiB
  • PNG, 1600 x 1600, 36 KiB
  • SVG, 1 KiB

• Cake icon

  

  Warning: may be a lie.

  • AI, 168 KiB
  • PDF, 25 KiB
  • PNG, 1600 x 1600, 68 KiB
  • SVG, 4 KiB

Star Wars

• Imperial symbol

  

  I've always liked the symbol of the Empire. It's simple and clean yet very distinctive, and immediately recognizable, often even by people who are not huge Star Wars fans. Parallels to the radiation trefoil symbol may be intentional.

  • AI, 149 KiB
  • PDF, 30 KiB
  • PNG, 1602 x 1600, 54 KiB
  • SVG, 148 KiB

• Rebel logo

  

  You Rebel scum.

  • AI, 133 KiB
  • PDF, 19 KiB
  • PNG, 1517 x 1600, 33 KiB
  • SVG, 135 KiB