01 / UNDERSTAND
Your design brief
Create a simple plant-inspired emblem for a school gardening group. Start with your own sketch, produce two trace interpretations and choose one that remains readable at its intended size.
What you will learn
- Choose a trace style for a purpose.
- Compare the source image with the resulting vectors.
- Explain how scale and simplification affect legibility.
You will need: Forma, a bold original sketch on plain paper and an image file or permitted camera. “Try a sample” provides an alternative when camera use is unavailable.
02 / EXPLORE
Make it in Forma
Menu names refer to the current browser edition. On a touchscreen, use Properties to show the inspector. A keyboard is helpful for exact dimensions.
Draw for an audience
Ask what the gardening group wants its emblem to suggest. Draw a bold leaf or sprout with a small number of intentional details. Use an original sketch rather than copying a commercial logo.
Check: Write down the two details that must survive the trace.
Capture or open the image
Save existing work, start a new drawing and open Camera & trace. Choose Open image, Try a sample, or Start camera and then Freeze frame. Frame paper flat and face-on with even lighting.
Check: Camera permission is optional; the image-file route works without it.
Choose a useful interpretation
For a filled silhouette choose Closed outlines · silhouettes. For pen strokes try Centrelines · pen strokes. Photo detail · edges is another interpretation, not a guaranteed cutting outline.
Check: Explain whether you want the edge of a dark area or the centre of a drawn stroke.
Control the size
Set Image width on sheet to 60 mm for the whole captured frame. Crop tightly before importing if you need the emblem to occupy most of that width. A real-size task can use Mark two points and Apply scale with a known distance.
Check: Image width is the entire frame, not automatically the width of the dark object.
Compare settings
Adjust the threshold, or Photo detail when that mode is active. Compare the preview with the original sketch. Note any lost veins, broken strokes or unwanted specks. Choose Add vectors to drawing.
Check: Do not assume every extra line improves the intended emblem.
Refine and compare
Save version 1. Create another version using a different trace style or setting. In the drawing, use Edit nodes to refine an appropriate path; ungroup first if you need to select separate objects.
Check: Keep open centreline paths distinct from closed silhouette boundaries.
Review at use size
Compare both versions at the intended size and ask a partner which communicates the idea best. Save the selected .forma file and export SVG if requested.
Check: Exclude any retained reference image when a vector-only export is needed.
03 / REFLECT
Check the design. Explain the decisions.
These ticks are temporary and are not submitted or saved. Keep your project file and written reflection as evidence.
Your design reflection
Which detail was most important to preserve, and why?
How did your tracing choice help or hinder the audience’s reading of the emblem?
A little support
Use the built-in sample and compare only two threshold positions. Discuss the result before editing any nodes.
Take it further
Include a measured reference in a flat image and test the two-point calibration. Discuss why an angled photograph may still distort proportions.
FOR TEACHERS
Plan the learning, not just the clicks.
Suggested timing: 10 minutes sketching, 20 tracing, 15 comparison and 10 refinement. Use the school’s camera and device policy. Images are processed on the device. Two-point scale calibration does not correct perspective; use a face-on source. There is no need to photograph pupils.
Evidence to look for
The original sketch, two trace versions, the final editable project and a reasoned comparison.
Suggested curriculum connection
England KS3 Design/Evaluate: communicate ideas digitally, consider user response and refine design proposals. Read the England D&T programme.
For other UK nations, use the curriculum adaptation guide. Ages and timings are suggestions, not equivalences between national stages.
Teacher discussion notes
A silhouette outlines the boundary of a dark area; a centreline follows a stroke. A 60 mm frame can contain an emblem narrower than 60 mm because the background is included.
Original Forma2D activity · Specialised Laser Systems · Reviewed 5 October 2026
Keep .forma files for editing. Any manufacture uses the school’s approved materials, equipment and procedures.