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1)
In a new document turn on the options Snap to Point and
Snap to Guides in the View menu then criss-cross two
guide lines anywhere on the page. Bring the Guide layer above
the Foreground layer. Then create a constrained circle by Option(Alt)+Shift+dragging
from the intersection point of the guides.
Next pick a metallic fill color for your dial. Above I chose to make it a copper color. I used a mixture of the process colors
19c 35m 71y 0k. |
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2)
Now zoom in the top part of the circle a little bit. Drag one
more Horizontal Guide and snap it to the top of the circle.
Choose the Bezigon tool and make a half of a triangle shape
like shown above using any angle but making sure you start at
the intersecting guides in the middle and ending at the intersecting
guides at the top.
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3)
Select this shape and Clone it. While the clone is still
selected, Reflect it horizontally 90° so it
looks like the above example. Select both of the halves and Join
them together so it is a closed path. Next select the top middle
point in the triangle shape and delete it.
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4)
It's safe to hide the Guide layer for now. Select the triangle
shape and Clone it. While the clone is still selected,
open the Transform palette and turn off the Uniform
option (if turned on). Enter 10 for the x value and 100
for the y value. The new shape should look like the example
above.
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5)
Now it's time to fill the shapes in. Fill the big triangle with
the same color as the circle. Use a 30% tint of that same
color for the smaller triangle. Then remove the lines from both
shapes.
Next Shift+select the top left point of each triangle. |
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6)
While the points are selected, Blend the shapes together.
About 20-30 steps should be enough depending on the final size
of the shape of course.
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7)
While the blend is still selected, Clone it. Choose the
Rotate tool and Option(Alt)+Click at the middle
intersecting guides. In the Transform palette enter 90°.
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8)
While the clone is still selected, Duplicate it two more
times so it rotates around the circle like the above example.
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9)
Select all of the blends and Cut them (Command+X/Control+X).
Select the circle and Paste Inside the blends. Then give
the circle a 1 point line using the 30% color you
created earlier.
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10)
Now add some decorations often seen with a radial dial. Above
I added a bevel edge behind the dial face with an offset radial
fill for depth. Then I added a "gripper" edge using
the Tip "Shapes Around a Circle" in the Tips
Archive. Lastly I created an indicator light that I can
rotate from the center of the dial face for any position.
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11)
Then use it on an illustration of a Stereo front for example.
Above I created a drop shadow for more realism and added a text
label etc...
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Lastly if you decide you want to
change the metal type or color, just mix a new color in the Color
Mixer then Click+Drag the color from the Mixer onto the first
color you created. This will recolor everything including the
tints and blends.
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There could be many uses for this easy technique and I'm sure you'll come up with a few. I've used a similar technique for rendering a reflective CD surface for example. Look for that tip in the Tips Archive. 
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