A proof of concept: finding a unique way to represent the Illustrator tools on a large scale, in contrast to the typical 28x28 flat icon. Rather than trying to hide or smooth over the innate pixel-based nature of each of the tools, I decided to highlight and accentuate it.
Each of the tool icons was captured from the AI tool panel, imported into a voxel art program, manually built up and extruded, then exported as .obj files for import into Element 3D.
More work yet to be done re: smoothing the movements, but a workable template has been made that allows each new tool intro to be made in a matter of minutes.