Beginning the topology

By selecting Shapes > Splines > Line, the topology can be prepared. Make sure both line options are set to 'corner' in the parameters before starting. It is a bit of a tedious process, but not challenging as the thinking part was done with the red brush in Photoshop. Turn on the 'Snaps' tool and set it to 'Vertex' only. The image below is what my model looked like after creating all of the shapes. Some quads have been simplified from the red quads to make less work during the conversion to 3D later.

By selecting one of the quads and changing it to an editable poly, it changes to a surface. Now, with sub-object vertex selected, right click a vertex and select attach. Select all of the other shapes. It should look something like the image below. Highlight all vertices, and press the little square next to the weld option. This will weld all of the unneeded points to form one tidy mesh.

Yes, it does look pretty creepy. Function before form!