1. A computerized method of applying a contour gradient to a two-dimensional path, the method comprising: constructing a three-dimensional polygonal shell from the two-dimensional path; projecting the three-dimensional polygonal shell into two dimensions, wherein the projecting includes saving a value for a third dimension for each point of the three-dimensional polygonal shell in a separate data structure and removing the third dimension values from the three-dimensional polygonal shell; identifying a minimum value for the third dimension from the saved values in the separate data structure; identifying a maximum value for the third dimension from the saved values in the separate data structure; determining a range of values for the third dimension based on a difference between the maximum value and the minimum value; mapping the range of values to a visual attribute in accordance with a mapping function that correlates each value in the range of values with a corresponding value for the visual attribute; and causing the two-dimensional path to be displayed using the mapped visual attribute.