Illustrator

Illustration

Learn Adobe Illustrator today

with over 30 expert tutorials
Want to learn Adobe Illustrator? Or further your
illustration skills? Youve picked up the right book!
Thisedition is packed full of step-by-step guides and
expert tips offering advice on everything from portraits to
logo design all so you can create incredible vector-based
artwork. Illustrator Essentials is all you need
to become a true vector graphics master.

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Essentials

Illustrator Essentials

Illustrator

Logo design

Typography

I Digital art

Essentials

196

pages oF AMA
ZING
ILLUSTRATor
ADVICE!

1
4 VIDEO
UTORIALS!
T

Master Illustrators
toolset today

150 PRO TIPS!

Logo, packaging
and art secrets

Discover the
full power of

Adobe
Illustrator
today w
ith over 30
t utorials from leading
c reative professionals

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Contents

Contents
Illustrator Essentials

ILLUSTRATOR TOOL GUIDE

08

PRO GUIDES

17

GET THE MOST OUT OF THE BLEND TOOL

50

QUICK AND EASY PATTERNS

53

Discover all of Illustrators amazing tools and how to use them

In-depth guides to key Illustrator features unmissable!

Video tutorial: Steven Bonner shows you how to improve your work
with Illustrators Blend tool

Video tutorial: Becca Allen explains how to make complex pattern

swatches using the Pattern Creation mode in Illustrator CS6

WORK WITH ENVELOPE DISTORTION 55

Video tutorial: Envelope distortion can be a powerful ally.
Luke ONeill runs you through the basics

LIVE COLOUR SKILLS 62

Video tutorial: Lee Barnes shows you how to create and edit
colour groups with the Live Color tool

CREATE SHAPES FASTER!

66

Layer up vectors

68

COOL Papercut aesthetics

76

ISOMETRIC GRID-BASED LETTERING

84

FLOURESCENT TRANSPARENCY

88

MASTER INNER GLOW

94

Jonny Wan explains how to meet tight deadlines by mastering

thePathfinder panel in Illustrator

Cover artist Tom Mac reveals how to create a drip-effect portrait

using the Pen tool and object layering techniques

Drip effect portraits by Tom Mac _Page 68

Steven Bonner shows you how to digitally replicate a 3D papercut

style using Illustrators native tools

We show you the possibilities of an isometric grid by creating

a custom 3D typeface

Ben the Illustrator explains how to use transparency and gradient

tools to bring a dynamic creative edge to your work

Siggi Odds walks through a time-saving technique for adding

shadows and highlights to your illustration work

Isometric lettering made easy _Page 84

Illustrator Essentials

Create shapes faster! _Page 66

Contents
Illustrator Essentials

HIGHLIGHTS
Contents

for full
tutorial
listings see
pages 48
and 64

Work with envelope distortion _Page 55

Papercut aesthetics _Page 76

Quick and easy patterns _Page 53

Flourescent transparency effects _Page 88

Master inner glow for vector shading _Page 94

Illustrator Essentials

Contents

Contents
Illustrator Essentials

DESIGN A BRANDING SOLUTION

98

Sebastin litmanovich reveals how to create a range of original

branding elements from a logo design

CONSTRUCT A TYPE-BASED IDENTITY

102

create a modular grid system

106

ADD DEPTH AND TEXTURE

110

Ruben Pater from Lava explains how designing a custom typeface

can work for an identity

Mark Bloom walks through how to create a flexible modular grid

system that will change the way you approach design

Jeffrey Bowman explains how to use grids, gradients and textures

to add depth to your illustrations

CREATE A 3D CUSTOM MAP 114

Radio talks through how to create isometric icons using a grid
andthe 3D Extrude tool

50 illustration tips 118

Harness the full power of Illustrators tool set and refine your
techniques for a smoother, more efficient workflow

DESIGN BETTER LOGOS!

124

PACKAGING DESIGN MADE EASY

130

PROFILE: jaRED NICKERSON

150

PROFILE: ROB BAILEY

156

ILLUSTRATOR SHOWCASE

162

Take control of your identity projects with 50 expert ways to

create better logos in Illustrator

Refine your packaging design workflow with 50 expert tips

forgetting more from Illustrator

The illustrator and BloodSweatVector co-founder discusses

blending the cute with the grotesque

Designer Rob Bailey is moving up in the world of illustration. He

explains why hes most satisfied by the simple things in life

Get inspired with the best Illustrator work from the worlds freshest
and best creative talents

Add depth and texture to your illustrations _Page 110

Illustrator Essentials

Contents
Illustrator Essentials

Contents

HIGHLIGHTS

50 ways to design better logos in Illustrator _Page 124

Design a coherant branding solution _Page 98

Jared Nickerson in profile _Page 150

The amazing work of Meomi _Page 138

Create a 3D custom map _Page 114

Top tips for packaging _Page 130

Illustrator Essentials

Showcase

Tutorials

Quick Skills

Features

Features

The pros guide to

Artboards and grids

Quick Skills

artboards
AND grids

Showcase

Tutorials

Master Illustrators improved artboard capabilities and

speed up your workflow on complex multi-part projects

Illustrator Essentials

43

Showcase

Tutorials

Quick Skills

Features

50 pro tips
Illustration

Smooth out your lines

Get more from the Eyedropper

Set up a Swatch Library

Tweak gradients quickly

ILLUSTRATION 5

top 50

Harness the full power of

Illustrators tool set and refine
your techniques for a smoother,
more efficient workflow

118 Illustrator Essentials

One of the quickest ways to clean up any rough vector

shapes or stray anchor points and make your linework
a little smoother is to use the Smooth tool, found in
thePencil tools fly-out menu. You can then edit the
tolerance settings for fidelity and smoothness.

Hold down Shift while clicking with the Eyedropper

tool, and Illustrator will grab just the colour from the
area youve clicked and apply it to the attribute youve
selected either the stroke or fill. This is useful if, for
instance, youve placed a photograph and want to pick
out a certain colour to apply to the fill of a shape.

If you often find yourself deleting unwanted default

swatches and trawling through previous projects to
find the perfect colour that youve used before, then
setting up a custom swatch library can save a lot of
time, especially if you use a very similar colour palette
across different illustrations.

If you use the Eyedropper tool to adjust a single

colourslider in a gradient, it replaces the gradient
witha fillcolour. So, select the shape and, in the
Gradient palette, click the colour slider you want
toadjust, then Alt/Opt+click on the required swatch
inthe Swatches palette. Only the selected gradient
colour will be changed.

Duplication shortcuts
Many illustrators duplicate shapes by holding Alt/
Option and dragging, but it can be tricky to align them
perfectly. Try using Ctrl/Cmd+C and Ctrl/Cmd+F to
paste a copy directly above the original, or Ctrl/Cmd+B
to paste behind it. Useful when applying effects to
separate shapes, or layering objects with masks
whenyou dont want to move the original.

Apply text to a path

Know your limits

If you find yourself transforming and warping text

tofitalong a path, remember that Illustrator has a
built-in tool for this. Draw your desired path and select
the Path Text tool from the Text tool fly-out. Hover the
cursor over the path, click, and type whatever you
need. Using the Selection tool you can click and drag
the cursor to the inside or outside of the circle.

Illustrator is great for vector work, but if you load

itupwith too many effects, imported images and

50 pro tips
Illustration

13

When youre scaling an illustration that has lots

ofdifferent strokes, brushes and effects applied,
double-click on the Scale tool to bring up the
Preferences panel, then tick Scale Strokes and
Effects. This will ensure that everything is kept
inproportion without having to expand anything.

Lighting effects with Opacity masks

An easy way to add highlights to an object is to give it
ablack-to-white gradient, and then apply an Opacity
mask so that only the white areas of the gradient are
visible. You can then re-colour the object, leaving a
nice glow. The same technique also works for adding
texture using black-and-white Film Grain effects.

1 4
complicated colour masks, then it can start to slow
down and become sluggish. Know when the time is
right to move to an alternative program: Photoshop
can often handle the same effects much more quickly,
saving you time and strife.

Have fun with colour theory

10

Custom strokes with the Width tool

Shade with
Transparency

When adding shading to your work, rather than using

solid shapes in a darker colour, use black set to 25%
Opacity and the Multiply blending mode: this gives you a
darker tone of the underlaying colour. Play with different
blending modes as you see fit by mixing a solid full
gradient with a colour at a low Opacity, set to Multiply,
you can create some really interesting effects.

Tutorials

To quickly tweak the colour of an illustration, go to

Edit>Edit Colors for a selection of often underused
features such as Saturation, Colour Balance and
Recolor Artwork. In the small drop-down menu at the
top, youll find colour harmony suggestions, including
complementary, shades and monochromatic.

For bespoke outlines, create your linework with the

Pen or Pencil, and then use the Width tool to thicken or
thin the lines at any point using anchor points. If youre
frequently creating lines of a similar style a pen line
that thickens in the middle and trails off like an ink pen
stroke, for instance then save a version of it in the
Profiles menu within the Stroke menu.

Save time with the Symbol Sprayer

Showcase

11

Features

With an object selected, go to the Transparency palette,

and in the fly-out click on Show Thumbnails, then Make
Opacity Mask. Place your texture: anything white will
show through, and black will mask out, so bear this
inmind when scanning and adjusting textures in
Photoshop. This technique is much more
effective than Live Trace, which provides a
comparatively crude digital simulation with
hundreds of anchor points.

Scale in proportion

Quick Skills

Add texture with

Opacity masks

12

When creating random collections of the same

symbol, the Symbol Sprayer tool is much more
efficient than copying and pasting. For a sky filled
withtiny stars, create a tiny white dot, drag it into the
Symbols palette, select it with the Sprayer tool and
just spray the dots around. Theyll be retained as a
Symbol Set, but can be split into separate objects
byclicking Object>Expand.

Illustrator Essentials 119