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INFOGRAPHIC SERIES - Making Patterns in Illustrator

3/26/2017

Create anything in Illustrator and turn it into a pattern in a few quick steps. If you have ever used a pattern in Illustrator, you may have found that PATTERNS DON'T MOVE WITH THE SHAPE! This tutorial will show you how they can scale and move with the shape and how to edit and create cool patterns. Enjoy!

Draw a shape, fill it with a color.

Rotate it 90°.

Create a copy of the first shape.

Draw a rectangle over half of one of the shapes. Select both shapes and use the Pathfinder>Minus Front

This will leave you with half a rectangle.

Reduce the size, fill it with white and line it up inside the first shape.

Add a stroke with white. Select all the shapes.

Under Window>Patterns, open up the Patterns Panel. Click on the Panel "cheesgrater" and choose Make Pattern.

Patterns are added to you Swatch Panel.

Once saved, the Pattern Panel will show all options.

Choose the Tile Type (layout) of the pattern you want to achieve.

On the page you will see the original artwork inside a bounding box, with the pattern displayed beyond the edge of the box.

You can scale the content and have it affect the entire pattern.

Once you have achieved the look o the pattern, click DONE in the upper left corner of the document. This will exit out of the pattern editing process.

Draw andy shape and apply the pattern fill from the Swatches Panel.

Patterns WILL NOT MOVE WITH THE SHAPE! This can be frustrating to say the least. If you want to scale, move or rotate the shape AND have the pattern move with it, double-click on the Scale tool in the Tool bar. Click the box Transform Patterns.

To edit a pattern, click on the shape that has the pattern fill on it and the click on the Pattern Panel ”cheesegrate” and choose Edit Pattern.

Once you complete the editing of the pattern, click DONE in the upper left side of the document to exit out.

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INFOGRAPHIC SERIES - Curved Paper Pointer

3/13/2017

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Create a curved paper pointer for any infographic. This creates a nice edge, some dimension and can be turned any way to be used as a pointer.

Create a rectangle and fill it with a color, no stroke.

Create another rectangle and round the ends fully

Align the rounded shape to the top of the box, and centered on the left edge. COPY the rounded shape (for later)

Select both shapes and use the Pathfinder Panel>Minus Front

PASTE the shape again, the select both shapes and use the Pathfinder Panel>Minus Front again.

This is the result.

Paste the shape again, then using the corner widgets, unround the bottom edges so just the top edges are rounded.

Place the new shape behind the front shape, align the tops.

Draw a line at the base of the back shape.

Use the Width Shape Tool to make the line wider in the middle.

Under Effects Menu, choose Gaussian Blur to blur the line.

This is the result of the blur. Send it behind the main shape but in front of the back shape.

Draw a box over the blurred line, lining it up with the horizon line. Select both the blurred lines and the box.

With both selected, choose Object>Clipping Mask>Make. This masks the bottom of the blurred line to make it a hard edge.

Select the bottom of the main shape with the Direct Selection Tool and change the corners to flat, then pull them into towards the center to make a strong point.

Select the main shape with the Selection Tool and choose Object>Path>Offset Path. This is set to -70 to create a smaller shape inside. Click OK.

Fill the shape with a gradient.

Open the Gradient panel from the Window Menu. Double-click on the color stops on the Gradient Ramp to call up your swatches or the Color Picker.

Select the blurred line and Click on the Opacity link in the Control Bar. Set the Mode to Multiply. This makes the drop shadow look more realistic.

Add anything to the pointer and you are done!

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Design Points n PixelS

INFOGRAPHIC SERIES - Making Patterns in Illustrator

INFOGRAPHIC SERIES - Curved Paper Pointer

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