Blog Archives

Pointers and Connectors

4/27/2020

Creating infographics or instructions are made better by good arrows, pointers and connectors. Some of the clip art out there is just not good. So make your own pointers, connectors and create your own flow. See the complete video here on YouTube.

Start with a rectangle, add a fill, no stroke.

Duplicate the rectangle, turn it 90° and fill it with a darker color.

Move the rectangles so the inner corners touch. Select the upper right corner of the rectangle with the Direct Selection Tool.

With the corner point selected, move the corner up to the top of the darker rectangle

This creates a nice fold effect. Add a polygon for an arrow head.

For this flip direction, it uses the same basic shapes as the first set.

Start with a rectangle.

With the Direct Selection Tool, select the lower left point the pull the corner widget in toward the center to its max widgetness.

With the Direct Selection Tool, select the upper right point.

Delete the upper right corner and that will remove the horizontal and vertical lines.

Duplicate the line.

Select both of the lines and choose Object > Path > Join. Do this step twice. You can use COMMAD/CTRL + J as a shortcut. Remove the stroke and add a fill to the shape.

Duplicate and flip the shape on the Properties panel. Add a darker fill to one of the shapes.

Move the shapes over each other at the tops to create this flip over effect. Add a polygon for the arrowhead.

For the flip over effect, this is done with lines.

Draw a lines, add a hefty stroke to it.

Select the Width Shape tool, click on the right end and pull the edges in to create a point.

Click on the center of the line with the Width Shape Tool and pull out from the center of the line to create a bow in the line. Choose Object > Expand Appearance to outline the path.

Draw a rectangle to match the widest part of the shape.

Select both shapes and use the Pathfinder Unite mode to join them together.

Copy and flip the shape. Add a darker color fill

Put an arrow head on the end and you hace the twist pointer.

For the zig zag, this is made of rectangles.

Draw a rectangle, add a fill, no stroke.

Select the Free Transform Tool.

Select the top of the rectangle and shift it off to the side.

Duplicate and flip the shape, add a darker fill color to the new shape.

Repeat these sections.

At the end, draw a polygon for the arrow head.

Select the Free Transform Tool and skew the top of the arrow to match the angle and direction of the lines.

Send the darker lines to the back to make it look like they are behind the lighter lines. Choose Object > Arrange > Send to back on the dark ones.

This is the paper roll. Looks complicated... there is some skill required for this.

Select your Spiral tool and draw a spiral. Use the p/down arrow keys to make 5 segments.

Or click on the document with the Spiral tool if you want to set the settings instead of using the shortcuts while drawing.

Select the spiral and reduce the width of the overall shape.

Duplicate the spiral directly to the side. I added strokes to see the steps, in the end we will remove the stroke.

Select both shapes and choose Object > Path > Join. Do this twice to close the shapes.

Draw lines and the top, bottom and center top. These will not join, these are just lines that will define the area once we get into the Live Paint Mode.

Select all the shapes and lines, remove the stroke on all. Choose Object >Live Paint > Make. The selection will now show the pull handles with snowflakes in them, this is LivePaint mode.

Choose the Live Paint Bucket Tool (K). This is the only way to fill in these areas. in the upper left of the Paint Bucket icon is your swatches that mimic the swatches panel. Use you left/right arrows to scroll through the colors while the Live Paint Bucket Tool is active.

Choose a color and begin to fill in the sections with color. Refer back the initial image in this section to see how this is to be filled, this can make your brain hurt, trying to figure out how this curves.

In the end, you will have the darker areas inside the curl, lighter on the outside. This can remain in Live Paint mode or can be converted back to shapes by choosing Object > Live Paint > Expand.

For the cross over, we are using the components of the flip.

With the two legs of the flips, we can make this crossover effect.

Flip the darker color shape.

Line up the shapes at the tips.

Add a stoke to each shape with the corresponding fill color. I made this a 5 pt stroke.

Move the shapes apart.

Draw a line in between the tips. Make the weight the same as the outline of the shapes.

Choose Object > Expand to outline the line.

Open the Gradient Panel. Double click on the black gradient stop (dot). Click on the Eyedropper tool in the lower left of the Gradient Panel, then click on the right leg of the shape to sample the color.

Repeat this process with the left color stop dot. Select the color from the lighter green leg.

The result is a gradient bridge that can be adjusted in with how ever far apart or close together you want the legs.

And your cross over is done.

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Slip Shadow Effects

4/20/2020

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Create cools slip shadow effects with all types of characters. See all the different options you can create with this slip shadow effect here on my YouTube Channel.

Start with a letter. Choose a character that you want to create a slip shadow on.

Choose Type > Create Outlines to outline the type. This tutorial won't work on active type. Duplicate the letter and perform the next step on the duplicated character.

Choose Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Set the Move: Horizontal & vertical offset to 1mm or 1 pt. This offset the shape to the right and down. Set the number of Copies to create the slip shadow effect. Click OK.

This is the result of the Transform Effect.

Choose Object > Expand Appearance to break this into shapes.

Choose the Unite mode in the Pathfinder panel to create one single frame that is the slip shadow.

To create the slip shadow lines, draw a line.

Choose Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Set the offset to 5mm or 5 pts. This offset the line to the down create a set of lines. Set the number of Copies to 80. Click OK.

This is the result of the Transform Effect. Make a duplicate of this so you can edit it for other effects.

Select the slip shadow frame and set the fill to none. Click on the Draw Inside Mode at the bottom of the tool bar.

Copy the set of lines, paste them into the slip shadow frame. Click on the Draw Normal mode to return to editing.

Select the original letter you outlined, fill it with a color and position. it on top of the slip shadow.

With your duplicated set of lines, you can add other effects to the lines.

Select the lines and choose Effect > Distort & Transform > Zig Zag. You can create this wavy effect on the lines.

To add this new slip shadow effect to the slip shadow frame, duplicate the slip shadow frame, choose Object > Clipping Mask > Release. This will release the lines "clipped" inside the shape. Then delete the lines

Click on the slip shadow frame and then click on the Draw Inside Mode. If the Draw Inside is not available, that means the clipping mask has not been released. See the last step to release the clipping masks, then you can use the Draw Inside.

Paste the new set of wavy lines inside the slip shadow frame. Click on the Draw Normal mode when done.

Nice job!

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Decorated Easter Egg

4/12/2020

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Here is a simple and fun way to create a pattern and wrap it on an egg using the 3D feature in Illustrator. Faster than decorating the real thing and the design possibilities are endless.

Create a pattern that you want to wrap around the egg. This one starts with triangles.

Add more colors and shapes.

Add some circles, you can do fills and strokes and try different combinations.

Try different colors.

Add some lines and use the Effects to make them wavy.

Select all the shapes and make sure the are expanded. This will not work if there are lines or effects. Choose Object > Expand Appearance (if there are effects) the choose Object > Expand to outline all the paths.

Open the Symbols panel from the Window Menu. Select the expanded shapes and drag them into the Symbol Panel. Name the symbol and click OK.

The graphic will now show up in the Symbols Panel, ready to be mapped to the egg.

Create an egg by starting with a circle.

Select the top point with the Direct Selection Tool and move the top point up to create the egg.

Select the left point with the Direct Selection Tool and delete it, leaving half the egg. Set the stroke color to the color you want the egg to be.

Choose Effect > 3D > Revolve. This will create a 3D egg. Click on the Map Art… button.

From the Map Art dialog box, choose the Symbol from the menu that you want to map to the egg. Move the symbol the the light gray area on the mapped area. Scale it to fit the egg. Click OK.

The end result will be the artwork mapped to the egg.

If you need to edit the 3D artwork, open the Appearance panel and click on the 3D Revolve link to open the 3D panel again.

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Create an Emoji

4/6/2020

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Have some time on your hands? Want to express how you feel? Then you can create an emoji of how you feel!

Start with a circle.

Open the Gradient Panel on click on the Freeform Gradient Icon next to the Linear and Radial icons.

Dots will appear on the circle and they may not be any color that you have chosen, but you can change that and move the dots around.

Move the dots so there is one top, bottom, left, right and center. In the center dot, double click and make that yellow. The top and bottom dots, double click and make those very light. On the left and right dots, double click and make those more of an orange-red like blushing cheeeks.

Add a circle for the base of the eye.

Make it a radial gradient fill with white in the center going to about a 20% gray at the edges.

Inside that gray circle, add a dark blue circle. Then add a smaller, lighter blue circle.

Select the Crystalize Tool that is nested in under the Width Tool. Double click on the Crystalize Tool to open the preferences.

In the Crystalize Tool preferences, set the size of the tool to be slightly larger than the small blue circle. Click OK.

Select the blue circle then click on it with the Crystalize Tool. Do this a few times to get the Crystalize look. I did this 3 times to make it look like this. The Crystalize shape may be bigger than the dark blue circle so you may need to scale it down.

Select the Crystalize shape, the go to Object > Path > Offset Path. Set the offset to -10 then click OK.

This will create a smaller shape in the middle.

Select the large blue circle the Crystalized shape and the smaller shape inside that as well. Go to Object > Blend > Make. This will blend the colors in a smooth look.

Create a black circle in the center of the eye. Click on the Free gradient in the Gradient Panel and add 3 dots as show with a black fill and one with a white fill at the edge.

Click on the Lines button in the Gradient Panel when you are in Freeform Gradient mode. Then click on the dots as shown to connect them together to create a gradient blend. This gives a highlight effect at the edge of the circle.

This is the result of the Freeform gradient, adding a highlight to the edge of the black circle.

Add another circle, filled with white, opacity at 20%. Move it off to the upper left of the center part of the eye to create a specular highlight.

Create an arc above the eye, heavy white stroke.

Use the Width Tool to select the center and pull the arc wider in the middle, leaving the ends thinner.

Choose Effect > Blur > Gaussian blur and blur the eye brow.

Duplicate the eye and the eyebrow to the other side.

For the mouth, create a circle. In the Gradient Panel, create a Freeform gradient. Add two points in the upper part filled with brown, one point on the lower part filled with white.

Duplicate the circle over Itself by about 25%. Choose the Minus Front Mode in the Pathfinder Panel to leave the upper crescent.

Move that upper crescent over the mouth and set the opacity to 30% and add a blend mode of Multiply.

To create a happy face, duplicate the round mouth and grab the handle that comes out the right side of the circle. Swing it around to the left to create a half-circle.

Place it on a copy of the emoji and scale it larger.

With the Curvature tool, click on the the center top line and pull it down a bit.

Then, double-click on the center top point to curve the line.

For a tongue, create two red-orange circles. Use the Pathfinder Unite mode to merge them together.

Duplicate the mouth shape, remove the fill color. Click on the Draw Inside mode at the bottom of the Tool bar. Copy the tongue, paste it into the mouth shape and scale and position it as shown. When complete, click on the Draw Normal mode.

Position the mouth with the tongue on top of the mouth. Move the eyes closer together to create a happy face!

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Design Points n PixelS

Pointers and Connectors

Slip Shadow Effects

Decorated Easter Egg

Create an Emoji

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