INFOGRAPHIC SERIES - BUILD A PICKET FENCE USING THE BLEND TOOL

Simple yet very effective, this lesson with the Blend Tool in Adobe Illustrator shows how simple yet effective this tool can be to create a dynamic infograpjic. 

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Start with a rectangle, fill it with a color, no stroke.

Use the Direct Selection Tool and select the top edges to reveal the corner widgets for  the top edges only.

Use the OPTION key to OPTION + CLICK on the corner widget target, this will cycle through the corners: Round, Flat and Inverse Rounded.
​Stop at the one that you like. 

This is the Inverse Rounded Edge I chose for the picket fence look.

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Duplicate the shape by selecting the object with the Selection Tool, hold OPTION + CLICK & drag the shape to the right while holding SHIFT to keep it on the same axis.

Select the Blend Tool from the Tool Bar, double-click on the Blend Tool icon to open the dialogue box of options.

Choose Specified Steps from the drop-down menu. In this example I chose 8 steps between my original shape and the duplicated shape.

Once you click OK, use the Blend Tool Icon to select a point on the original shape. This Blend Tool Icon will highlight with an ASTERISK showing you the point of origin.

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Then, go to the duplicate object and click on the same location that you clicked on originally. This will make sure the blend goes from like-point to like-point. VERY IMPORTANT!

Based on the options of 8 steps that I set the the dialogue box of the Blend Tool, the shapes will create 8 steps in between the original 2 shapes.

Go into Preview Mode (COMMAND + Y) and this will show the outline of the shapes and the "path" that created the steps in the Blend Tool. 

Using the Curvature Tool, you can curve the path of the Blend. This will change the curve and how the shapes blend.

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COMMAND + Y will get back out of Preview Mode. This is what it looks like when the Curvature Tool is used on the blend "Path".

If you edit one end of the Blend, all the shapes will them trans form to blend from the one shape to another.

Pointed shapes to rounded shapes...

Or from one color to another! Lots of cool options with the Blend Tool!