Pointers and Connectors

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.

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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.

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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. 

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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.

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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. 

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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. 

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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. 

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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

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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. 

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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. 

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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. 

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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. 

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

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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.

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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. 

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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. 

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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.

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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.