IntroductionWelcome| 00:05 | My name is Von Glitschka and I love to draw.
| | 00:08 | I've been drawing professionally for over 25 years.
| | 00:12 | My work reflects a symbiotic relationship
between design and illustration.
| | 00:18 | I like to call it illustrative design.
| | 00:20 | Often a graphic problem requires an
illustrative approach to solve it,
| | 00:26 | be it a brand character design, an app icon,
a promotional graphic or a new logo design.
| | 00:34 | Design is an amazing alchemy of images and
text that can powerfully communicate ideas.
| | 00:41 | But developing and executing on those
ideas requires an illustrative style
| | 00:47 | that can be very challenging
for a designer not adept at drawing.
| | 00:51 | The key to success is developing a systematic
creative process, starting with creative
| | 00:57 | thinking and refining your drawing
skills and ultimately turning
| | 01:02 | your ideas into precise Vector graphics
that can be used virtually anywhere.
| | 01:08 | The approach and methods I share
in this course will introduce you
| | 01:13 | to illustrative design, making the
creative task easier and more efficient,
| | 01:18 | ultimately helping you to produce a
greater range of ideas in your own work.
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| Exercise files| 00:01 | During this course, we'll be exploring
the process of drawing out your
| | 00:05 | creative ideas, refining your drawn designs,
then building them precisely in Vector format.
| | 00:12 | As you can see here, I've provided some
Exercise Files and some extra creative
| | 00:17 | resources that will be available to
all Lynda.com members to help
| | 00:22 | you get the most from the movies in this course.
| | 00:25 | They can be found in the Exercise_Files
tab on the course details page
| | 00:30 | or if you're watching this tutorial on a DVD,
the Exercise Files have been included there.
| | 00:38 | All of the build method examples
I use in this course are provided
| | 00:43 | in the appropriate chapter folder.
| | 00:45 | So for instance, all these resources
are thoroughly documented and you'll be
| | 00:50 | able to learn and use the methodology
in your own creative projects.
| | 00:55 | I've also included an Extra Resources
folder with additional content that will
| | 01:00 | help you learn and move forward.
| | 01:01 | So let's get started.
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1. The ProcessWhat is illustrative design?| 00:01 | So what's illustrative design?
| | 00:03 | It's simple, it's nothing more than a
design-oriented project that requires an
| | 00:08 | illustrative approach in order
to solve the graphic problem.
| | 00:13 | Whatever type of illustrative design
project you face, the key to solving it
| | 00:17 | successfully is going to be determined
by the creative process you use.
| | 00:22 | And in this course, I'll be taking you
through a systematic creative process
| | 00:27 | I use every day in order to create
ideas requiring an illustrative approach.
| | 00:32 | The process is easy to understand, and
you'll be able to adapt it to your own workflow.
| | 00:38 | So if you've ever come up with an idea
and you thought you couldn't pull it off,
| | 00:42 | it's my goal to help facilitate your
skills, so you can approach and execute
| | 00:48 | on illustrative design with more
precision and success moving forward.
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| A systematic creative process| 00:01 | It said that practice makes perfect. I disagree.
| | 00:05 | If your creative process is flawed
then all practice does is make you
| | 00:09 | a consistent purveyor of marginal work.
| | 00:13 | Creating illustrative design
successfully requires a consistent
| | 00:17 | and systematic creative process.
| | 00:20 | In this course, I'll cover
four fundamental stages.
| | 00:23 | The first stage is Creative Preparation,
and it covers what a designer needs
| | 00:28 | to do before they start designing in order
to create appropriate and effective solutions.
| | 00:35 | The second stage is Drawing Your Design
and I'll cover the importance of drawing
| | 00:40 | out your design ideas and refining
them before you move to digital.
| | 00:44 | The third stage is Building Your Vector
Shapes, and it will show you how to take
| | 00:49 | your drawn design and create it with
precision in Vector form through simple
| | 00:54 | build methods in Adobe Illustrator.
| | 00:58 | The fourth stage is Presenting Your
Design Solutions and it will cover how
| | 01:02 | you present your ideas to your client
and how to manage design revisions.
| | 01:07 | As we move forward in this course,
you'll see how the systematic process
| | 01:12 | will not only improve your
illustrative design skills;
| | 01:15 | it will also enhance your
conceptual abilities as well.
| | 01:18 | It's my hope that with practice,
you'll become a consistent purveyor
| | 01:23 | of well-crafted design ideas.
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| Exploring analog tools| 00:01 | When it comes to illustrative design
analog methods facilitate digital workflows.
| | 00:06 | We'll go into that in more detail
a little later, but that said,
| | 00:11 | you'll need some basic analog drawing tools
and supplies to create your design.
| | 00:16 | That's right, I said analog.
| | 00:19 | First you'll need an ink pen, any type
of ink pen will work, I just happened to
| | 00:24 | prefer the Papermate Flair pens myself.
| | 00:27 | You'll use a pen to do quick thumbnail
drawings or take notes to capture the
| | 00:32 | essence of ideas quickly.
| | 00:34 | You can obviously do
thumbnail drawings with a pencil.
| | 00:37 | I just find a pen forces
you not to overthink an idea.
| | 00:41 | You're not refining, you
are mining at this stage.
| | 00:45 | You'll also need a sketchbook or paper.
| | 00:48 | Any type of paper can be used
to draw your initial sketches on.
| | 00:52 | Literally anything is acceptable.
| | 00:55 | You can't always control inspiring moments,
so whatever you have at the moment will work.
| | 01:00 | Personally I find sketchbooks confining,
so I prefer keeping a notepad nearby.
| | 01:07 | When inspired I draw on that.
| | 01:09 | It also allows me to tear it off and put
it in the project folder guilt free as well.
| | 01:15 | A regular pencil is ideal for doing
rough sketches and refining ideas
| | 01:22 | as you form and shape your drawn design.
| | 01:24 | You'll want to use a mechanical pencil
to take your rough sketch and draw out a
| | 01:30 | refined final sketch which you'll use
to build from digitally in Vector form.
| | 01:35 | At times a ruler can be helpful to
draw straight edges and of course an
| | 01:40 | eraser is mandatory, since we'll be drawing
and redrawing in order to refine the design.
| | 01:47 | Having a light box really helps when you
begin making refinements to your drawn design.
| | 01:53 | Being able to draw on top of your
original sketch to improve shapes
| | 01:58 | is what illustrative design is all about.
| | 02:01 | I recommend a good quality tracing paper,
preferably one that won't rip easily
| | 02:06 | if you erase and redraw in
the same area a few times.
| | 02:10 | I am a paper snob myself and prefer
using higher-quality paper because
| | 02:16 | it's durable and works well three to four
layers deep when drawing on a light box.
| | 02:22 | These are all the analog tools you'll
need to produce the illustrative designs
| | 02:26 | I'll cover in this course.
| | 02:28 | Remember how much you love doing art as a kid?
It's time to reawaken that passion
| | 02:34 | and put the fun back in fundamentals.
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| Exploring digital tools| 00:01 | The final result from our analog drawing
will be a refined sketch that will serve
| | 00:05 | as a road map for building our Vector art.
| | 00:08 | So the execution of illustrative design
requires the use of a Vector drawing program.
| | 00:15 | These fundamentals apply to any vector
drawing program in general,
| | 00:19 | whether that's CorelDRAW or even an open
source application like Inkscape,
| | 00:25 | but for this course we're going to
specifically focus on Adobe Illustrator
| | 00:30 | since it's the industry-standard.
| | 00:32 | It doesn't matter if you're using an
old version or the most recent version
| | 00:36 | of Illustrator since the same
methodology will work for all of them.
| | 00:41 | In a nutshell Vector artwork is made
up of anchor points and paths that form
| | 00:47 | what are called Bezier curves.
| | 00:49 | When it comes to creating and editing
these Bezier curves, Illustrator contains
| | 00:54 | all the tools you'll need
to build your Vector design.
| | 00:58 | So obviously, how well you control
the Bezier curves in Illustrator
| | 01:03 | will ultimately determine the craftsmanship
and quality of your final design.
| | 01:08 | There are 11 core tools needed to create
precision vector graphics in Illustrator.
| | 01:14 | Let's take a look at how these work.
| | 01:19 | The first tool we'll look at is the Pen tool.
| | 01:21 | Simply put, precision vector building
wouldn't be possible without the Pen tool,
| | 01:27 | you'll use it to lay down all your
anchor points one by one, forming a path
| | 01:33 | that makes the vector shape you need.
| | 01:35 | Before we jump into the Pen tool we need to
use the Zoom tool, and that's so we can
| | 01:41 | see what we're going to work on here.
| | 01:43 | In this case it's a skull design I drew
out and we've placed the refined sketch
| | 01:49 | into Illustrator and it's going to
serve as a road map to build our vectors on,
| | 01:54 | and first we're going to zoom in again,
because we're going to focus on this one
| | 01:59 | isolated shape within our skull design.
| | 02:03 | Using the Pen tool now, we'll just lay
down our anchor points one at a time in
| | 02:11 | order to form the Bezier curve we need
that creates the shape of the Vector art
| | 02:17 | we're putting together.
| | 02:18 | In this case, it's the left-hand
side of the skull art.
| | 02:24 | A lot of the methods I'm going to go over
in this course, they tend to overlap
| | 02:30 | and reinforce one another so you're
actually seeing some of the methods
| | 02:37 | I'll define later in this course, such as
how do you know where to place your anchor points.
| | 02:44 | So that's how the Pen tool works.
| | 02:46 | It's a simple click-by-click
method to build your Vector shape.
| | 02:51 | Now this shape isn't refined, we'll go
into that in more detail in another movie
| | 02:55 | but that's how the Pen tool works.
| | 02:58 | The next tool is the Add Anchor Point tool.
| | 03:01 | It allows you to add an additional
anchor point to any path you've created.
| | 03:06 | So we're going to select the Add
Anchor Point tool here and based off of this
| | 03:11 | shape we've already created now, if
you wanted to add another anchor point
| | 03:16 | to this existing path you just simply go
anywhere on the path and click
| | 03:21 | and it adds the anchor point.
| | 03:23 | And that's how the Add Anchor Point tool works.
| | 03:27 | The Delete Anchor Point tool will
remove any anchor point from any path
| | 03:32 | you've created without breaking the path.
| | 03:35 | So if we click the Delete Anchor Point
tool here we go back to that anchor
| | 03:40 | point we just added, simply click on it,
and it removes the anchor point
| | 03:46 | without breaking the path.
| | 03:48 | Now this same functionality is also
available in Illustrator, so you would
| | 03:54 | select that anchor point and instead
using the Delete Anchor Point tool,
| | 04:00 | that same exact functionality is contained up
above in the tool menu here and you can
| | 04:06 | click this button also to remove it.
| | 04:10 | So it's the same functionality,
actually the same tool, it's just in
| | 04:14 | two locations in Adobe Illustrator.
| | 04:18 | The Convert Anchor Point tool
converts smooth points to corner points.
| | 04:23 | It can also be used to reveal, isolate,
manipulate and/or retract handlebars
| | 04:29 | independently to adjust the Bezier curve.
| | 04:32 | So if we select the Convert Anchor Point
tool here and go to any anchor point,
| | 04:38 | click and pull, it will reveal the
handlebars and then you're able to adjust
| | 04:45 | those handlebars and move them in
order to form the shape you need.
| | 04:51 | So with the Convert Anchor Point tool
you can select any smooth anchor point
| | 04:56 | such as this one, click on it, and it
will convert it to a corner anchor point.
| | 05:03 | Now to turn it back into a smooth
anchor point you just click it again and pull
| | 05:08 | out the handlebars to reveal it.
| | 05:13 | We'll now use the Selection tool to
scale objects larger or smaller; that also
| | 05:18 | allows you to click or drag to select
shapes as individual objects; and you can
| | 05:23 | also use it to manipulate handlebars
to adjust the Bezier curve.
| | 05:28 | So for this design we're
going to specifically use it.
| | 05:32 | We have to zoom out now so we can
see the eyes on this specific skull.
| | 05:38 | Now using the Selection tool here
we're going to grab the circular shape that
| | 05:46 | we've created for the eye and right now
it's, as you can see it's too small,
| | 05:51 | we want it a little bigger.
| | 05:52 | So with that Selection tool we select
that shape and it gives us these,
| | 05:58 | this bounding box, and you can grab anywhere
on this bounding box and scale it up
| | 06:03 | in order to increase the size.
| | 06:05 | You can also scale it down if you
wanted it to be smaller, but in this case
| | 06:10 | we're going to keep it large because
we're matching our underlying drawing.
| | 06:15 | You can also drag and select,
so drag any area to select it.
| | 06:22 | So let's do that again, we're going to
drag this area to select this shape,
| | 06:27 | then we can move it over and it allows
us to scale it to the size we need.
| | 06:35 | The Direct Selection tool lets you
to directly click or drag to select
| | 06:40 | a specific segment or a path
or individual anchor points.
| | 06:45 | It can also reveal, isolate, and
manipulate handlebars to adjust a Bezier curve.
| | 06:51 | So if we select the Direct Select tool
here and we go back to our initial shape
| | 06:57 | we created here, you can drag-select
the specific anchor point and then
| | 07:03 | manipulate the Bezier
curve to match your drawing.
| | 07:08 | You can also do that
with multiple anchor points.
| | 07:12 | Let's say you wanted to shift this a
little up, so you could select all those
| | 07:17 | anchor points in order to
manipulate your art that way.
| | 07:21 | It just gives you a more precise way
to select your anchor points and your
| | 07:25 | Vector art in order to manipulate the
handlebars and form the shape you need.
| | 07:31 | So this would be the primary way you
would go through your art, select the
| | 07:36 | anchor points and finesse your shape
until it matches your underlying drawing.
| | 07:42 | Before I jump to another file and demonstrate
the five remaining tools I want to
| | 07:47 | completely show you how the process
for this specific art played out.
| | 07:52 | So to do that we need to zoom
out so you can see the full design.
| | 07:56 | You can see the existing art I created here.
| | 07:59 | I'm going to turn that layer off for
right now, and this is how the final base
| | 08:05 | Vector art came out for this design.
| | 08:08 | These are all the shapes in place and
then once colored and black-and-white
| | 08:15 | that's how the final design played out.
| | 08:17 | So like a good cooking show, I have my
artwork pre-bake just so I can show you
| | 08:23 | exactly how it came out when it was all done.
| | 08:27 | We're now going to switch files to
demonstrate the five remaining tools
| | 08:32 | left to demonstrate for you.
| | 08:34 | We're going to use a blank canvas here
and the first of the five remaining tools
| | 08:39 | is going to be the Ellipse tool.
| | 08:41 | The Ellipse tool allows you to create
complete circular or elliptical shapes.
| | 08:47 | So let me show you how that works. You use it,
| | 08:51 | in this case we're going to
create a circular shape like that.
| | 08:56 | That's pretty much how this specific
tool works, you can also select it and
| | 09:01 | distort it if you wanted a oval shape,
but for this specific demonstration
| | 09:07 | we're going to retain a circular shape and it's
going to make sense in the next tool we go over.
| | 09:14 | The next tool is the Rectangle tool.
| | 09:18 | The Rectangle tool will create
complete shapes with 90 degree angles.
| | 09:24 | So now with our circular shape in place
we're going to now create a rectangle shape,
| | 09:29 | and that's how that works.
| | 09:33 | Just like the circular shape, you can
distort it in order to create any type of
| | 09:39 | shape rectangle you want.
| | 09:42 | You can also use the Rectangular tool, if you
hold the Shift key down, to make a perfect square.
| | 09:49 | In this case we want the rectangle,
so we don't care about the square.
| | 09:53 | These are the only two shapes we need at this
point, and we can now move to the next tool.
| | 10:00 | The next tool we're going to go over,
and before we do the next tool, we do want
| | 10:05 | to have these two shapes selected
just for this demonstration.
| | 10:09 | And the next tool is the Rotation tool.
| | 10:15 | With the Rotation tool selected
you can now rotate your art.
| | 10:20 | In this case the circular shape and
the rectangular shape, and we're going to
| | 10:25 | rotate it specifically at 45 degree angle.
| | 10:29 | And to get those locked in degrees you
hold the Shift key down and it locks it
| | 10:35 | in to set degrees 90, 45, and so forth.
| | 10:39 | You can customize those within
Illustrator's Preferences, but for this
| | 10:44 | demonstration we're going
to stick with 45 degrees.
| | 10:48 | Once you have that we'll move it over
just a little bit, right about there.
| | 10:54 | And this brings us to the next tool.
| | 10:56 | The next tool is the Pathfinder.
| | 10:59 | The Pathfinder enables you to create
using shape-building techniques using the
| | 11:04 | tools Unite, Minus Front,
Intersect, and Exclude modes.
| | 11:09 | It works like a cookie-cutter, and all
these tools are located on the Pathfinder
| | 11:16 | Palette you can see here.
| | 11:18 | And the first one we're going
to use is the Unite feature.
| | 11:21 | So with our shape selected still, we're
going to simply click this button,
| | 11:27 | and it turns it into one unified shape.
| | 11:29 | It unites the shapes hence its name.
| | 11:33 | We're going to back to the Rectangle
tool that I've already demonstrated,
| | 11:38 | and this is what I call a throwaway shape,
we're just creating this in order to get
| | 11:42 | the final shape we need.
| | 11:43 | In this case I drew a rectangle
shape on top of this combined circle and
| | 11:49 | rectangle shape, and now using the
Pathfinder again we're going to use another
| | 11:53 | mode called Minus Front.
| | 11:55 | Think of this as a cookie-cutter.
| | 11:58 | You click this button and it lops off
the underneath shape that it overlaps.
| | 12:04 | So it works like a cookie-cutter, and you
can see the end hape we end up having here.
| | 12:10 | We're going to zoom in a little bit on
this so you can see it a little better.
| | 12:15 | So this is the final shape and for this
specific design we're going to color it red.
| | 12:21 | Now the next tool I'm going to
demonstrate is called the Reflect tool.
| | 12:26 | What the Reflect tool does is it takes
any shape and it allows you to reflect it,
| | 12:32 | to flip it over and to reflect that shape.
| | 12:35 | Now if we just used it without copying
our shape first this is what would happen.
| | 12:42 | It would just flip over and
we'd lose it on this side.
| | 12:45 | So before we use that tool we'll want
to go to Edit>Copy, then pull down again
| | 12:54 | under Edit to Paste in Front.
| | 12:56 | What essentially this has done, it's
created a clone of that shape directly
| | 13:01 | on top of the other shape.
| | 13:04 | Now with that shape selected we can go
to the Reflect tool, click wherever you
| | 13:10 | want the orientation to be.
| | 13:11 | In this case we want it to be directly
in the center so we're going to hover
| | 13:15 | right over this anchor point, click
and then you can reflect that shape.
| | 13:21 | And in this case, we've created a heart.
| | 13:25 | Now we'll merge these two shapes
together using the Unite feature in the
| | 13:29 | Pathfinder to create our heart graphic.
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2. Creative PreparationCreative preparation| 00:01 | Before a designer can create effectively,
they need to think effectively.
| | 00:06 | In other words, you can't design in a vacuum.
| | 00:09 | Before we set forth to create any design
we have to make sure we have all the
| | 00:14 | information needed, so we can develop
and design from an informed perspective.
| | 00:20 | Ironically, the least creative part
of the creative process,
| | 00:24 | artistically speaking is probably the most
important part: the thinking behind the design.
| | 00:30 | In this part of the course, we'll go
over basic ways to prepare for the
| | 00:35 | ideation aspects of a design project.
| | 00:38 | So you'll be prepared to create appropriately.
| | 00:41 | In this chapter, we'll cover topics
such as how to harvest vital information
| | 00:47 | using creative briefs, conceptual
thinking methods, how to improve your design
| | 00:53 | thinking, discerning appropriate styles
for your projects, and using reference
| | 00:59 | to improve your drawn designs.
| | 01:02 | With this type of information gathering
firmly in place, you'll be well-equipped
| | 01:07 | to move forward with your creative ideas.
| | 01:09 | So, sit back and enjoy the ride.
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| The creative brief| 00:01 | One of the easiest methods for gathering
critical client and project-specific
| | 00:05 | information is by using what
is called a Creative Brief.
| | 00:10 | It doesn't have to be complicated.
| | 00:12 | It can be a simple document that asks
thoughtful questions in order to get your
| | 00:16 | client to think or see themselves and
their product, or most importantly their
| | 00:22 | audience from a new perspective.
| | 00:24 | Some questions you might ask are: What
are your objectives? Where do you want to
| | 00:29 | go with your business? How would you
like to see your business grow?
| | 00:35 | What is your desired results and vision?
How would you like your business to be
| | 00:40 | perceived by those experiencing it
on a daily basis? Who is your Target
| | 00:45 | audience? What market makes up your
primary demographic? How do you see your
| | 00:50 | business engaging them?
| | 00:53 | It's important to design your questions,
so they elicit and encourage your
| | 00:57 | clients to dive deep into their own thinking.
| | 01:01 | Doing so, will help you get meaningful
content and return that goes beyond the
| | 01:06 | surface information available to anyone.
| | 01:10 | A Creative Brief will also help you
gauge and define client expectations
| | 01:15 | and perceptions regarding their own business,
their clients, and your creative work.
| | 01:21 | Having this type of open and honest
communication helps to avoid pitfalls
| | 01:27 | in the overall creative process, and builds
trust between you and your clients,
| | 01:32 | as you both get to know each other better.
| | 01:35 | You can use Creative Briefs on any type
of project, be it to logo, a character
| | 01:40 | design, a brand graphic, a T-shirt
design, or even copy writing.
| | 01:46 | Once you've harvested this type of
core client information, you're far better
| | 01:51 | positioned to move forward
successfully with your design.
| | 01:56 | After a client fills out a creative
brief I like to read through it,
| | 02:00 | digests their input and follow
it up with additional questions.
| | 02:04 | Once I have these questions answered,
I'm ready to rock 'n roll.
| | 02:09 | If you're not using Creative Briefs,
I highly recommend that you develop one
| | 02:13 | to use with your own clients.
| | 02:15 | To help you get started checkout the
Exercise Files to review the simple
| | 02:20 | Creative Brief I use with my
own small business clients.
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| Creative thinking methods| 00:01 | Coming up with ideas should never solely
rely on a question and answer approach
| | 00:06 | to information gathering.
| | 00:08 | You also need to balance it with
unexpected research and discovery methods as well.
| | 00:13 | Here are some fun conceptual thinking
methods you can use to break free from
| | 00:18 | routine, and step into the realm of the
unexpected, after all that's where all
| | 00:23 | great ideas come from.
| | 00:25 | The three conceptual thinking methods
I'll cover are, Word Associations,
| | 00:31 | Mind Mapping, and one called
Before, During and After.
| | 00:36 | With these simple methods you'll be able
to leverage ideas, that would otherwise
| | 00:40 | be left untapped, and make connections
that could have easily gone unnoticed
| | 00:45 | or may have been overlooked altogether.
| | 00:48 | We'll cover each of these methods in
greater detail in the following movies.
| | 00:53 | Reference your Exercise Files to use
them within your own creative process,
| | 00:58 | and unlock great ideas for your clients.
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| Word associations| 00:00 | The first conceptual thinking
method is Word Associations.
| | 00:05 | Now we have all done this
to one degree or another.
| | 00:08 | You pick a topic, then you write down as
many words you can think of related to it.
| | 00:14 | This is all well and good, but
I think we can do a better job.
| | 00:17 | To help us I've created a Word
Association chart, it will focus our
| | 00:22 | associations, and help us come up
with both figurative and literal words
| | 00:27 | that relate to our topic.
| | 00:29 | All you do is write in whatever
the focus is you're trying to develop
| | 00:33 | associations for, and then
pick one for each category.
| | 00:38 | It's better explained by example, so
we'll use dog as the focus of our topic.
| | 00:44 | Maybe it's a dog-related product or service.
| | 00:47 | With dog as our focus, we write down
associated words for each category.
| | 00:55 | Metaphors: You're in the dog house.
| | 00:58 | Puns: I have the New Leash on Life.
| | 01:02 | Idioms: You can't teach an old
dog new tricks.
| | 01:07 | Hyperbole: My dog is so ugly his only
friend is a cat.
| | 01:12 | Personification: The dog serenaded the
moon all night.
| | 01:17 | Emotional: Doggone it.
| | 01:20 | Slang: Yo dog.
| | 01:23 | Historical: Cerberus, the hellhound
from Roman mythology.
| | 01:26 | Facts: Pet, leash, collar, flees, bark, beg,
rollover, bone, etcetera; these are keywords.
| | 01:35 | Many more Word Associations could be made
from this topic, but you get the general idea.
| | 01:41 | The whole point of using Word
Associations is to help you notice and uncover
| | 01:47 | clever relationships, and it's
these relationships that can lead you
| | 01:52 | to effective, visual concepts.
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| Mind mapping| 00:01 | The second conceptual
thinking method is Mind Mapping.
| | 00:05 | Like Word Association, Mind Mapping
starts with the central topic or theme.
| | 00:10 | From there you just let your mind wander,
making on the fly connections that are
| | 00:15 | driven from the previous connection,
as they branch out from the core topic.
| | 00:20 | Sometimes they will be appropriate
and sometimes they will be ludicrous,
| | 00:24 | and that's where the
unexpected connections come from.
| | 00:27 | If you hit a dead-end then you go back
to the core and start a new branch,
| | 00:32 | or pick any other node and branch out from there.
| | 00:35 | There are no distinct rules, it's
all about exploring not planning,
| | 00:41 | so unexpected and ridiculous results
should be expected, and welcomed.
| | 00:46 | This may be better explained by example, so
let me share a project I use Mind Mapping on.
| | 00:51 | A Tropical Fish store
hired me to design their logo.
| | 00:56 | They wanted something fun and clever.
| | 00:58 | When I thought of Tropical Fish,
I thought about how exotic they were.
| | 01:03 | Then that made me think of how unique
they are, followed by how strange some
| | 01:08 | of them are, discontinued until I had
mapped out everything that came to mind,
| | 01:13 | regarding Tropical Fish.
| | 01:16 | As I studied this, I decided to focus on
these attributes I uncovered in my mind map:
| | 01:22 | Unique, Strange, Culture, Fun,
Humor, Guppy, and Samurai.
| | 01:31 | This all distilled down and lead to my
final design, which the client loved,
| | 01:35 | Samurai Guppy.
| | 01:38 | The mind is the absolute best tool for
design and Mind Mapping is just one way
| | 01:43 | to get access to its processing power.
| | 01:45 | So, take your mind for a ride, and let
it help you discover those unique ideas
| | 01:51 | that will solve your client's design problems.
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| Before. During. After.| 00:01 | Before, During and After is a method my
friend and fellow designer Jeff Pollard
| | 00:06 | shared with me several years ago
and I had been using it ever since.
| | 00:10 | Like the previous methods, it starts
with a central topic or theme,
| | 00:15 | and from there you view it from a
Before, During and After point of view.
| | 00:21 | Doing this will help you see a topic
from a unique perspective, and allow you
| | 00:26 | v unveil secondary meanings and insights.
| | 00:29 | Jeff's client was a direct marketing
business called Rain, so rain was our topic.
| | 00:36 | What comes Before Rain? Rain clouds.
What comes during rain? You need an umbrella.
| | 00:43 | And what comes after rain? Puddles.
| | 00:48 | Rain wants the direct marketing to
create enjoyable results for their customers,
| | 00:54 | and Puddles was the unveiled idea he
used to reflect that idea.
| | 01:00 | The final design, is a fun and
memorable identity for his client.
| | 01:04 | Of course in this demonstration we
only settled on three insights using
| | 01:09 | Before, During and After.
| | 01:11 | Many more insights could have
been gleaned using this same method.
| | 01:15 | The more you use these conceptual
thinking methods, the more you'll be able
| | 01:19 | to isolate, discover and leverage
clever concepts within your own design.
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| I think, therefore I design| 00:01 | One of the most insightful quotes
regarding design was claimed by the legendary
| | 00:06 | designer Saul Bass who said,
Design is thinking made visual.
| | 00:11 | So a direct correlation can be made
between how you think and what you create.
| | 00:16 | I think, therefore I design.
| | 00:19 | In the previous movies we've learned
how a creative brief and conceptual
| | 00:23 | thinking methods can assist you in gathering
specific information regarding a design project.
| | 00:30 | But now we need to focus on good thinking in
general, a lifestyle of thinking if you will.
| | 00:37 | This movie will answer the
question how does a designer stay
| | 00:41 | conceptually relevant?
| | 00:43 | Equipping your design success means
you need to saturate your mind with an
| | 00:48 | ever-growing array of information.
| | 00:50 | Designers should always be broadening
their interests and knowledge base,
| | 00:55 | so as to expand our potential for
original and meaningful thought.
| | 01:00 | This is done by taking in and understanding
information from an ever-growing
| | 01:05 | and diverse range of non-designed
focus topics, it could be history, biology,
| | 01:12 | architecture, mythology, biography,
physics, dance, film, art criticism, whatever.
| | 01:22 | It's been said that reading is the equivalent
of thinking with someone else's head.
| | 01:27 | And that's exactly how you become
a better thinker; you need to read.
| | 01:33 | But remember the key to better thinking
is to glean the information from
| | 01:39 | outside our design industry.
| | 01:41 | It's okay to redesign oriented content,
but what will really open up the
| | 01:47 | floodgates for your own unique thinking
will be the information that has nothing
| | 01:52 | to do with design whatsoever.
| | 01:54 | Knowing more in general will help you
bridge together concepts and connect
| | 02:00 | the dots as you brainstorm ideas.
| | 02:02 | An article you read in a science journal
might inspire the visual icon you
| | 02:07 | create for a tech company, a historical
biography might give you cultural
| | 02:12 | cues that help you create a pattern design;
it's about cultivating your design potential.
| | 02:19 | Harvesting information like this will
provide yourself with the intellectual assets
| | 02:24 | needed to form visual ideas that a mainstream
audience can relate to and resonate with.
| | 02:33 | Remember, you think, therefore you design.
| | 02:36 | So start putting on someone else's head,
make it a creative habit and
| | 02:42 | turn your thinking into captivating visuals.
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| Selecting the appropriate style| 00:01 | Design is a style-driven media, and part
of solving a visual solution is picking
| | 00:07 | an appropriate style for any given project.
| | 00:10 | In this movie, you'll see how picking
the style for your project, whether it's
| | 00:14 | a logo or an informational graphic, can help
to improve its appeal to the intended audience.
| | 00:21 | Style and context of design
works like a personality;
| | 00:25 | it can either attract, distract or
even repel those who interact with it.
| | 00:31 | This is why it's so important to
gather upfront information as we discussed
| | 00:36 | in the previous movie.
| | 00:37 | Your concept maybe sound but the personality
of the style you choose can still be
| | 00:43 | inappropriate for the intended audience,
so pay close attention to the style you select.
| | 00:49 | Let's take a quick look at an identity
project I worked on and the rationale
| | 00:54 | I used to determine what style
to execute the designs in.
| | 00:58 | My client, Red Lion Christian Academy,
is a private school who needed to
| | 01:03 | re-brand their image, their old
identity was sinfully ugly and needed
| | 01:09 | some graphic redemption.
| | 01:11 | I ended up creating a two-part
identity for them.
| | 01:14 | One was a corporate mark and the second
was a sports-oriented design.
| | 01:19 | Each work together as a brand family, while
still having their own distinct style.
| | 01:25 | The school has to operate in the realm
of the business community and communicate
| | 01:30 | daily with the public at large, so
the styling I selected for the corporate
| | 01:35 | market is clean, graphic and iconic.
| | 01:38 | This specific style is
professional and sophisticated;
| | 01:42 | it's well-suited for the front office as
they deal with families, the public
| | 01:48 | and doing business in general.
| | 01:49 | The sports-oriented mark however was geared
for athletics and the student body specifically.
| | 01:56 | It's more of a fan-oriented design.
| | 01:59 | The public sees it but it's secondary in
it's positioning to the primary identity.
| | 02:05 | Since the context of this marks used
with sports I picked the styling that was
| | 02:10 | far more active, aggressive and fun.
| | 02:13 | This catered to the students who
were the intended audience and they
| | 02:17 | love their new school mascot.
| | 02:20 | The styling on this identity project
has helped the school market themselves
| | 02:24 | more effectively and a large part of
that success is due to the appropriate
| | 02:29 | application of style in the
design directions I created.
| | 02:34 | Whatever type of project you're working
on take the time to discern who
| | 02:39 | the intended audience is and what
style will be best suited to deliver
| | 02:44 | their message appropriately.
| | 02:46 | Whether it's a logo, a package design
or a tradeshow banner, the style you
| | 02:51 | select will ultimately play a huge
part in how effective it turns out.
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| Using reference material| 00:01 | Before you begin drawing out your design
ideas there is one last thing you need
| | 00:05 | to do before you put pen to paper, and
that's collecting any reference material
| | 00:10 | that will help you draw what you need to draw.
| | 00:13 | In the last movie, I showed you the
lion design I created for my client.
| | 00:18 | Before I started drawing out that
design I found some good reference photos
| | 00:23 | of lions I could look at that help me figure
out how to make my lion design look like a lion.
| | 00:30 | This is even more important if you're
not proficient at drawing, you'll need
| | 00:35 | more help to refine your drawn design
and having reference material will assist
| | 00:40 | you and working out details in
discerning shapes as you draw them.
| | 00:45 | Even great drawers use reference
material, because reference material
| | 00:50 | improves a creative process.
| | 00:52 | I'd consider the artists at Disney some
of the best in the world, but even they
| | 00:57 | use reference material.
| | 00:59 | If you ever get a chance, I encourage
you to watch the bonus content that comes
| | 01:04 | with the Lion King film, you'll see
their artists at the zoo sketching and
| | 01:09 | drawing lions because looking at the
real thing helps them to distill it down
| | 01:14 | into simpler shapes and forms in order
to stylize the specific type of art they
| | 01:20 | want to draw their lion in.
| | 01:22 | The same is true for you and your projects.
| | 01:26 | Use reference material to improve your
decision-making, guide your refinement,
| | 01:32 | detect the subtle attributes
that will improve your drawn design.
| | 01:37 | Reference material helps you capture
the raw essence within the framework
| | 01:42 | of your chosen style.
| | 01:44 | I was hired to create a logo for an
animation company in Italy called Big Bocca,
| | 01:50 | which means big mouth in Italian.
| | 01:52 | They have requested a cat mascot for their logo.
| | 01:56 | I looked at a lot of cat photos, but the
one photo that helped me the most was a
| | 02:01 | picture of my cat Snickers.
| | 02:03 | I use this photo to pick up on the
attributes that make a cat a cat, and from
| | 02:09 | this I began to draw and refine my design.
| | 02:13 | Reference will help you figure out what you
need to draw as well as what not to include.
| | 02:19 | I didn't put whiskers on my final
logo design because it added too much
| | 02:24 | complexity to the logo mark.
| | 02:26 | With that said, it's
still clearly reads as a cat.
| | 02:30 | Take the time to pull together reference
material that will help you draw what
| | 02:35 | you need to draw, be it a
helicopter, a fish, an icon or a cat.
| | 02:42 | The best in our industry do it
all the time and so should you.
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|
|
3. Drawing Your DesignSolid creative foundation| 00:01 | When it comes to illustrative design
drawing is the capstone in the arch of creativity.
| | 00:07 | The better you can work out your visual
problem-solving in the drawing stage the
| | 00:12 | easier it will be to build it Vector form.
| | 00:15 | But I realize drawing can be an intimidating
task for many who don't make it a habit.
| | 00:21 | So in this chapter we'll go over some
practical aspects related to drawing
| | 00:26 | in context of design so you can continue
to improve your approach with each
| | 00:31 | new project you work on.
| | 00:33 | We'll cover topic such as Anyone can
draw, Thumbnail sketching, Refining your
| | 00:39 | drawn ideas, and Thinking in shapes.
| | 00:43 | With these methods you'll be well
prepared to design and fully develop
| | 00:47 | your ideas so grab a pencil and
some paper and prepare to draw.
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| Anyone can draw| 00:00 | It may surprise you when I say this,
but anyone can draw. Think about it.
| | 00:06 | As kids, we all draw.
| | 00:08 | We don't worry about it
how well we render something.
| | 00:11 | We're doing it for the pure
enjoyment of being creative.
| | 00:15 | The only reason anyone stops
is mainly due to fear.
| | 00:18 | After we get older and more self-conscious
many stop drawing, because they
| | 00:24 | don't feel they have what it
takes to do it well enough.
| | 00:27 | In this movie I want to encourage you
to set aside this fear and make drawing
| | 00:32 | a routine creative habit.
| | 00:34 | There is no secret to drawing better.
| | 00:36 | The only way to get better is to keep
drawing and never stop drawing whenever
| | 00:41 | you have the opportunity to draw.
| | 00:45 | When I say draw I'm not talking
about fine art pencil renderings.
| | 00:49 | If that's what happens for some of you,
great, but we are after expression of
| | 00:54 | ideas in a drawn form.
| | 00:57 | Being able to capture those ideas then
take them to the next level enabling you
| | 01:03 | to build better vector graphics.
| | 01:05 | The key to improving your drawing
ability is to stay consistent with it.
| | 01:11 | The easiest way to do this is
to make access to drawing easier.
| | 01:16 | So here are some practical things you
can do to facilitate a good drawing habit
| | 01:21 | within your own daily creative process.
| | 01:26 | Keep a pen or pencil with you at all times,
| | 01:29 | so you can easily capture those
fleeting ideas or draw what you see.
| | 01:34 | Keep in notepad or sketchbook with you at
all times so you have something to draw on.
| | 01:40 | Keep drawing materials in your
workstation so you can doodle
| | 01:45 | whenever inspiration hits you or
while you're on the phone.
| | 01:48 | Doodle wherever you are, be at a doctor's
waiting room, riding a bus, or even a meeting.
| | 01:55 | Remember anyone can draw and the key
to better drawing is to keep drawing.
| | 02:01 | So have fun with it and over time
you'll see your skills improve.
| | 02:05 | The skill of drawing is like wine,
| | 02:07 | it only improves with time.
| | 02:10 | Make sure to invest a little time
whenever you can and you'll
| | 02:14 | see your design potential grow.
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| Thumbnail sketching| 00:01 | Since illustrative design is all about
drawing out your ideas before you build
| | 00:06 | them digitally, the place to
start is with thumbnail sketches.
| | 00:10 | Let's talk about what thumbnail sketches
are, how many you need to draw, and
| | 00:15 | most important, selecting your strongest ideas.
| | 00:19 | What are thumbnail sketches?
| | 00:21 | They are nothing more than small,
thumbnail-sized rough drawings that
| | 00:26 | you'll use to capture general ideas
regarding your visual design.
| | 00:30 | Using all the information you gathered
in the creative preparation stage you'll
| | 00:35 | now approach your design project and
begin to sketch out your rough ideas.
| | 00:40 | Keep it simple or even crude.
These are glorified doodles.
| | 00:44 | There is no need to refine or
redraw anything at this point.
| | 00:49 | You're just taking an idea as it forms
in your mind and capturing them on paper.
| | 00:55 | These loose drawings will
encapsulate your general ideas.
| | 00:59 | Once you've drawn one, move along
to the next one and keep drawing.
| | 01:03 | As you do this you'll no doubt stumble
upon other visual possibilities and
| | 01:08 | you can sketch those out as well.
| | 01:10 | So how many thumbnail sketches do need to draw?
| | 01:13 | There is a Latin phrase on our
money that says E Pluribus Unum.
| | 01:18 | It means out of many, one.
| | 01:21 | This is also a good way
of defining thumb nailing.
| | 01:24 | You could draw hundreds of roughly
hewn ideas in order to discover
| | 01:30 | a few that will work well.
| | 01:31 | There is no set number, but a good
rule of thumb is to do far more
| | 01:36 | than what you think you'll need.
| | 01:37 | At least 50 sketches is what I'd consider
the minimal amount on most design projects.
| | 01:44 | It's now time to audit your thumbnail
sketches and isolate the strongest ideas.
| | 01:50 | These will be the ones you move
forward with and develop fully.
| | 01:54 | Remember only the strong survive.
| | 01:57 | So focus in on those ideas that do
the best job of communicating with
| | 02:02 | the intended audience.
| | 02:03 | Does the design you've drawn fit the
bigger marketing picture and will work well
| | 02:09 | in all the various applications of use?
| | 02:12 | I recommend picking at least three to
five solid ideas you can move forward on
| | 02:17 | and refine during the next stage of drawing.
| | 02:20 | Whatever project you work on make sure
to thoroughly work through your ideas
| | 02:25 | using thumbnail sketching.
| | 02:27 | We may work digitally, but our ideas
are still best developed in analog form.
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| Refining your drawn ideas| 00:01 | Thumbnail sketches are great for
roughly capturing ideas, but we are going to
| | 00:07 | need more details before
we can build our vector art.
| | 00:10 | Let's go over the importance of scrutinizing
your drawing, refining, and making
| | 00:14 | improvements until you have a tight
sketch that will assist you in building
| | 00:19 | precision vector art.
| | 00:21 | The biggest challenge for designers is
ideas, but many good ideas fall short
| | 00:27 | because of poor execution.
| | 00:29 | Something is lost in translation from
the rough stage to the final digital form.
| | 00:35 | So our goal is to move from the
essence of a rough idea in our thumbnails to
| | 00:40 | a more refined clear picture visually, all
without losing the essence in the translation.
| | 00:47 | The whole point of refining is to take
a rough drawing and redraw it with more
| | 00:52 | precision, improving its clarity
regarding specific shape and form.
| | 00:59 | You may need to draw and redraw
elements of your design several times in order
| | 01:04 | to clarify the art until you
have your design worked out.
| | 01:09 | This is also where your
creative preparation will help.
| | 01:13 | So if needed, use any reference
material you've collected to assist your
| | 01:18 | drawing at this stage.
| | 01:20 | Illustrative design is all about solving
visual problems and to do so you have
| | 01:25 | to try many different ways before you
discover that one way that works best.
| | 01:31 | No one draws something absolutely
perfect the first time all the time.
| | 01:36 | So don't be afraid to a
draw something that looks bad.
| | 01:40 | That's just part of the
process of developing ideas.
| | 01:44 | Using a light box and tracing paper
will help you redraw and refine your ideas.
| | 01:49 | It will make the whole process easier.
| | 01:52 | You'll also be able to isolate areas of
your design and work them out visually
| | 01:57 | on their own tracing paper
overlays. So take your time.
| | 02:02 | Don't rush you're drawing,
and be your own worst critic.
| | 02:05 | If something in your drawing doesn't
feel quite right, then it's a good bet
| | 02:10 | you still need to redraw something.
| | 02:13 | So don't ignore that inner art director.
| | 02:16 | Remember your time is well spent at
this stage, because a tight sketch will
| | 02:21 | remove the guess work and your need for
making on-the-fly visual decisions while
| | 02:27 | you build your vector art.
| | 02:29 | In essence your tight sketch is going
to serve as a road map to help
| | 02:34 | you discern where to place your anchor
points or how a vector path should be
| | 02:39 | shaped by a Bezier curve.
| | 02:41 | So having a clearly established tight
sketch to build upon isn't just faster,
| | 02:46 | it will also improve the quality and
craftsmanship of your work as well.
| | 02:52 | So keep working at it until you get
your design thoroughly figured out.
| | 02:57 | Keep drawing and redrawing. Keep art
directing yourself and refining your ideas
| | 03:03 | before you jump on the computer.
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|
|
4. Workflow EnhancementsWorkflow enhancements| 00:01 | So far we have covered all the
initial analog methods needed to become
| | 00:06 | a proficient illustrative designer.
| | 00:08 | Before we jump into digital and go over
all the various vector build methods and
| | 00:13 | the tools, we need to do a few things first.
| | 00:16 | In this chapter we'll go over several
custom workflow enhancements
| | 00:21 | and functions that will improve your
overall creative process and help you
| | 00:26 | build your vector art faster.
| | 00:29 | We'll be covering using Keyboard shortcuts
and recording actions, using Custom
| | 00:35 | scripts in Illustrator, Custom color
palettes and graphic styles, Toggling your
| | 00:41 | smart guides on and off as you build,
and the importance of using Layers.
| | 00:46 | Once you have integrated these simple
enhancements into your daily design routine,
| | 00:52 | they will eventually become second
nature in your creative workflow.
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| Keyboard shortcuts and recording actions| 00:01 | Using keyboard shortcuts and recording
actions will help make routine tasks
| | 00:06 | easier in Illustrator.
| | 00:08 | It'll allow you to work faster, because
you won't have to memorize complex key
| | 00:13 | commands or pulldown menus as you build.
| | 00:16 | But the absolute best part of customizing
your keyboard shortcuts and using
| | 00:21 | recorded actions is the ability to
create your own personal workflow
| | 00:26 | of functions that Adobe
Illustrator doesn't provide.
| | 00:30 | Here the nine custom keyboard commands I
use everyday to make vector building easier.
| | 00:36 | The F1 key which I used to make Clipping Mask.
| | 00:39 | The F2 key which releases Clipping Mask.
| | 00:42 | It will allow us to turn a multi-step
process into a one-button push,
| | 00:48 | all the while avoiding any pulldown menus.
| | 00:52 | I use the F3 key to Clone Shapes.
| | 00:54 | Adobe Illustrator doesn't have a Clone command.
| | 00:58 | So I created my own using recorded
action and assign it to a keyboard shortcut.
| | 01:04 | The F4 key sends vector
objects to back of my design.
| | 01:10 | I use the F5 key to bring vector
objects to the front of my designs.
| | 01:15 | I use F6 key to Ungroup vector shapes.
| | 01:19 | I use the F7 key to create
Compound Paths with my vector shapes.
| | 01:24 | There are certain behaviors in Adobe
Illustrator that are at best annoying.
| | 01:30 | When I do certain tasks over and over
again that annoyance can be compounded.
| | 01:35 | To remedy this situation I created my
own command using a recorded action and
| | 01:41 | assigned it to a keyboard shortcut.
| | 01:43 | I use the F8 key to Deselect my vector
shapes when I'm zoomed into a design
| | 01:50 | and don't want to zoom out to
click the background to deselect.
| | 01:54 | And I use the F9 key to punch out vector
shapes like a cookie cutter this allows
| | 01:59 | me to bypass the Pathfinder palette.
| | 02:02 | Remember to save your shortcuts.
| | 02:05 | Otherwise, you will lose them
once you close out of the program.
| | 02:09 | Keyboard customization is a great way
to tailor fit Illustrator's functionality
| | 02:14 | so it aligns with your own workflow preferences.
| | 02:18 | The more you're able to set up a
personalized environment,
| | 02:23 | the easier it will become.
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| Keyboard shortcuts and recording actions: Demo| 00:01 | So, we're going to take a
look at keyboard shortcuts now.
| | 00:05 | And before we jump into that, I want
to demonstrate how you would do something
| | 00:09 | in Illustrator without keyboard shortcuts, so
you can understand the benefit of using them.
| | 00:15 | With this design, I've created this
starburst shape which I don't want it to fall
| | 00:20 | outside the circular shape of the design.
| | 00:23 | So, we want to make a clipping mask
using the circular shape with the starburst.
| | 00:29 | In Illustrator, you'd select
the shape like I've done here.
| | 00:33 | Go to Edit, and you would Copy.
| | 00:36 | Then, you would have to go back to
Edit again, pull down to Paste in Front.
| | 00:42 | Then, you have to go to Object,
pull down to Arrange>Bring to Front.
| | 00:48 | Then you'd have the
shape ready to make the mask.
| | 00:51 | This shape is now cloned from
the previous shape behind it.
| | 00:55 | So you can see that there.
| | 00:57 | With that Mask Shape selected,
you select the Starburst.
| | 01:01 | Then, you go back to Object, down to
Clipping Mask, and over to Make,
| | 01:09 | and that's how you would mask that
shape to create the design you want.
| | 01:12 | So, you can see, it takes
a lot of pulldown menus;
| | 01:15 | approximately four pulldown menus,
and a couple of secondary menus in order
| | 01:21 | to get what you need.
| | 01:22 | I think there is a more
efficient way of doing that.
| | 01:25 | So, we are going to undo what we did.
| | 01:28 | And this is how you can do
it with keyboard shortcuts.
| | 01:33 | You first have to set up your
keyboard shortcuts by going to Edit,
| | 01:37 | go down to Keyboard Shortcuts.
| | 01:39 | That will bring up the Keyboard Shortcuts menu.
| | 01:42 | And the type of commands that we are
wanting to change are all menu commands,
| | 01:46 | so we're going to click on Menu Commands.
| | 01:49 | The first one we are going to change is
under Object, and we'll scroll down to
| | 01:55 | Clipping Mask, click that.
| | 01:58 | You can see the options under here,
under Make, Release, and we want to change
| | 02:03 | the Make Clipping Mask.
| | 02:05 | This is where you can click in here
and put in any key command you want.
| | 02:11 | As you can see right now, I have it
set up for the F1 key to make a Clipping
| | 02:16 | Mask, and that's what we want.
| | 02:18 | The nice thing about Keyboard Shortcuts
is these Menu Commands can be changed
| | 02:23 | to anything you'd like.
| | 02:25 | If you don't want to use
your F key, you don't need to.
| | 02:28 | In this case, I've changed this one to F1.
| | 02:31 | And you can see, the next
F command key of mind is F2.
| | 02:35 | And I made that the Release Clipping Mask.
| | 02:39 | So, let's go back, and I'll
demonstrate how that works now.
| | 02:42 | So previously, you saw that it took four menu
commands in order to create the mask we want.
| | 02:48 | In this case, we can just
select the circular shape.
| | 02:52 | I am going to hit my F3 key,
which is my Clone key.
| | 02:58 | I'm going to go over that.
| | 03:00 | But, you can see one button push,
and I have everything I need.
| | 03:03 | I now select my starburst, and I'm going to
hit my F1 key now, and that creates my mask.
| | 03:11 | So literally, a two-button push to
get what we need instead of four menu
| | 03:15 | options, and two secondary
menu options in order to do it.
| | 03:20 | So you can see, if you use these type
of functions as you build your designs
| | 03:24 | over a period of time, you are
going to save a lot of time doing that.
| | 03:28 | So that works great.
| | 03:29 | That's how you set up a
keyboard shortcut in Illustrator.
| | 03:33 | You can customize it to any keyboard you want.
| | 03:36 | It's going to make your
workflow a lot more efficient.
| | 03:40 | So now, we're going to go over the F3 key,
which is set up to be a Clone Command.
| | 03:46 | In Adobe Illustrator, there is no Clone Command.
| | 03:49 | The only way you can do that,
specifically with this design I am going to
| | 03:53 | show you, is we want to take this
pattern of these dots and we want to mask
| | 03:58 | it into the skull shape.
| | 04:00 | Now, to do this natively in Illustrator,
you'd select the skull shape, go up to
| | 04:04 | Edit>Copy, then back to Edit>Paste in Front.
| | 04:11 | So, this is now cloned from the shape below
it, but it still isn't in the right position.
| | 04:17 | You would have to go to Object now,
Arrange, and bring it to front.
| | 04:22 | Now, it's in the correct position to
select the mask, go under Object, down to
| | 04:29 | Clipping Mask, and Make in
order to create the design we want.
| | 04:35 | So, you can see, it takes three, four
steps, and you add that up over the course
| | 04:40 | of entire year with all your projects,
and you can see all the time you would
| | 04:45 | waste building that way.
| | 04:46 | There is a better way of doing this,
and it's going to involve having to use
| | 04:51 | recorded actions in Illustrator.
| | 04:53 | So, you can see the Actions Palette
right over here in Illustrator, and you can
| | 04:59 | see some of the actions I've already created.
| | 05:01 | We are going to replicate my Clone command here,
and I am going to show you how that's done.
| | 05:08 | So, let's go to a different layer.
| | 05:10 | So, in order to do that, we need to
record the action we need in order to assign
| | 05:17 | a keyboard shortcut to that.
| | 05:19 | To record the action, you go to the
Option menu, under the Action Palette,
| | 05:24 | to New Action, and that will bring up this pane.
| | 05:28 | You can name it whatever you want.
| | 05:30 | In this case, we'll just call it
Clone 2, and we'll keep it under our
| | 05:36 | Set: GS Actions as you can see here.
| | 05:41 | You don't have to do this.
| | 05:42 | But personally, the default coloring for
all the actions in Illustrator is None.
| | 05:49 | So, I like to attach red to it
just to distinguish it as my own.
| | 05:54 | Then, to assign it to an F key, you
can select any F key under this menu,
| | 06:02 | and for this one, I've already
set up a Clone command under F3.
| | 06:07 | So, what we're going to do just to
demonstrate this, we'll select the F3 key,
| | 06:12 | but we are going to tell it to also
say that you have to have Shift selected
| | 06:18 | with F3 because I want to show you how
to record it first, and I have to select
| | 06:24 | something before we can do that.
| | 06:26 | So, we are going to hit Record.
So now, Illustrator is in Record Mode.
| | 06:30 | You can see the red light is
turned on, on the Actions Palette.
| | 06:35 | We'll select the shape we want to clone.
| | 06:37 | Now, we'll just walk through that process
that you have to do if you built it
| | 06:42 | natively in Illustrator.
| | 06:43 | We'll first Copy it, go
back, we'll Paste in Front.
| | 06:48 | Now, we are going to go to the Object
Menu, to Arrange, and Bring to Front.
| | 06:54 | That's the action we want to
happen every time we hit our F key.
| | 06:58 | We're done recording, so we are going
to hit Stop on the recording over here.
| | 07:03 | And you can see how it's now created a
New Action underneath our Actions folder
| | 07:10 | for GS Actions called Clone 2.
We can collapse that.
| | 07:14 | That shows you that action is ready
to go, and it's now assigned to the
| | 07:20 | F3 with Shift holding down.
| | 07:22 | I've created the exact same Clone command here.
| | 07:26 | You can see the steps it's taking here,
the exact same ones we just recorded.
| | 07:31 | And that is attached to the F3 key.
| | 07:34 | So, with that action in place now,
all we need to do is select our shape,
| | 07:41 | hit F3, and it's immediately in place to
now paste inside, and as I showed you
| | 07:48 | in the last movie, we have that F1 key
set up to paste inside, and we are done.
| | 07:54 | So, it's literally a two-key process in
order to create the art we want, rather
| | 07:59 | than multi pulldown menu options and
secondary menus in order to pull it up.
| | 08:05 | So, the more you can set up quick keys
to do these kinds of routine tasks,
| | 08:09 | the faster you will work and the
more efficient you will work.
| | 08:13 | So now we're going to go over the F7 key.
| | 08:16 | And with this piece of art, or a lot of
art you create in Adobe Illustrator,
| | 08:22 | you'll create individual
shapes that make up your art.
| | 08:25 | In this case, we have this rose design.
| | 08:27 | And the background is this rose, this
red shape, and on top of it is a white
| | 08:34 | shape, and then on top of that
white shape is another red shape.
| | 08:38 | So, it looks like it's see-through
here to the background, but in reality, if
| | 08:42 | you toggle on the background color,
you can see how they're just individual
| | 08:47 | vector shapes stacked one on top of each other.
| | 08:51 | Now, to build this so that it is see-
through, you would select this white shape,
| | 08:57 | select the red shape, and using the
Pathfinder Palette like a cookie-cutter,
| | 09:02 | we would now punch out that
shape from the other shape.
| | 09:06 | If you turn on the Background again, you can
see now it appears everything is see-through.
| | 09:12 | That's great!
| | 09:13 | Now, in order to create a design
where you can move all your shapes as one
| | 09:19 | unified piece of artwork, you could group this.
| | 09:24 | But, in this case, we want to
unite all these shapes into one shape.
| | 09:29 | So, we're going to go back to the
Pathfinder Palette, click the Unite button.
| | 09:33 | So now, if I deselect and reselect
that shape, it moves as one independent
| | 09:40 | shape, and that's what we want.
| | 09:42 | If we turn on the Background, you
can see through it. That's great!
| | 09:46 | Now, let's say after we're looking at
this art, and we scrutinized it,
| | 09:51 | we decide we want to make an edit now to
this shape, such as on the end part of
| | 09:56 | this petal, we'll zoom in so
we can this a little better.
| | 09:59 | We are going to edit this part right
here on the end of the petal, and we want
| | 10:06 | to make it, kind of lop it
off, cut off part of that.
| | 10:09 | So, we'll do that by using
what I call a throwaway shape.
| | 10:13 | We'll just use this shape to edit
the other shape. That's on top now.
| | 10:18 | We select this red shape.
| | 10:21 | And going back to the
Pathfinder, we'll just hit Minus (-).
| | 10:25 | So, we are just going to cut
off that little piece at the end.
| | 10:28 | But, watch what happens in
Illustrator when you do this.
| | 10:32 | You hit Minus (-) and
part your artwork disappears.
| | 10:35 | So, that's the problem
that exists in Illustrator.
| | 10:39 | And the way you get around it within
Illustrator without setting up any kind of
| | 10:44 | customization is after you've created
the shape by using Unite, you would have
| | 10:51 | to go to the Object Menu, pull
down to Compound Path, and Make.
| | 10:59 | And all that does is it's still a unified shape.
| | 11:02 | It moves as one shape.
| | 11:04 | But, it's what's called a true Compound Path.
| | 11:08 | This is literally considered one path
in Illustrator even though it's made up
| | 11:13 | of individual shapes.
| | 11:15 | Once that's done, you can now select this
shape, and edit the end the way you want.
| | 11:22 | So, we'll lop off this in
the way we wanted to do it.
| | 11:26 | And now when you do it using Pathfinder,
hit Minus (-) and it would cut off the end,
| | 11:31 | and you don't lose any shapes.
| | 11:33 | That's the only way you can do it.
| | 11:35 | But, as you can see, it takes some extra steps.
| | 11:39 | So, I build this way all the time in Illustrator,
and it was a problem I kept running into.
| | 11:45 | So, in order to resolve this, I recorded
my own action which I call Compound Path.
| | 11:52 | So, if we go over to the Actions Palette
here and I'll just toggle this, you can
| | 11:57 | see all this is, is it is running under
Object, down to Compound Path, and it's
| | 12:03 | running that Make Compound Path command.
| | 12:07 | So, if I select this art, and I now hit
my Minus (-), and then I select all my
| | 12:20 | shapes, and I unite them, all I have to do
is I always make sure just to hit the F7 key.
| | 12:29 | I don't have to go up here,
and pull down, and go Make.
| | 12:34 | I just have it as a F key, the F7 key.
| | 12:38 | So, if I make edits moving forward, that
problem doesn't happen. I can edit it.
| | 12:45 | It's not a huge problem, but I build
this way literally on everything I create,
| | 12:51 | and it's something that
you're going to run into.
| | 12:54 | And unless you're aware of it, it could cause
a lot of frustration, a lot of problems,
| | 12:58 | and this is the way you can resolve
it by recording your own action
| | 13:03 | and applying that action to a key.
| | 13:06 | It could be an F key like I'm using F7,
it could be any key actually,
| | 13:12 | whatever you prefer for your own workflow.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Using custom scripts| 00:01 | Another way to customize your user
experience with Illustrator is to use custom
| | 00:06 | scripts in order to make the app do
what it natively can't do out of the box.
| | 00:11 | A simple Google search will bring up
thousands of custom scripts people have
| | 00:16 | created and provided online.
| | 00:18 | Once you have a script you can add
it to Illustrator and start using it.
| | 00:23 | Here is how you add a
custom script to Illustrator.
| | 00:29 | I want to show you how to use two
custom scripts for Adobe Illustrator
| | 00:33 | that is going to make your life a lot easier.
| | 00:37 | First we need to access our script.
| | 00:39 | So if you go to your Exercise_Files
folder and open that up, you'll find your
| | 00:44 | custom AI_Scripts in the Ch 4 folder.
| | 00:48 | You can see those here.
| | 00:50 | So with those ready to place we now need
to know where exactly do you place them.
| | 00:56 | You will want to go to your hard drive,
open that up, go to Applications and
| | 01:03 | locate where you have Adobe Illustrator.
| | 01:07 | Even though we are using CS6 here in
this demo movie you can use these scripts
| | 01:13 | all the way back to CS2.
| | 01:15 | So they're backwards-compatible that way.
| | 01:18 | You'll then click Presets, your language, in
this case English, and your Scripts folder.
| | 01:25 | All you need to do is select your two
custom scripts now and we're going to copy
| | 01:30 | those over to that location and
that's literally all it takes to load
| | 01:37 | your scripts into Illustrator.
| | 01:39 | Now you're ready to use them.
| | 01:43 | Now I'm not a coder and
I certainly don't know script.
| | 01:47 | That said, I know what I like Illustrator to do.
| | 01:50 | So I hired a script expert to create
two helpful scripts that I use all the
| | 01:55 | time with my projects.
| | 01:57 | Here's how they work.
| | 02:00 | The two files we are going to use with
our scripts is some Skull_Comps,
| | 02:06 | some designs I put together, and an icon
set I created for a company called Acme.
| | 02:12 | In this case the first one I am going
to demonstrate is the script to export out
| | 02:16 | individual layers as PDF files and we're
going to use our Comp file here in this folder.
| | 02:23 | We'll just open it and this is the
file inside Illustrator each of the four
| | 02:30 | skull designs are set up as their own layer.
| | 02:34 | You can name those layers any way you want.
| | 02:37 | In this case I just used the
Design_1, Design2, _3, and _4.
| | 02:45 | So we have four designs altogether
each on their own layer in Illustrator.
| | 02:51 | Now we're ready to export out
each of these layers as a PDF file.
| | 02:56 | The way you do this with the script,
it's all automated, is you go to File, down
| | 03:00 | to Edit, and you select save_pdf_layers.
| | 03:04 | Now as soon as I let go of this and click on
it, it's immediately going to run the script.
| | 03:10 | So we are going to do that now.
| | 03:12 | And this is just to make sure you've
saved all your changes, because sometimes
| | 03:17 | if you don't do that, you're going to lose it.
| | 03:19 | So I had them add this in when
the script was written for me.
| | 03:23 | So you'll just click Yes and now
it does what computer does best.
| | 03:29 | Now if we go back to the Desktop to
that Project folder you can see it has now
| | 03:35 | created four individual PDF files.
| | 03:39 | If we click Quick Preview, you can see
that it's each one of the designs that we
| | 03:45 | set up on the individual layers.
| | 03:46 | So that's how the Script works for
the PDF to export out PDFs from layers.
| | 03:53 | We are now going to demonstrate how to
export out individual layers as AI files.
| | 04:00 | So we're to open up our Acme project here.
| | 04:04 | These were some actual icons I did for
a company; not named Acme, by the way.
| | 04:11 | I just want to show you overall the entire set.
| | 04:15 | We're not going to export
this out as a source AI file.
| | 04:19 | I just start it just so
you understand the context.
| | 04:22 | This is an entire set of icons.
| | 04:24 | So I just want to throw this in show you
what that looked like before I run the script.
| | 04:29 | We are going to actually throw that
layer away and save the file again.
| | 04:35 | So, each of these layers in
this file are named specifically.
| | 04:41 | I can double-click on each
layer and name it whatever I want.
| | 04:46 | So this one is a monitor.
| | 04:48 | So I named it Monitor_Icon,
the next one is Security_Icon.
| | 04:53 | So on and so forth for all nine icons.
| | 04:57 | Now because this is a set of icons I am
developing for a company, they want the source art.
| | 05:03 | They don't want a PDF file.
| | 05:05 | They need the source vector AI file.
| | 05:08 | So that's what I'm going to use my
script now to export out each of these layers
| | 05:13 | as their own individual AI file.
| | 05:15 | So I'll go back to File, down to Scripts,
select save_ai files, click on that.
| | 05:23 | It will ask me again are you
sure, did you save your file.
| | 05:27 | We'll click Yes and once
again it simply does what it does.
| | 05:32 | Now this one is taking a little longer,
because each of these files has some
| | 05:37 | raster effects into it to have a nice
glowing edge and that just makes the file
| | 05:44 | size a little larger.
| | 05:45 | So it takes a while longer to process all these.
| | 05:49 | But once it's done, if we go back to the
Desktop, you can see that all of those
| | 05:55 | files are now located in our Project
folder and all the naming functions for our
| | 06:02 | Layers are also intact with the filename.
| | 06:06 | So that's how the scripts work, that's
how you can automate your process, and
| | 06:11 | make things go faster in Illustrator.
| | 06:13 | There is a reason why they
call these machines computers.
| | 06:19 | It's because they do a great job at computing.
| | 06:23 | Using scripts is just one way to tap
into that processing power allowing you
| | 06:28 | to avoid wasting valuable
creative time doing mundane tasks.
| | 06:33 | To help you be more efficient, I am
providing these two scripts in the
| | 06:37 | Exercise_Files with this course so you can
start using them with your own projects.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Graphic styles and custom color palettes| 00:01 | When I scan in a drawing that will be
the basis of an illustrative design.
| | 00:06 | It's always in black-and-white
and toned back to around 15% to 20%.
| | 00:12 | To simplify the process of building
my vector shapes in Illustrator
| | 00:16 | I use a default graphic style.
| | 00:20 | The graphic style I have set up is a magenta
line such as what's showing here on screen.
| | 00:27 | I have this set up in a .5 and a .25
setting within my Graphic Styles palette
| | 00:34 | as you can see here.
| | 00:37 | The reason why I do that is when I build
vector art, in this case this face graphic.
| | 00:42 | This was for a cover of a
book on Illustrator actually.
| | 00:47 | And when I build my vector shapes,
we are going to zoom in so you can see
| | 00:52 | what's going on here,
| | 00:54 | I use magenta like this to build all
of the base shapes before I ever do any
| | 00:59 | kind of color exploration.
| | 01:01 | Now I suggest to use a thinner line
than what's showing right now on screen.
| | 01:07 | This is just too fat to build from and
it's going to make it a lot harder to
| | 01:13 | discern how smooth of a shape
you're creating if you build this thick.
| | 01:19 | So the size that I suggest
you build out is at least .5.
| | 01:23 | It's just easier on the eyes as you
are following your underlying sketch
| | 01:30 | and it's going to make building faster.
| | 01:32 | Now when you get into small details on a
design such as on these glasses, on the
| | 01:38 | interior details, you might even want
to drop down to a .5 setting which is a
| | 01:44 | subtle change here on screen, but
you can see the difference here.
| | 01:48 | .5 is on the right, .25 is on the left.
| | 01:53 | So whatever one you prefer, I kind of
toggle back and forth as I'm creating.
| | 01:59 | Personally, I kind of prefer the .25
because I'm usually zoomed in like this
| | 02:05 | when I am building my vector art.
It just makes building easier.
| | 02:10 | So like a good cooking show
I always have things pre-baked.
| | 02:15 | So we're going to turn on
the All Base Shapes layer.
| | 02:19 | This shows all the base
vector shapes for this design.
| | 02:23 | Everything I need to create my final art
is essentially here minus the detailing
| | 02:30 | aspects such as shading and
some highlighting effects.
| | 02:34 | But all of the core base
vector shapes have been built now.
| | 02:38 | It's all using my magenta-colored graphic
style and that's how I build every design.
| | 02:46 | Every design at some point looks
like this on my workstation.
| | 02:51 | So with this in place let me walk you
through my custom color palette now.
| | 02:57 | I have my own customized default set of
color swatches and graphic styles that
| | 03:02 | I load into every file I open in Illustrator.
| | 03:05 | This prevents having to re-create the
wheel everytime I work on a new project
| | 03:11 | and it allows me to start
color exploration immediately.
| | 03:15 | Let me walk you through my custom color palette.
| | 03:20 | These are my base shapes.
| | 03:21 | I can now start color exploration and
what really facilitates color exploration
| | 03:26 | is having a tonal family and if
you look at my Swatches palette.
| | 03:31 | I will just pull this out so
we can see this a little easier.
| | 03:35 | You see I have tonal families in here.
| | 03:37 | The first one is this flesh tones and
it goes from light flesh tone all the way
| | 03:44 | up to a darker flesh tone.
| | 03:46 | Then it kind of transitions into a
brownish tint type of flesh tone into red,
| | 03:53 | into brown, then we hit the blues and
then once again it starts on the low-end
| | 03:58 | tonal value of blue and goes to a
darker value blue to a very dark blue.
| | 04:04 | Then you have grays.
These grays are cool grays.
| | 04:09 | They have a tint of blue in them.
| | 04:10 | They are not just stark black tints and
then these colors which are pink are the
| | 04:16 | ones I use for, like creating on
illustration like this, the mouth.
| | 04:22 | Then I have greens and oranges and reds
and I also include process black colors.
| | 04:29 | In this case, a 40, 20, 20, 100 mixture
and a 0, 40, 40, 100 mixture.
| | 04:36 | There's a lot of different
processed black settings. You can have.
| | 04:40 | Those are the two I prefer.
| | 04:42 | With that in place I can now select
each aspect of my base vector shapes and
| | 04:49 | start colorizing it.
| | 04:51 | So here's the base shapes that just
make up the head and the hair and I've gone
| | 04:57 | ahead and colored those using my tonal family.
| | 05:02 | The next shapes that fall in place are
the nose and components that make up the mouth,
| | 05:09 | then the hair, the eyebrows,
the goatee, and the glasses.
| | 05:18 | I mean the artwork at this
point is looking pretty good.
| | 05:21 | If we zoom in on it, it almost looks
like a complete piece of art, but really
| | 05:26 | what makes it and breaks this design
specifically is all the detailing.
| | 05:31 | Once you turn that on you can
see how it really comes to life.
| | 05:35 | Now just to give you a peek at this,
you can look at it with just the detailing
| | 05:41 | on and most of these are gradient shapes.
| | 05:45 | One thing I'll do is I will
provide this file in the exercise files.
| | 05:49 | So if you want to deconstruct it to kind of
explore that aspect of it later, you can.
| | 05:54 | But that's how I use tonal families.
| | 05:56 | Now one thing with having tonal family set up
is that I use nothing, but Global colors.
| | 06:04 | So if we go over to this color palette
and I double-click on this light green color,
| | 06:10 | you can see that I have Global selected.
| | 06:14 | What that means is I can
make universal changes here.
| | 06:18 | So let's say the Green in his
glasses, I don't like that green.
| | 06:22 | I think it'd look better if it's
like reflecting the blue of the sky.
| | 06:26 | So we're just going to switch this
over and start making that look more blue,
| | 06:32 | take the yellow out, maybe
make that little lighter.
| | 06:37 | Now when we click Preview, you can see
that it changes our art and if we keep
| | 06:42 | the preview clicked on, it will dynamically
change as we are editing the colors over here.
| | 06:50 | You could change that to anything you want.
| | 06:52 | In this case I wanted to be a
nice blue to reflect the sky.
| | 06:56 | Once you have the color
you want, you just click OK.
| | 06:59 | That's the nice part about building with
global colors is you're able to make on
| | 07:04 | the fly decisions and wherever you've
used that green color, in this case just
| | 07:09 | in the glasses it will globally change it.
| | 07:12 | So anywhere that color shows up in
your design it will change it. It's a good
| | 07:16 | habit to build all your colors as global colors.
That's just a smart way to build your file.
| | 07:23 | Now all of these colors, I should
point out, that are showing in my Swatches
| | 07:28 | palette over here or what I call real
world colors meaning each one of these
| | 07:32 | colors I've actually used in a print project.
| | 07:36 | So I've seen how it comes out in the
real world and those are the colors
| | 07:40 | I've used to create my tonal
library over about the past 10 years.
| | 07:45 | So, if you just get in the habit of
paying attention to the colors you use
| | 07:49 | in a project and keeping track of those in
creating your own tonal families that are
| | 07:54 | proven in the real world, it's
going to make your life a lot easier.
| | 08:00 | That said you never want to trust your screen.
| | 08:03 | Spec from a Pantone book using a
true white source like an OttLite.
| | 08:08 | These are just two simple ways
I streamline my creative process.
| | 08:13 | You will no doubt develop other
ways to improve your own workflow and
| | 08:16 | I encourage you to discover them.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Using layers| 00:01 | Using layers is a good creative habit
that every designer should practice.
| | 00:06 | Taking the time to organize your art into
distinct, easy-to-discern layers
| | 00:11 | will make it far easier to manage
and share your files with others.
| | 00:16 | This is a design I did a few years
back for a speaking engagement
| | 00:22 | at an advertising college.
| | 00:23 | They asked me to do anything I wanted.
So of course I did an evil clown.
| | 00:28 | This shows you the Refined Sketch I placed
in here and I have a default layering system
| | 00:36 | for all my files that I create my artwork
in and I have a Refined Sketch layer,
| | 00:41 | that's where I place my scanned
sketch and I lock that layer.
| | 00:46 | On top of that is my Build layer.
| | 00:49 | This is where I do all my initial
building in my vector shapes using the
| | 00:55 | magenta-colored path to create
whatever I need to create.
| | 00:59 | In this case the first part that I started
when creating this art was his nose
| | 01:04 | and that was just a simple shape
build using the Ellipse Tool and just
| | 01:10 | manipulating some of the anchor points
in order to get the exact shape of the
| | 01:16 | nose I needed and I went forth and
built all the other shapes, but as I build
| | 01:22 | I am doing all my initial
building on my Build layer.
| | 01:25 | But that said, you don't want to focus
and keep all of your artwork on one
| | 01:30 | single layer for the duration of
your project to create the final art.
| | 01:36 | It's just going to make managing
those shapes a lot harder.
| | 01:39 | So along the way, as I build stuff, if I
want it out of my way, I create a new
| | 01:44 | layer that I name as Temp.
| | 01:47 | And I just keep that on there just
as a holding spot until I am ready to
| | 01:51 | organize my layers and organize
the hierarchy of my vector shapes.
| | 01:58 | So if we go to my Base Vector shapes,
this shows everything since this is
| | 02:04 | a symmetric design.
| | 02:06 | I only have to create half of
the art with exception of his nose.
| | 02:09 | Since that was a circle, I just left
that as a solid shape, but pretty much
| | 02:14 | everything else, except his hair is symmetrical.
| | 02:18 | I can now select this, clone and flip
it, and we will be going over that in
| | 02:24 | another movie and I will show you some
other examples that you will see symmetry
| | 02:29 | used to pull off the artwork.
| | 02:31 | But as I build once I get to key
critical stages of building my artwork,
| | 02:36 | in this case once I have this done, I would
select it, group it, then I would make a clone.
| | 02:44 | Meaning I would clone that group
and once again we are using our F3 key
| | 02:49 | that I showed you in the other movie
in this course and just to show you
| | 02:53 | I have cloned this art.
| | 02:55 | Once I have that art cloned I move it
to a layer in my layers palette called X.
| | 03:02 | Think of my X layer,
| | 03:05 | I am just going to turn off my
Refined Sketch layer for a moment.
| | 03:09 | This is where I store all my
vector paths as I am building it.
| | 03:15 | If I experiment with something, I might try it,
but I decide I am not sure if I want to use it.
| | 03:21 | Instead of throwing it away, I move it to my
layer X. So acts almost like vector insurance.
| | 03:27 | So if I ever change my mind I can go back to it.
| | 03:30 | You can see in this specific art, at one
point in my Refined Sketch, I had drool
| | 03:37 | drawn out, but I decided he was
freaky enough, he didn't need drool.
| | 03:42 | So in my final art I didn't have drool.
| | 03:45 | So that's what I use the
vector insurance layer for.
| | 03:48 | You don't want to build on one single layer.
| | 03:50 | So as you build you will want to
move content and start organizing
| | 03:55 | your hierarchy of shape.
| | 03:56 | So in this case let's say the first
aspect of this artwork I want to isolate and
| | 04:01 | move to its own layer is going
to be first we need to Ungroup it.
| | 04:06 | We are going to select his hat and we
are going to move that to a new layer.
| | 04:12 | So you just make sure you are on the
layer that has the vector art you want to move.
| | 04:17 | Then you can go to the bottom of the layers
pallet and click to create new layers button.
| | 04:22 | That will create a new layer above it and
you just select the icon to the far right,
| | 04:28 | meaning that the selected art you
have is what's selected and you
| | 04:33 | drag it up and drop and that's how
you move it to the new layer.
| | 04:37 | Now you can see the
highlighting color on this new layer.
| | 04:40 | It's just like really light color teal.
| | 04:43 | You can notice on all my other layers
I have a blue selected, because I have
| | 04:47 | just found that this medium blue works
best for highlighting so I also change my
| | 04:53 | layer highlighting to that and always
it's a good habit to get into to
| | 04:58 | name your layers as you build.
| | 04:59 | So we will just call this
one Hat and we will click OK.
| | 05:03 | So as you build you will start moving
stuff to its own layer and obviously
| | 05:08 | the hierarchy has to work so on your
final design it looks the way it should.
| | 05:15 | But like I said, you want to avoid
building all your artwork on one layer.
| | 05:20 | You want to move stuff to their own layer.
| | 05:23 | This is the final art for this design and
it looks cool, but it's all on one layer.
| | 05:29 | So it's really hard to get access
to certain aspects of this design.
| | 05:35 | Such as the base color on this clowns hair.
| | 05:38 | I would have to move one effect shape, another
effect shape in order to get to the base shape.
| | 05:46 | You can see how that can become a problem
for editing certain things and making
| | 05:51 | any small revisions.
| | 05:53 | It's just a lot harder
to get access to your art.
| | 05:55 | So I am going to show you the same artwork.
| | 05:58 | We are going to switch to another file
here and this file is included in the
| | 06:04 | exercise files with this course.
| | 06:06 | So you can deconstruct this to
really understand how I layered everything
| | 06:10 | here to pull it off.
| | 06:11 | But if you look at the layers now, this
artwork it's an extreme example of layering.
| | 06:17 | You probably will never have to get
this complex with yours, but it does show
| | 06:23 | you that I can isolate any aspect of
this artwork such as his nose, turn off the
| | 06:28 | base color of his nose, the shading on his nose.
| | 06:31 | I can turn off the eyes. The eye detailing.
| | 06:35 | So you can see to the extreme I've
layered it over here and you will be able to
| | 06:40 | deconstruct this file and really come
to a better understanding of how to set up
| | 06:46 | your layer hierarchy to let layers
help you to organize your files
| | 06:51 | so they are easier to manage.
| | 06:53 | You know layers are good things.
| | 06:55 | So don't be one of those designers that
never bothers to use layers and builds
| | 06:59 | everything on one single layer.
| | 07:02 | I'm sure you've had to use a file where
somebody's done that. So just stop it.
| | 07:07 | You run the risk of annoying those who
have to deal with your sloppy files
| | 07:12 | so make layering a good creative habit.
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| Toggling Smart Guides on and off| 00:01 | One feature in Illustrator that
benefits your vector building are Smart Guides.
| | 00:06 | These help you align your
points and shapes as you create them.
| | 00:10 | That said, you'll need to toggle the
guides on and off as you build your vector art.
| | 00:16 | Let me show you how this works.
| | 00:19 | If we go into this file, you can see
here just to demonstrate in a nutshell,
| | 00:24 | what Smart Guides are all about is if
you select any vector art and you toggle
| | 00:30 | over a path, it will give you on
screen annotation, such as this,
| | 00:35 | telling you you're over the path.
| | 00:37 | If you hover over an anchor point, it
will tell you that you're over an anchor point,
| | 00:42 | and it will actually give you the X, Y
coordinates of that anchor point
| | 00:47 | if you need to be that precise.
| | 00:49 | You can also use it like for example
if you're rotating some artwork,
| | 00:55 | it will tell you what degree you're
rotating it, so on and so forth.
| | 01:00 | These on screen annotations will change
based upon whatever tool you might
| | 01:06 | be using, they apply to every tool.
| | 01:08 | So, it just depends on what you're building.
| | 01:11 | Now, how these benefit vector building?
| | 01:14 | In this case, you can see this design
of mine here, I created a book of
| | 01:18 | ornaments, and this was one of the designs
I created for that set of ornaments.
| | 01:24 | And I drew out everything ahead of time,
like I'm reinforcing in this entire course,
| | 01:29 | and it's no different here.
| | 01:32 | You can see all the vector shapes I
built already, and we're going to build
| | 01:36 | this little flair at the top of this one.
| | 01:40 | The nice thing about Smart Guides is
we want to start right where this anchor
| | 01:44 | point is on the other shape, and
this is telling us where they are.
| | 01:48 | So, that's how Smart Guides
can help you as you build.
| | 01:51 | We don't need to zoom in and make sure
and eyeball it to determine if we're over
| | 01:57 | that anchor point, it's telling
us you're over it, so we can click.
| | 02:00 | Then, as I will explain in another
movie in this course, anywhere your art
| | 02:06 | comes to a point, gets a point, and
now we're going to come down here,
| | 02:10 | and place our next point.
| | 02:11 | Now, this is where you'll run in some
difficulties with Smart Guides as you're building.
| | 02:17 | Right now, it won't allow us to place
an anchor point in between these two paths,
| | 02:21 | it wants to snap to one path or the other.
| | 02:25 | And that's where you'll want to
toggle off Smart Guides as you build.
| | 02:30 | So, to do that, we'll just go Cmd+U,
that's how you toggle Smart Guides off,
| | 02:36 | and we'll just continue where we left off.
| | 02:38 | Now, we'll be able to place our anchor
point right where we want, and finish the
| | 02:46 | rough build shape of this vector shape.
| | 02:49 | And from this point, we can zoom in and
finesse our design, and align our paths
| | 02:57 | exactly the way we want to, to build the
shape we need for this specific design.
| | 03:04 | Smart Guides will help you as you build
different types of vector shapes, but at times,
| | 03:09 | you will have to toggle it on and off
in order to make your building go
| | 03:14 | faster, and once again, to toggle smart
guides on and off, it's Cmd+U.
| | 03:20 | Now, another aspect of building that we
cover in this course is shape building.
| | 03:24 | So, I'm going to demonstrate how Smart
Guides will assist you in shape building.
| | 03:29 | So we're going to zoom in on a detail
of this design to demonstrate that,
| | 03:34 | and we're going to toggle Smart Guides back on,
so Cmd+U. So now, we'll select this shape.
| | 03:42 | We now know we're over the anchor point
because it's telling us we are.
| | 03:46 | Select that shape, drag it.
| | 03:48 | And as we drag it over, as soon as it's
over this path, we know that's exactly
| | 03:53 | where we want and we'll let go.
| | 03:55 | That's how Smart Guides
is going to help you build.
| | 03:57 | If we didn't have Smart Guides on, so we'll
toggle it off again, and you drag it over,
| | 04:05 | it's just going to be eyeballing it.
| | 04:08 | You don't know exactly if you're
right where the edge of the path is.
| | 04:13 | So that's how Smart Guides
will benefit your building.
| | 04:16 | So, if you do have Smart Guides turned on,
Cmd+U, and you drag it over,
| | 04:24 | then you're able to build faster because
you know exactly where it's going to be.
| | 04:28 | In this case, we're going to now
click right on our anchor point.
| | 04:31 | We know where they are because
Smart Guides is telling us we are.
| | 04:34 | Click, and then we can rotate
this into the position we want.
| | 04:40 | We're now going to use another thing we
cover in this course which is one of our
| | 04:44 | function keys, the F3 key to clone.
We'll clone this shape.
| | 04:54 | We'll want to open up the Pathfinder Palette.
So, we'll go up to Window>Pathfinder.
| | 04:59 | Now, using the Minus Front, we'll
cookie-cut it, and now we have our shape
| | 05:07 | for the ornament we're going to create.
| | 05:09 | So, that's how Smart Guides can be used
to assist your building, in this case,
| | 05:13 | an ornament design.
| | 05:15 | And just to kind of show you how
this ornament was ultimately used,
| | 05:22 | I do have this to bring up.
| | 05:25 | And you can find a whole selection of
sample ornaments I've included in the
| | 05:31 | Exercise Files with this course.
Using Smart Guides is a balancing act.
| | 05:36 | You'll love them when they enable your
creative work, making the task at hand easier,
| | 05:41 | and you'll curse them when they get in the way.
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|
|
5. Building Vector ShapesBuilding your vector shapes| 00:01 | At this stage of the process,
you're now moving from analog to digital.
| | 00:06 | And you'll begin to build your design
in vector format within Illustrator.
| | 00:10 | Remember, anyone can learn the tools.
| | 00:14 | My goal isn't to show you specifically
how to use the tools but how to look at
| | 00:19 | any drawn design and discern where
and how to place your anchor points.
| | 00:23 | This will help you take your
drawing and build it out precisely.
| | 00:28 | In this chapter, we'll be covering:
your Drawing is your road map,
| | 00:32 | the Clockwork method, Prime point
placement, the Point by point method,
| | 00:37 | the Shape building method,
using Symmetry in your design,
| | 00:43 | and Art directing yourself. Let's face it.
| | 00:46 | The whole point you're taking this
course is to improve your abilities.
| | 00:51 | Once these methods become a regular part
of your design routine, you should see
| | 00:55 | growth in the craftsmanship
and the quality of your work.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| A roadmap for vector building| 00:01 | All the work you've spent in the
analog stages drawing out your design
| | 00:05 | and refining it is now going to
pay off and facilitate your
| | 00:10 | vector building in Illustrator.
| | 00:12 | In this movie, we'll see that a
tight sketch drawing is vital in creating
| | 00:17 | precise illustrative design.
| | 00:21 | Now that we have our refined sketch
scanned in, we're going to place it in the
| | 00:25 | Illustrator by going to File>Place,
locating where we have it, in this case,
| | 00:30 | it's in a folder called Character on the desktop.
We'll select our scan TIF, and we'll place it.
| | 00:38 | Once it's placed into Illustrator, we
want to change the opacity, and in this case,
| | 00:44 | we want it at 20%, and we'll
lock the layer we now have it on,
which is the Refined Sketch layer.
| | 00:52 | And as we discussed in one of the previous
movies, we're using our default build method.
| | 00:58 | So, we're going to be building on our
Build layer now, using one of our graphic styles,
| | 01:03 | and the Pen tool of course.
First, we want to zoom in.
| | 01:09 | In this case, we're going to focus on
just this part of his hat, and using the
| | 01:14 | Pen tool, this refined sketch will now act
as our guide to build our vector art upon.
| | 01:28 | Don't worry about getting it exact on
your first initial attempt,
| | 01:34 | because we'll go back and we'll refine this.
| | 01:36 | It's just to get where to lay down
your base anchor points at this stage.
| | 01:47 | And all we're focusing on is
just the top part of his hat.
| | 01:52 | We're not going to worry about
the rest of the art at this point.
| | 01:57 | All those are going to be addressed once
we start building the rest of the design.
| | 02:10 | So, the key to this stage is that your
Refined Sketch is now acting as a roadmap
| | 02:18 | to build your vector art.
There is no guesswork.
| | 02:20 | I'm not kind of guessing, well is
this how the shape of the hat should be?
| | 02:25 | I'm literally just following the
sketch I've already determined.
| | 02:29 | And that's how having a nice well-defined,
refined sketch will help you
| | 02:36 | in building art like this.
| | 02:37 | So, this is the point by point
building his hat one anchor point at a time.
| | 02:43 | Now, working on a piece of art like this,
even using Refined Sketch is going to
| | 02:48 | help you when you're building more
geometric shapes, just to organize how
| | 02:53 | you're building your art.
| | 02:54 | In this case, the eyeball is nothing
more than just using the Ellipse tool
| | 03:00 | to create the inner part of the eyeball,
and then once you have that,
| | 03:08 | it's easy to create the rest of the art.
| | 03:11 | Once again, all it is, is just using
the Shape tool, the Ellipse tool to
| | 03:17 | create the rest of the eye.
| | 03:20 | And then once you have that, you can
use other tools such as Pathfinder.
| | 03:25 | Right now, we're going to
create what I call a throwaway shape.
| | 03:29 | We're just creating a shape in
order to manipulate another shape.
| | 03:34 | So, we created that shape.
| | 03:36 | Now, we're going to select
the bigger part of the eyeball.
| | 03:40 | And using the Pathfinder like a cookie-cutter,
we're just going to punch that out.
| | 03:46 | So, you can see how that aligns with
our underlying drawing, whether you're
| | 03:51 | building point-by-point such as this
part of the hat or whether you're building
| | 03:57 | the eyeball which uses just the shapes,
using a refined tight sketch is going to
| | 04:02 | assist you, and act as a road map
for your vector building.
| | 04:08 | The better you refine your drawn design,
and work it out in the analog stages,
| | 04:14 | the less time and guesswork
you'll have to make at the build stage.
| | 04:18 | Your drawing is your road map for building.
So, you need an accurate map.
| | 04:23 | Analog equips digital and enables a
designer to produce consistent quality
| | 04:29 | and craftsmanship that will only
improve and grow over time.
| | 04:34 | Remember, practice doesn't make perfect,
process does.
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| The clockwork method| 00:01 | The first vector build method
we'll discuss is the Clockwork method.
| | 00:05 | When you first learn Illustrator, no
one teaches you how to determine
| | 00:10 | where to place your anchor points.
Most just learn by trial and error.
| | 00:14 | And this is how bad vector
building habits are formed.
| | 00:17 | The Clockwork method is a simple mental
trick to help you look at any drawn shape,
| | 00:22 | then figure out where to place the
anchor points in order to form
| | 00:27 | the vector shape accurately.
Look at your drawn design.
| | 00:31 | Then, associate a clock
with the curves in your sketch.
| | 00:36 | Orient the clock as needed
to align with your drawing.
| | 00:39 | Then, look at the 12 o'clock, the 3 o'clock,
6 o'clock, and the 9 o'clock positions
| | 00:44 | to help you discern the location
to place your anchor points.
| | 00:52 | Let's see how this works out in real life.
| | 00:55 | We're now back, using our character design
as the file we're going to now build
| | 01:01 | using the Clockwork method.
| | 01:03 | And last time, we used this guy to
demonstrate how our refined sketch is
| | 01:10 | going to be our road map.
| | 01:11 | We're now going to use him in the same way.
| | 01:13 | But, I'm going to explain with a
little more clarity the Clockwork method.
| | 01:18 | Once again, anywhere in your design,
that comes to a point, gets a point.
| | 01:22 | Those are easy ones to discern.
| | 01:24 | You don't have to think too hard
about where to place the anchor points.
| | 01:27 | They go right at the tip of wherever
your art comes to a point,
| | 01:32 | such as the back part of his hat.
| | 01:33 | Now, as you start looking at a curve in
your art, just picture a clock in your mind.
| | 01:39 | So, for example, this one
would be a 3 o'clock position.
| | 01:43 | And don't worry about pulling your
Bezier curve handlebars out really far,
| | 01:48 | you don't need to, just make them available.
| | 01:50 | Then, the next one once again,
wherever it comes to point, gets a point.
| | 01:55 | We don't need to place an anchor point here,
because our curve is so shallow,
| | 02:00 | we can pull that off by
pulling out our handlebars later.
| | 02:03 | So, once again, wherever it
comes to point, gets a point.
| | 02:07 | We'll use a 3 o'clock position here,
12 o'clock, 9 o'clock, wherever your art
| | 02:17 | comes to a point gets a point.
| | 02:18 | Once again, this is such a
shallow curve on this one.
| | 02:23 | You could put a point midway, but you
really don't need to, and you'll see that
| | 02:28 | when I adjust the Bezier handles.
| | 02:30 | So, we'll put one where the
art comes to a point here.
| | 02:34 | Down here, you'll associate this curve.
| | 02:37 | If you tilted your clock to the side,
it might still be a 6 o'clock, but if you
| | 02:43 | tilt it really far, it might be a 9 o'clock.
| | 02:45 | Either one, this is where you're
going to place your next anchor point.
| | 02:50 | Point comes to a point.
| | 02:53 | Once again, your curve comes down here.
This will be a 6 o'clock position.
| | 02:57 | Now, this is where using the Clockwork
method is kind of key to discerning your
| | 03:02 | anchor point placement.
| | 03:03 | The bill of his cap here, think of
the clock being squished and rotated
| | 03:10 | counterclockwise, so your 3 o'clock
would be here, your 12 o'clock would be
| | 03:17 | around this position, and
your 9 o'clock would be here.
| | 03:22 | Now, we can pull off this in
curve with the Bezier handles.
| | 03:26 | So we'll just go directly to the point.
And this is our initial rough build.
| | 03:35 | We're going to come back on this now
using the Convert Anchor Point tool
| | 03:40 | to pull out the necessary Bezier handles we
need to form the art, and so in this case,
| | 03:47 | we're going to pull these out so that
we can get access to those handles,
| | 03:54 | and start adjusting our path to form it
more accurately to the underlying sketch.
| | 04:08 | So, you can see how that happens.
| | 04:11 | One thing I'll point out is when vector art,
in this case, the back part of his hat,
| | 04:15 | this little stub, which represents the
adjustable part of the cap when you wear it,
| | 04:21 | I never like leaving my art
with perfect straight lines.
| | 04:25 | It's said that nothing in nature is
absolutely perfect, and I like using that
| | 04:29 | rule when it comes to vector art.
| | 04:31 | Nothing should be absolutely perfect
unless you're drawing a ruler.
| | 04:35 | It's okay to have a little
bend in a straight line.
| | 04:39 | It just adds character, and since we're
creating a character, kind of makes sense.
| | 04:44 | So, you can see how I'm just adjusting
the Bezier handles to pull off the exact
| | 04:50 | look and feel I want.
| | 04:55 | And there's nothing super fast about this
process, it just takes time, and don't rush it.
| | 05:03 | Just really be picky about how
your vectors are being created.
| | 05:10 | So, you can see on this bill that the
Bezier handles I'm pulling out is doing
| | 05:18 | most of the heavy lifting in terms of
shaping and forming the underneath path.
| | 05:26 | So here, we'll go back to our placement here.
| | 05:30 | And when we pull out that handle, you can see
how it aligns with our underlying drawing.
| | 05:35 | We'll now adjust this one.
| | 05:38 | We'll go back to this, pull out our handle,
and that's where we pay attention
| | 05:44 | to how it aligns with our underlying drawing.
| | 05:48 | And now the last part will
just be this last anchor point.
| | 05:51 | It doesn't matter with the path over
here, because that's going to be consumed
| | 05:55 | once we fuse all of our final shapes together.
| | 06:00 | And this is the last Bezier
handle we'll manipulate, and this one.
| | 06:06 | Now I'm not going to worry about
identically aligning everything.
| | 06:11 | There are a few refinements we could
make to this art, but we're going to do
| | 06:15 | that in the next movie when we
talk about prime point placement.
| | 06:22 | If you find yourself struggling to
form a vector shape accurately,
| | 06:26 | use the Clockwork method to analyze your
anchor point placements and improve
| | 06:31 | your final design results.
| | 06:33 | Like anything new, the Clockwork method
will take some time to get used to.
| | 06:37 | But eventually, your discernment on
anchor point placements will improve.
| | 06:42 | That said, don't assume that every
anchor point you place when using the
| | 06:46 | Clockwork method is going to be perfect
every time because it won't. Think of it this way;
| | 06:52 | the Clockwork method will get you within
the correct neighborhood
| | 06:57 | but might not be the exact street address.
And that's okay at this stage of the process.
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| Prime point placement| 00:01 | The second vector build method
is Prime Point Placement.
| | 00:05 | We used the Clockwork method to help
create and establish an initial vector path.
| | 00:10 | We'll now use Prime Point Placement
method to further dial in our anchor point
| | 00:15 | locations in order to finalize
a precise vector shape that
| | 00:20 | matches our underlying drawing.
| | 00:24 | Now that we have the initial locations
of our anchor points nailed down,
| | 00:29 | they're within with I would call once
again the correct neighborhood,
| | 00:34 | but we need to now use the Prime Point
Placement to audit the specific locations
| | 00:40 | of these anchor points, and improve any
in order to shape, and form our art
| | 00:45 | exactly as we intend it to be.
| | 00:47 | So, we're going to look at our art, and
that's all you're doing at this point.
| | 00:52 | You're just looking at where
you've placed your anchor points.
| | 00:55 | And if you need to zoom in, that always helps.
| | 00:57 | So, we're going to zoom in
specifically on his bill.
| | 01:00 | And you can see that this one, and
this is why it's so important to draw out
| | 01:05 | your artwork exactly, we're going to
just move this just to refine the shape
| | 01:10 | a little bit, and you can see it did.
I think it's improving the shape by
| | 01:16 | moving it to that location.
| | 01:17 | You might need to adjust your
Bezier handles at this point.
| | 01:21 | So, we're going to do that too,
and pull this one out a little more.
| | 01:27 | And I even think this one
could be pulled out a little more.
| | 01:30 | So, all this stage is with Prime
Point Placement is making sure your anchor
| | 01:35 | points are in their prime point placement.
| | 01:39 | That's exactly what it means.
| | 01:40 | So, we're going to just adjust
any positions of the anchor points.
| | 01:45 | We're going to adjust any Bezier curve
handles for those corresponding anchor points
| | 01:50 | in order to improve the overall
form and shape of our artwork.
| | 01:57 | I think the base of his bill
right here, this is a little clunky.
| | 02:01 | We can fix that up by adjusting
the Bezier curve there.
| | 02:05 | And overall, I think we
pretty much have everything.
| | 02:10 | Well, hold on, we're
going to move this one over.
| | 02:14 | I'm pretty anal when it comes to refining
my artwork and really making sure
| | 02:19 | everything, actually this is something I should
point out, because I think it's important.
| | 02:26 | You never get anything right the
first time, and I think this anchor point
| | 02:29 | specifically could be improved.
| | 02:31 | And sometimes it helps to just pull it
completely away, then drag it over and
| | 02:38 | position it where you think it should be.
| | 02:40 | That just makes discernment a little easier,
and I think that looks a lot better now.
| | 02:45 | So on this one, I think we can
adjust that, and I think we're done.
| | 02:49 | So, this shows you how you can go in,
audit your anchor point locations using
| | 02:54 | Prime Point Placement to improve on them.
| | 02:56 | And for this specific art, just so you
can see how it ended up looking,
| | 03:03 | this is just one shape of many I built to
create this art, and the final art for this
| | 03:08 | design ended up looking like this.
| | 03:13 | Working with vector art
is like working with clay.
| | 03:16 | You have to adjust your anchor point
placements and control Bezier curve handles,
| | 03:20 | untill your vector design
forms the correct shape needed.
| | 03:25 | Your underlying drawing will always be
there to help guide your vector building,
| | 03:29 | but you'll still need to art direct yourself
at every incremental stage along the way.
| | 03:35 | Prime Point Placement can
assist you in this pursuit.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| The point-by-point method| 00:01 | When it comes to vector building,
there's nothing more fundamental than
| | 00:05 | building your shapes one anchor point at
a time; hence the name point-by-point.
| | 00:10 | It simply defines the most common
method designers use to create vector art.
| | 00:16 | In this movie, we'll go over a four-step
method that will help you optimize
| | 00:21 | point-by-point building, and help you
create your drawn design more precisely.
| | 00:28 | Here's one of the skull
directions I'll be presenting.
| | 00:32 | Remember, creating vector
art is like molding clay.
| | 00:36 | You'll shape it at each stage
until you form the shape needed.
| | 00:40 | We're going to start specifically on this
design with the left-hand side of the skull,
| | 00:44 | for all you skeletal nuts out
there this the zygomatic bone.
| | 00:49 | So, a little extra trivia.
The first stage is what I call rough building.
| | 00:56 | And you're not so much worried about
getting the exact form that you need,
| | 01:01 | it's all about discerning where
to place your anchor points.
| | 01:04 | And as we covered in a previous movie,
we are going to use the Clockwork method
| | 01:09 | now to discern where to place our
anchor points in creating the shape.
| | 01:14 | To start with, we are just going
to start laying down our points.
| | 01:17 | Once again, wherever your art
comes to a point, it will get a point.
| | 01:21 | Those are easy to discern.
| | 01:23 | You don't have to do much thinking
to determine the placement of those.
| | 01:27 | But, now when your art comes to a curve,
this is where you can picture the
| | 01:31 | clock in your head, and discern that
we're going to place the point here
| | 01:36 | at a three 3 o'clock position.
| | 01:38 | Swing around over here.
| | 01:40 | This will be a 9 o'clock.
| | 01:41 | Once again, don't worry about pulling your
Bezier curve handles out all the way at this point.
| | 01:47 | We'll go back and do that at a later stage.
| | 01:49 | Then, anywhere where your art
comes to a point, it will get a point.
| | 02:00 | And what we're doing now is we're dissecting
our design into more manageable shapes.
| | 02:05 | I'll touch on that a little later in the
next video to explain that a little more.
| | 02:10 | You don't have to try to build your
art with one complete vector path.
| | 02:14 | It's just unrealistic.
| | 02:15 | So, we're going to do that
in a more manageable way.
| | 02:18 | So, as we're coming down the left-hand
side of the shape, we'll want to
| | 02:22 | discern our next anchor point location, and I
think 3 o'clock position right here would work.
| | 02:29 | This is such a subtle curve.
We are not going to need an anchor point here.
| | 02:33 | We can go right to the point here,
then here, and this if you imagine a clock
| | 02:39 | that squished or flattened, and kind
of rotated counterclockwise,
| | 02:46 | you can picture where to place
your next anchor point here.
| | 02:48 | The top curve is shallow enough
that we can get away with just one
| | 02:53 | 3 o'clock position here, once again,
point gets a point, and then we'll
| | 02:58 | finish out our shape here.
| | 03:01 | So, this essentially what
rough building is all about.
| | 03:06 | This is the first stage of a four
stage process in order to shape your
| | 03:12 | vector art exactly the way you need it.
| | 03:14 | So, as you can see, it's not aligning to
our underlying drawing exactly, that's okay.
| | 03:20 | We're going to now begin to shape
our vector paths in the next stage.
| | 03:25 | And by doing that, we want to zoom in
to make sure we can audit all of our
| | 03:30 | anchor point locations to make sure
they're in the correct position,
| | 03:35 | and then we'll use the Convert Anchor Point
tool to now start pulling out the Bezier
| | 03:39 | handles on these various anchor points
in order to continue shaping our art,
| | 03:46 | so it aligns with our underlying drawing.
| | 03:53 | Now, like I said in a previous movie
for the Clockwork method, this might be
| | 03:59 | a little methodical and it does take a
little bit of time, but the more you work
| | 04:04 | this way, the faster you're going to get.
| | 04:16 | So, here's where we'll probably adjust
the prime point location by sliding this
| | 04:22 | down a little bit, and continuing to
adjust our Bezier curve handles
| | 04:31 | until we get the shape we want.
| | 04:50 | I should point out as we're shaping
our art right now, there is technically
| | 04:57 | a faster way to do this, but it
isn't native to Adobe Illustrator.
| | 05:00 | We are showing you how to do this
natively inside Adobe Illustrator with
| | 05:06 | just the tools that come with Illustrator.
| | 05:08 | So if you just downloaded Adobe and
you're going to create your vector art,
| | 05:13 | you're going to be able to do so
using just the tools that exist with
| | 05:18 | Adobe Illustrator right when you buy it.
| | 05:21 | But, if you wanted to do this easier,
you could use a plugin by Astute Graphics
| | 05:27 | and that plugin is called VectorScribe Studio.
| | 05:31 | And it allows you to grab anywhere on
a path, and you can literally pull that
| | 05:37 | path into shape, thereby kind of bypassing
the whole Bezier curve handles that
| | 05:43 | you see me manipulating here.
| | 05:45 | It creates Bezier curve handles.
| | 05:47 | It just allows you to do so without ever
having to touch the anchor point locations,
| | 05:54 | which is kind of nice, and it
does speed up the whole process.
| | 05:58 | So, you might want to check that out,
and choose to use those plugins.
| | 06:03 | I just wanted to make sure to show you
how to do it directly out of Illustrator.
| | 06:08 | So, anybody could create precise vector art
that they need without the use of any plugins.
| | 06:17 | So, we're almost done.
| | 06:18 | This is going to be one of the last
anchor points we're going to manipulate here.
| | 06:28 | So, let me zoom out.
| | 06:31 | And you can see, this is what
our shape looks like right now.
| | 06:36 | And what we've gone and done in the
third step is now to select any anchor point
| | 06:42 | that should be a smooth, that is, it
transitions from one side to the next smoothly.
| | 06:46 | And we're just going to
double-check all of those.
| | 06:50 | In this case, we only have four
anchor points that should be smooth.
| | 06:55 | With those four anchor points selected,
we'll just go up to the Menu bar at the
| | 07:00 | top of the screen and there's this
button called Convert Selected Anchor Points
| | 07:04 | to smooth, and we are going to click that.
| | 07:06 | And that's just to ensure that
those remains smooth anchor points.
| | 07:11 | Now, all we have to do, and this is just
continually art directing yourself, the
| | 07:16 | fourth step is just to go back, and I
usually start at one end, go all the way
| | 07:20 | to the other side of the vector shape,
and just reanalyze all my anchor points
| | 07:26 | to make sure they look the way they should.
| | 07:31 | It's good to kind of critique yourself.
| | 07:33 | And in this case, I don't really
see a whole lot we need to change.
| | 07:37 | I might adjust this one just a little bit.
| | 07:41 | Other than that, I think
we are looking pretty good.
| | 07:46 | So, that's how you can use Point-by-point
method, keeping the Clockwork method
| | 07:52 | in mind to create and form your vector shapes.
| | 07:58 | Vector building is a progressive process.
| | 08:01 | So, you really need to scrutinize
your vector art as you build it.
| | 08:05 | Look for any areas in your design that don't
look right, and refine them until they do.
| | 08:11 | This process may seem methodical,
but it's a great way to hold yourself
| | 08:15 | creatively accountable and ensure a
higher level of craftsmanship in your work.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| The shape-building method| 00:01 | The Shape-building method is a
simple and fast way to build precise
| | 00:05 | vector shapes using nothing more
than the Rectangle tool, Ellipse tool,
| | 00:10 | and the Pathfinder palette.
| | 00:12 | Instead of manually building our
vectors one anchor point at a time,
| | 00:17 | we'll let the shape tools do the
vector construction for us.
| | 00:21 | Just like the Point-by-point method,
we'll still use a tight sketch to build
| | 00:25 | our vector art upon.
| | 00:29 | We're going to continue working on building
the vector art for this skull design.
| | 00:35 | And as you work on any type of design,
you will use the Point-by-point method
| | 00:40 | to create shapes such as we did here.
| | 00:43 | But, also be looking in your design,
and look for areas of your design that can
| | 00:49 | be made using shape tools, and
I'll demonstrate that next for you.
| | 00:53 | How to use shape-building in a design like this?
| | 00:56 | So, the back part of the cranium, the
top of the skull and the back of the skull,
| | 01:01 | it doesn't make any sense to
try to create that one point at a time.
| | 01:05 | You'd be spending too much time
trying to get those curves looking great.
| | 01:08 | When it's so close to being a circular
shape already, we are going to take the
| | 01:13 | Ellipse tool, you can see over
here, we're going to select that.
| | 01:16 | And we are going to use that
to create this cranial shape.
| | 01:20 | So, we'll first lay down the initial
shape and then we'll just adjust it to
| | 01:26 | match our underlying drawing.
You can see that here.
| | 01:30 | Now, we're going to clone it using
one of the F keys we set up, the F3 key.
| | 01:35 | Then, once we have that
cloned, we can just scale it.
| | 01:42 | Then we'll adjust that once
again to align to our drawing.
| | 01:46 | Now, it's not a perfect
alignment to our drawing.
| | 01:49 | We are going to still move things.
| | 01:51 | But, we are already like 90% there.
| | 01:54 | We just have to select our anchor point,
and slide this over a little bit,
| | 01:59 | adjust the Bezier curve handle in order
to align it to exactly the position we want,
| | 02:04 | so it matches our sketch.
So, these are just minor things.
| | 02:09 | And you can see, this is going a lot
faster than if we try to build this one
| | 02:13 | anchor point at a time.
| | 02:15 | It's just going to look better since the Shape
tool has created all of these curves for us.
| | 02:24 | We're almost there.
| | 02:25 | We're just going to adjust this one
a little bit, and I think that work.
| | 02:30 | So, with that selected, we are going
to select this top elliptical shape with
| | 02:36 | the background elliptical shape.
| | 02:38 | This is where shape-building comes in.
| | 02:40 | We are going to now go to the Pathfinder
palette, and we're going to punch this out.
| | 02:45 | So essentially, we are
creating a really thin donut now.
| | 02:48 | So now, that's the shape we have, and we
are going to lop off what we don't need.
| | 02:54 | So, this is where a throwaway shape comes in.
| | 02:57 | We're not going to keep this shape, we
are just making it in order to edit the
| | 03:02 | new shape we did here, go back to
the Pathfinder palette, lop this off.
| | 03:08 | And that's how you can build
your artwork using shape-building.
| | 03:12 | We'll use this over and over again through
the design, this top part of the cranium,
| | 03:16 | this little sliver of a moon type shape.
I'll build that with shape-building.
| | 03:22 | But the next one I want to show you,
just because it's a nice little detail
| | 03:26 | area of the design is in the teeth here.
| | 03:29 | We'll do the same thing using
nothing but the Ellipse tool over here.
| | 03:33 | We'll create this really quickly.
So, we just create a circular shape.
| | 03:43 | So, it's going to take four different
circular shapes, and we're just roughly
| | 03:50 | aligning them to our underlying
drawing as you can see here.
| | 03:59 | So, this is essentially all the shapes
we'll need to build this art now.
| | 04:04 | So, what it's going to take is we'll
take this shape, we'll make sure it's all
| | 04:08 | the way on top and we've set up our F5
key to bring to front, so we know that's
| | 04:13 | on top of everything.
| | 04:14 | We'll select this shape,
and we'll punch that out.
| | 04:18 | Now, we'll create the other shape we need.
| | 04:21 | So, we'll select this elliptical shape,
the F5 key to bring to front, select the
| | 04:27 | shapes other shape, and punch that out.
| | 04:30 | Now, with this in shape in place,
we'll select the other shape.
| | 04:34 | And once again, go back to the Pathfinder,
punch it out, ungroup, throwaway
| | 04:40 | little sliver, we don't need.
| | 04:42 | You can see that we have the in
shape we need for this specific art.
| | 04:47 | That's how you can use, look at any
kind of design you're creating,
| | 04:52 | in this case, this skull design.
| | 04:54 | And you can use shape-building in order
to speed up your build times and avoid
| | 04:59 | having to use Point-by-point.
| | 05:00 | You'll actually use both methods
in almost everything you create.
| | 05:05 | And to kind of demonstrate this, I'll
show you how this one ended up working out.
| | 05:10 | So, this shows all the independent
separate shapes that made up this design.
| | 05:17 | So, I call this segmented building.
| | 05:19 | It's being more manageable with how you
build your art by creating it out of a
| | 05:25 | bunch of independent shapes.
| | 05:26 | Once you have these, it's easy to then
use the Pathfinder palette to create your
| | 05:32 | black-and-white base art.
So, you can see that here.
| | 05:36 | And it's at this stage, I want shading
in this to make it more dramatic.
| | 05:41 | And it doesn't do any good to try to
guess what that might look like on screen,
| | 05:46 | just kind of roughly trying to figure it out.
It's better if I can print this out.
| | 05:52 | And once I print it out, I draw on my
print out and you can see my drawing,
| | 05:56 | I've scanned it back in and I use this now
to build, once again like I did the base art,
| | 06:03 | I am going to build out my shading.
| | 06:06 | And then once that's all done,
I have my final skull art.
| | 06:10 | Now, this file is in the Exercise Files,
and you can click through all these layers,
| | 06:14 | and deconstruct how I put it together
to create this specific skull edit.
| | 06:23 | The more you use the Shape-building method,
the more you'll find use for it
| | 06:28 | within your vector projects.
| | 06:30 | Keep in mind that the majority of vector
artwork you build will utilize both the
| | 06:34 | Shape-building method and
the Point-by-point method.
| | 06:38 | The combination of these two methods
can greatly improve your craftsmanship
| | 06:43 | and speed up the build times as well.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Symmetry is your friend| 00:01 | Whenever you can cut your vector build
times in half without compromising the
| | 00:05 | design's quality, it's a no-brainer
win for your creative process.
| | 00:10 | Of course, not every project requires
the use of symmetry, but those that do,
| | 00:15 | benefit from this simple build method,
because it will only require half the
| | 00:20 | work to complete the full design.
| | 00:25 | So, here's a recent project I worked
on for a company out of the UK called
| | 00:30 | Astute Graphics, and they
make plugins for Illustrator.
| | 00:33 | So, you might want to check that out.
| | 00:35 | They make some great plugins that
make a lot of the methods I show in this
| | 00:39 | course actually a little easier than
they are natively out of Illustrator.
| | 00:44 | So, because we are building a symmetric
design here, we are not just
| | 00:48 | building it out of the blue.
| | 00:50 | As you can see, I've taken the time
to draw out my refined sketch, so it's
| | 00:55 | working as a road map to build on.
| | 00:57 | Even something as iconic as this is
going to help you if you predetermine what
| | 01:03 | the shapes need to look like.
| | 01:05 | In this case, the shield shape, I've
gone ahead and built half of that since
| | 01:09 | it's a symmetric design.
| | 01:11 | Once it's built, I can use the F3 key,
which is the Clone key we set up in the
| | 01:16 | other movie to clone this shape.
| | 01:18 | Now I'm going to go to the Reflect tool
here in the Tool palette, click on that.
| | 01:24 | With Smart Guides turned on, it tells
me I'm now over the anchor point,
| | 01:29 | I can click that, and clone this shape.
So now, we have our full shield.
| | 01:35 | Once we have those two shapes in place,
we can use Pathfinder to unite them
| | 01:40 | into one coherent shape.
| | 01:43 | So, that's how I use
symmetry to create the shield.
| | 01:47 | It's also a good place to start on this design
since the center aspect of the whole motif.
| | 01:53 | Now, we are going to change layers
here really quick, like any good cooking
| | 01:58 | show, I have some of this stuff pre-baked.
| | 02:00 | So, with the shield design, we've
offset that a few times in order to create
| | 02:06 | some of the assets we need, that
will help us form the art we need.
| | 02:10 | So, in other words, this outer shape of
the shield, we are going to select that
| | 02:15 | along with the head of the Eagle, and
we are just going to punch that out.
| | 02:20 | So, that's how you can use art in order
to manipulate other parts in your design.
| | 02:25 | Now, with this design, since it's symmetric,
we have the banner at the top will
| | 02:31 | be one of the elements.
| | 02:33 | The other elements will be our wings here,
along with this part of our graphic,
| | 02:40 | which is simulating a vector
path, and we also want to select
| | 02:47 | his foot here at the bottom.
| | 02:49 | With all these selected now, we
are going to clone these shapes.
| | 02:52 | So, we're just going to make a copy
of all these shapes by using the F key,
| | 02:57 | keyboard shortcut we've
set up. So we'll hit that.
| | 03:00 | They're now cloned.
| | 03:01 | We'll now go back over to the Reflect tool.
| | 03:05 | We'll find one of the anchor points
anywhere in the design that has an
| | 03:10 | anchor point where our center of the design is.
| | 03:13 | That will be the orientation we
are going to reflect from now.
| | 03:16 | We'll click that, and we'll flip those over.
| | 03:20 | And you can see how fast you can
create half of your art using symmetry.
| | 03:26 | Now, of course, we are going to have
to go back, and any part of the design
| | 03:31 | where the left side touches the right
side, those will be the elements you'll
| | 03:35 | use to go to Pathfinder, and
unite to create one unified shape.
| | 03:41 | Other details such as like the legs here,
those using layering in our file will
| | 03:47 | be all the way to the back.
| | 03:49 | So, we don't need to do anymore
work on those other than coloring them.
| | 03:53 | So, once you have all your base shapes
in place, you can now begin coloring your
| | 03:59 | design until you have
the final symmetric design.
| | 04:03 | Now, speaking of symmetry and how you
can use it for various projects, I'm going
| | 04:08 | to walk you through just a handful of
projects I've used symmetry on,
| | 04:14 | because it really is applicable to a lot of
different graphic design projects and design
| | 04:19 | projects in general.
Here's a tribal design I created.
| | 04:22 | This was for an energy drink company,
and I used symmetry to create this;
| | 04:26 | only I had to create half of it,
flipped it to get the rest.
| | 04:30 | A recent identity project I worked on,
this was a secondary brand element,
| | 04:36 | and it's just an oak leaf design.
So I used symmetry on that.
| | 04:41 | If you follow graphic design news,
then you'll be familiar with the new
| | 04:45 | Wendy's rebranding.
| | 04:46 | And I worked on this a couple of
years ago for the agency who handled the
| | 04:51 | Wendy's rebranding, and this was the Wendy's
character exploration they hired me to create.
| | 04:57 | They didn't end up using that,
but I used symmetry to create this.
| | 05:02 | Here is another mark identity I did for a
company called Timbuk Teas. It's very graphic.
| | 05:08 | But, once again, it uses symmetry.
| | 05:11 | Symmetry doesn't just have to apply to
your commercial oriented projects,
| | 05:18 | it could be personal projects.
| | 05:19 | This summer, me and my family took
a trip to Hawaii, it was really fun.
| | 05:24 | And in Hawaii, the word happy is Hau'oli.
| | 05:29 | And so I really thought that was fun,
so I created this design using symmetry
| | 05:34 | and it was inspired by that.
| | 05:36 | So, that's how you can use
symmetry in your own projects whether
| | 05:39 | it's professional or personal.
| | 05:44 | The common denominator with all designs
you've seen in this movie is symmetry.
| | 05:49 | Working digitally allows a
designer to work smarter.
| | 05:53 | So, be the smartest, and take full
creative advantage of using symmetry
| | 05:59 | in your design projects.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Art directing yourself| 00:01 | Whatever vector build method you use to
create your illustrative design you'll
| | 00:05 | want to continually art direct
yourself along the way as you create it.
| | 00:10 | Pay attention to the details.
| | 00:13 | How do your graphic shapes
interact with one another?
| | 00:16 | What negative spaces are they forming?
| | 00:19 | Zoom in on critical areas and adjust
your anchor points and Bezier curve handles.
| | 00:25 | This will improve the form of your
vector shapes and ensure precise quality.
| | 00:30 | Making these types of micro improvements
at each stage of the creative process
| | 00:35 | will help you refine and improve
your design's readability.
| | 00:40 | But the most important thing you can do
to art direct yourself, is to take the
| | 00:45 | time to set a project aside.
| | 00:47 | Don't look at it for at least a
half hour, a day is even better.
| | 00:52 | Then later, with fresh eyes, approach
your project, critique it, analyze the
| | 00:57 | details in the design, look at the shapes
you've created, and more than likely
| | 01:02 | you'll discover additional
areas you can improve on.
| | 01:06 | This is the only way to improve
and train your designer eye.
| | 01:10 | I'd like too say that life
is far too short for bad art.
| | 01:15 | So take the time to art
direct yourself properly.
| | 01:18 | Be your own worst critic and you'll
leave less room for someone else to
| | 01:22 | art direct it for you.
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6. Presenting Your DesignsPresenting your designs| 00:01 | Our job is to create communication arts.
| | 00:04 | The Achilles' heel for many designers
is the presentation of their ideas.
| | 00:09 | This is usually the time when
fear and loathing begins to set in.
| | 00:14 | It's a task that falls outside of most
people's comfort zone, it's certainly
| | 00:18 | a skill that is more oriented with
salesmanship than it is with design in general.
| | 00:24 | This is a critical stage in the
creative process and you don't want to
| | 00:28 | drop the ball, you need the finish strong.
| | 00:31 | So for this chapter I want to go over
several points that will help you approach
| | 00:36 | clients with your ideas
and present them effectively.
| | 00:39 | We will be covering Presentation
formats, The reveal, Writing a design
| | 00:46 | rationale, Responding to client
revisions, and Renewable creative energy.
| | 00:53 | Presenting ideas doesn't have to be
intimidating, have fun with it.
| | 00:58 | Leverage these courses in creative ways
to facilitate your own design success.
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| Presentation formats| 00:01 | Whether you're presenting your designs
in person or virtually, you need to
| | 00:06 | establish a standardized format for
delivering your ideas to a client.
| | 00:11 | You don't want your medium
to overpower your message.
| | 00:14 | You want your design to be the primary focus.
| | 00:17 | Let's take a look at the formatting
I use on my own projects.
| | 00:21 | I'd like a minimalist approach when
it comes to presenting my designs
| | 00:33 | to my clients whether it's a logo design or
in this case a graphic for a BMX company.
| | 00:39 | The design is the focus
and there is no distraction.
| | 00:44 | As you can see here, it's a lot of white space
with my design being the primary focus.
| | 00:48 | I have a call out in the bottom
right-hand corner that includes
| | 00:53 | my branding, copyright information,
because at this point the client is just
| | 00:57 | paying me to do explorations, they
don't own my explorations unless
| | 01:03 | they decide to move in that direction.
So I think that's important to include on it.
| | 01:07 | But it's minimalist, it's very small
and it keeps the focus on the design but
| | 01:13 | I'd definitely call out
that what design this is.
| | 01:17 | So when we communicate which direction
they like they can reference that and
| | 01:21 | I know which one they are talking about.
| | 01:23 | So this was Design number 1 for
this project, the skull design.
| | 01:28 | This is the second one.
| | 01:29 | Once again, I'm showing them a variety of styles,
it's on the same template though,
| | 01:33 | and the only thing that changes
regarding the template is just
| | 01:37 | the callout for the specific design.
Here is the third one.
| | 01:41 | This one is more of a kind of a tattoo feel,
a Senor Skully, if you want to call him that.
| | 01:47 | And here is another one.
| | 01:50 | This one is with wings adding a
different stylistic direction,
| | 01:55 | more horizontal than vertical.
| | 01:57 | And the one that we've seen being built
out in this course, this is ultimately
| | 02:03 | the skull that they are going to go with.
So this is how I present the ideas.
| | 02:08 | I keep the titling simplified,
I keep everything simplified.
| | 02:12 | I like to say, KISS
everything, Keep It Simple Stupid.
| | 02:16 | When I send these off to clients, I send
them as PDF files because it's universal,
| | 02:21 | whether they are on PC or Mac
they can almost 99.9% of time open
| | 02:28 | a PDF file and it makes the file sizes
a lot smaller and that way they can print
| | 02:34 | them out on their end if they need to
show them to other people a lot easier.
| | 02:39 | So that's how that works.
| | 02:40 | But in the course of presenting concepts,
color communication can have problems
| | 02:46 | at times, and so I want to show you
one other project where I still use
| | 02:52 | this template but I had to take a
slightly different approach because of
| | 02:57 | color communication problems.
| | 02:58 | So I'm going to switch files here,
and we're going to go over to this one.
| | 03:02 | This was MFC Roasters, it's a coffee
company out of Australia and MFC stands
| | 03:08 | for My Favorite Coffee.
| | 03:09 | And this was the branding that they
settled on, and so at this point in my
| | 03:14 | communication with the client, it
came down to accurately communicating
| | 03:18 | colors with them, and they shared
with me what colors they were looking for
| | 03:24 | and I put those together.
| | 03:25 | It was a dark brown and a nice kind of
cream color and a warm gray, and that was
| | 03:31 | going to be the established brand color.
| | 03:33 | So I showed them this comp of their final
mark in that context, in that color context.
| | 03:39 | I also put together or what I call a
brand pattern just to show them a potential
| | 03:44 | of what we could do on the
bag design for their coffee.
| | 03:47 | And this is where the communication
problem kind of came out.
| | 03:51 | When he got back to me he goes, I
like the pattern but I don't like the
| | 03:56 | purple color you're using.
| | 03:58 | The thing was I wasn't using any purple
color, it's exactly what you see here.
| | 04:02 | So I knew something on their end wasn't
coming through right and then it dawned
| | 04:07 | on me that because I built these digitally
and I sent them a PDF file that it
| | 04:12 | wasn't reading accurately on their end.
| | 04:16 | So sometimes when that happens, the
easiest thing to do is to simply save out
| | 04:22 | these comps, be it the logo comp
or this brand pattern as a JPEG.
| | 04:28 | And so I sent that JPEG off to them,
the same size, utilizing the same
| | 04:34 | template just in the JPEG format and that
fixed the display issues on their end
| | 04:39 | and the client loved it.
| | 04:41 | So you just have to kind of be aware
of that as much as you can upfront,
| | 04:46 | ask questions, but when you're dealing with
a large agency or a design firm,
| | 04:51 | color communication isn't is big of a
problem as it is if you're dealing with
| | 04:56 | a small-business owner.
| | 04:57 | Because you'd have no idea if their
computers are calibrated, so usually when
| | 05:03 | I'm working with the small business
I tend to lean towards JPEG because
| | 05:08 | it removes all that guesswork.
| | 05:10 | But if it's for an agency or an ad firm or
larger design firm then I usually use PDF format.
| | 05:21 | Too many designers over think
presentation and this is one reason why
| | 05:26 | it may intimidate them.
| | 05:27 | So I encourage you to
keep the whole task simple.
| | 05:30 | Don't overcomplicate communication
of your design with your clients.
| | 05:35 | Let the design speak for itself.
| | 05:37 | You've invested a lot of creative energy
developing these designs, so let your
| | 05:43 | well-crafted illustrative design be the
persuading factor in your presentations.
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| Revealing your designs| 00:01 | When the public interacts with design
it's a raw and honest experience.
| | 00:06 | There isn't a marketing director there
to explain the vision or a designer
| | 00:11 | to define what a visual is.
| | 00:13 | The message of the design is either
compelling or it's simply dismissed
| | 00:18 | and forgotten altogether.
| | 00:20 | Either way some level of emotional connection
is made between the audience and the design.
| | 00:26 | This type of true reveal is what you want
to accomplish when presenting your ideas.
| | 00:32 | You want them to hit the client
without any preamble, so you can
| | 00:37 | gauge the reaction honestly.
| | 00:39 | Avoid trying to set the stage
before you show your design directions.
| | 00:44 | Don't say anything, just hand them
over and spend your time
| | 00:48 | observing your client's reaction.
| | 00:50 | Keep in mind, there is no set rules of
engagement for this type of reveal,
| | 00:55 | the more you do this though, the more
adept you'll be at accurately gauging
| | 00:59 | a client's response to your design.
| | 01:02 | The upfront creative preparation you did
should be resonating through your work
| | 01:07 | at this stage with your client.
| | 01:09 | It's always best to give your client time
to let the designs steep before they
| | 01:13 | give you any firm feedback.
| | 01:16 | Revealing your design like
this garners a genuine reaction.
| | 01:21 | The experience the client has is worth
its weight in gold so don't spoil it.
| | 01:26 | Don't try to explain anything prior to
showing your designs, just reveal them
| | 01:32 | and watch your clients react.
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| Writing a design rationale| 00:01 | As we discussed in the last movie
revealing your design is a great way to get an
| | 00:05 | honest and genuine reaction from your client.
| | 00:09 | But not every client will be
satisfied with that type of approach.
| | 00:13 | So be prepared to explain why
you designed what you designed.
| | 00:18 | The most effective way to do this is to
write a design rationale for each design
| | 00:23 | direction you've created.
| | 00:25 | These should always be provided after
a reveal either in person or via e-mail.
| | 00:31 | A design rationale is nothing more
than selling a vision to your client.
| | 00:36 | What is the message of the design?
What does the design communicate?
| | 00:40 | Be positive when you write these.
| | 00:43 | You want your client to capture the vision
and see the possibilities your design provides.
| | 00:49 | Here's a design rationale I
used on one of my projects.
| | 00:53 | This was a brand character design I
created for a tech company.
| | 00:58 | My design rationale read like this:
Database work doesn't need to be boring.
| | 01:03 | It can be fun, creative, and adventurous,
enabling the users to go where
| | 01:08 | no man has gone before.
| | 01:10 | This brand character reflects that
adventurous spirit your service enables.
| | 01:16 | Every developer has an inner child
dreaming up grand ideas and you'll equip them
| | 01:21 | to discover new worlds of opportunity.
| | 01:25 | Remember your upfront creative preparation
should give you a good insight into
| | 01:30 | what your client's perceptions are
and who their target audience is
| | 01:35 | and from that you'll want to
formulate your design rationale.
| | 01:39 | Your narratives in the design rationale,
however, can be visionary or
| | 01:43 | pragmatic in approach.
| | 01:45 | So take the time to think through
what you're going to say and craft your
| | 01:50 | rationale so it's memorable and
compelling to the ones will hear it.
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| Responding to client revisions| 00:01 | Client revisions are normal
and should be expected.
| | 00:05 | Having a well-established creative process
helps to minimize the need for design
| | 00:10 | revisions but in the real world, you'll
still need to make your clients happy.
| | 00:15 | So how do you handle these requests for changes?
| | 00:18 | Here are four questions you can
ask yourself when auditing a client's
| | 00:22 | request for revisions:
| | 00:25 | One, will the revision strengthen or
weaken the design for the intended audience?
| | 00:31 | Fine art is purely subjective,
but graphic design shouldn't be.
| | 00:36 | A revision will either
improve or weaken a design.
| | 00:40 | If a revision strengthens a design then it
should be done, period, end of discussion.
| | 00:46 | If a revision weakens the design, you
should take the time to explain why the
| | 00:51 | revision isn't a good idea.
| | 00:54 | I always try to frame my response by
letting the client know,
| | 00:58 | I can make the change but in doing so,
it may weaken the design.
| | 01:03 | This is a non-confrontational way of putting
responsibility of failure in their court.
| | 01:09 | Two, is the request being made a reasonable one?
| | 01:14 | The answer to this question will
depend on the totality of the
| | 01:18 | creative preparation you did upfront.
| | 01:20 | If your design direction was based
on specific information your client
| | 01:24 | supplied and they are now contradicting
that information, then it may be an
| | 01:29 | unreasonable request.
| | 01:31 | If that's the case, a gentle reminder
regarding the initial information
| | 01:37 | they provided you may be
warranted to resolve it.
| | 01:40 | A client request that strengthens
a design is a reasonable one.
| | 01:46 | Three, is the design appropriate
for the intended audience?
| | 01:51 | Sometimes the client's own preferences
get in the way of a project progressing.
| | 01:57 | They have an idea of what they like and
they may not align with their target audience.
| | 02:03 | As much as you try to gauge these types
of perceptions upfront, you'll still run
| | 02:09 | into them during the creative process.
| | 02:12 | If the client requests a revision but
that revision moves it away from the
| | 02:17 | intended audience then
you should point that out.
| | 02:20 | If they still insist you make that
revision then that's when you ask yourself
| | 02:26 | question number two.
| | 02:27 | Four, how can I make this better?
| | 02:31 | Sometimes a client's change
request isn't necessarily a bad idea.
| | 02:36 | In general, it may be a good idea but
just needs to be improved upon
| | 02:41 | before you move forward with it.
| | 02:43 | Qualify your agreement by letting them
know that this is a good direction you
| | 02:48 | can go from and strengthen the design.
| | 02:51 | These are the moments that build trust
between you and your client, so make sure
| | 02:56 | you give them all the credit for the success.
| | 03:00 | Sometimes you have to pick your
battles in order to win the war.
| | 03:04 | Maybe instead a lime green the
client requests a mint green,
| | 03:09 | these are simple yes requests.
| | 03:11 | It's not worth the conflict
to fight these battles.
| | 03:14 | Too many designers handle their design
services like short order cooks in a greasy spoon.
| | 03:21 | It's been said that design is now a
commodity and I understand that attitude,
| | 03:27 | but I refuse to facilitate a poor
public perception for what we do as designers
| | 03:34 | and what we offer the greater community.
| | 03:37 | I encourage you to communicate with
your clients honestly even when
| | 03:42 | it comes to auditing their design revisions.
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| Renewable creative energy| 00:01 | Most designers are very hard workers.
| | 00:04 | We think through and create unique ideas,
refine our ideas, and turn these ideas
| | 00:10 | into compelling designs.
| | 00:12 | This process takes a
great deal of creative energy.
| | 00:16 | Over the course of time we all produce
a lot of work and a lot of ideas we create
| | 00:20 | are never ultimately used by our clients.
| | 00:24 | So what you do if you have more ideas than
you can use, it's a good problem to have.
| | 00:30 | So let me share a good creative
habit with you, I like to call it
| | 00:34 | Renewable Creative Energy.
| | 00:37 | I encourage you to establish a system
system where you can start archiving your
| | 00:42 | unused ideas and graphics.
| | 00:44 | Whether they are sketches or Vector comps,
I want you to put in place an easy
| | 00:49 | way for you to file your unused
designs and concepts for future reference.
| | 00:55 | For my sketches, I have a simple
folder I put unused sketches into, and for
| | 01:00 | my Vector comps, I keep a folder on my
computer that I can easily access and review.
| | 01:07 | The longer you work in the industry
the more an archive like this
| | 01:12 | may assist you on a future job.
| | 01:13 | For example, you may create a handful
of concepts for a client's logo project.
| | 01:19 | And your client only
ends up using one direction.
| | 01:22 | The rest may be good concepts but they
are now design orphans sitting on your
| | 01:27 | hard drive collecting dust. Awhile later
another client similar to the previous
| | 01:33 | wants you to create an identity for
their business and you're able to
| | 01:38 | reuse one of the orphan designs.
| | 01:41 | So we're going to take a look at the
folder that I keep on my computer and
| | 01:46 | I just happened to name it Folder_of_Lost_
Ideas, and anytime I work on a project
| | 01:51 | and I have a bunch of unused concepts, I'll
usually copy that file and place it in this folder.
| | 01:57 | That way I can go into this if I ever
have another project that comes up
| | 02:02 | that kind of aligns with another
project I worked on previously.
| | 02:06 | In this case, we're going to open up
this Renewable_Creative_Energy file here
| | 02:11 | and I'm going to walk you through kind
of how the whole process of
| | 02:16 | renewable creative energy can work.
| | 02:18 | Now years ago I had a very talented
creative person give me some of the
| | 02:23 | best advice I've ever gotten in 25 years and
that is he said, you get the work you show.
| | 02:29 | And that's proven to really be true for me.
| | 02:33 | This is a project I worked on for a
church up in the Pacific Northwest
| | 02:37 | about four years ago.
| | 02:38 | And as soon as I posted this on my site,
I had other churches approach me about
| | 02:43 | creating logo projects for them.
| | 02:46 | I didn't set out to get this type
of work, it's just kind of happened.
| | 02:49 | So it's all started with this project.
| | 02:52 | The first church to contact me was one
called Tapestry Church they are located
| | 02:56 | out of California and this was one of
the concepts that I presented to them.
| | 03:02 | I created a bunch of other concepts
and they actually went for another
| | 03:06 | design direction but this was one of the ones
that I created for them that I really liked.
| | 03:11 | Now a little while later another church
approach me, called Alive Church and
| | 03:16 | I took that concept and retooled it
to present to them and they loved it.
| | 03:21 | This is actually the design direction
they went for their church and I created
| | 03:26 | other secondary branding elements for
them such as the banner graphic
| | 03:31 | and the pattern design you can see here.
| | 03:33 | Now when I created all the different
design directions for Alive Church,
| | 03:39 | I also created a direction that looks like
this, it was a linear line type of modular
| | 03:43 | system and they liked it, they just
didn't think it was a good fit for where
| | 03:48 | they wanted to go, but when another
church contacted me called Hope Church,
| | 03:54 | I turned that linear line project into
one of the directions that I presented
| | 03:59 | to them and they really liked this.
| | 04:01 | Another direction I presented
to the Hope Church was this.
| | 04:05 | Now they didn't go with this
direction but I really like this direction.
| | 04:09 | So when another church contacted me
called The Place, I kind of reused that
| | 04:15 | design direction to pitch to them.
| | 04:18 | Now The Place, they liked this but
they felt that it wasn't what they are
| | 04:22 | trying to communicate.
| | 04:23 | They would like to see some kind of
graphic that was like a Broken Vessel
| | 04:27 | and the Holy Spirit being poured into it.
| | 04:30 | And I just happened to create a design
direction on the Hope Church that looked
| | 04:36 | like this but they didn't go for it so I
showed this to The Place and they said,
| | 04:40 | yeah that's kind of the direction we
want but can you just retool the style,
| | 04:45 | and so that's all I did.
| | 04:46 | I just took that general idea and
created this final identity system for them,
| | 04:52 | and you can also see the
iconography that goes with that.
| | 04:56 | So that's how one project can assist with the
future project and how you can reuse assets.
| | 05:05 | This is Renewable Creative Energy in action.
| | 05:09 | Your creative process doesn't always
have to re-create the wheel, and no,
| | 05:14 | it's not a sin to rip yourself off
either, rather it's just working smart.
| | 05:19 | Of course, I don't do this for all my
projects but at times one client's needs
| | 05:25 | will overlap another client's needs.
| | 05:27 | So take the time to go through your
past projects and harvest all of those
| | 05:33 | unused ideas that may be a good fit for
another client, and begin tapping into
| | 05:39 | your own Renewable Creative Energy.
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ConclusionNext steps| 00:01 | I hope this course helps you to
establish a firm creative foundation you can
| | 00:06 | build upon successfully moving forward.
| | 00:09 | I realize some of the methods I've shared
in this course may stretch the comfort
| | 00:14 | zone of your creative process.
| | 00:16 | But I also know if you stick with it, you'll
see incredible growth within your own work.
| | 00:21 | Visit Vector Basic Training on
Facebook where I continue to share creative
| | 00:26 | insight, helpful links, free
resources, and inspiring design.
| | 00:31 | You can also follow me on Twitter
where my username is @Vonster.
| | 00:35 | One last thing I want to
encourage you to do, keep drawing.
| | 00:40 | Never stop drawing. It's fun.
| | 00:42 | It'll improve your design and the
more you do it, the better you'll get.
| | 00:46 | Thank you for watching.
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