Directions
- Download the file archive linked above. Double-click on the file to decompress it.
- Inside the archive, you'll find a PDF file and separate folders for each project.
- Read through the handouts at the beginning of the PDF. They are designed to supplement the material in the lectures.
- There are three hands-on projects that are part of this assignment. You will find step-by-step instructions for building these files in the PDF document. Sample files showing you the completed project are also supplied in each project folder.
- One project in this assignment is a Challenge Project where I will give you only minimal instructions. This will be a great test of your mastery of the material from this section.
- When you have completed this assignment return to this week's Module and continue with the next lecture.
Turning in your Work
Follow these steps to upload your completed projects directly to Canvas:
- Place all the completed files into a single enclosing folder
- Name the folder LastNameFirstName_Illustrator1.1
- Compress the folder into a .zip archive. In the Finder, target the folder and go to File > Compress...
Vector Graphic Essentials V I S U A L M E D I A D E S I G N 10 5 ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR Adobe Illustrator is digital illustration software. It is used primarily to create scalable vector artwork such as logos, charts, info-graphics, character models and creative digital illustrations. VECTOR GRAPHICS Vector graphics are comprised of points and paths. Unlike their pixel counterparts, vector graphics are generated mathematically and can be scaled to any size without distortion. This makes a program like Illustrator perfect for projects like logos that may require output in different sizes. Another advantage to working in Illustrator is that it generates object oriented files where each element in the illustration is a separate object. Illustrator files are also usually compact, both in memory and in storage. 97 Visual Media Design 105 > Digital Skills for Visual Media ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR: ESSENTIAL CONCEPTS WORKING AREA The main working area in Illustrator is called the Artboard, Illustrator files can use multiple artboards in a single document. UNDOS Illustrator supports unlimited undos and redos via Cmd-Z. WORKING WITH LAYERS Illustrator uses layers to organize complicated files, just like Photoshop. Unlike Photoshop, Illustrator automatically generates layers for the objects in a file. Layers can be organized further into Folders which work just like Layer Groups in Photoshop. Layers are less important in simple Illustrator files since the program keeps track of objects separately. 98 Visual Media Design 105 > Digital Skills for Visual Media WORKING WITH VECTOR FILES FILE FORMATS The native Illustrator file format is .AI. IN AND OUT Illustrator can import most common graphic files for use in illustrations. You can import graphics into Illustrator through the Place command or via copy and paste. Illustrator can export into raster file formats for screen and print. Here are the most commonly used vector file formats: AI (Illustrator Document) Native Illustrator file. You can place native .ai files into applications like Photoshop or InDesign. SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) For screen. Vector web graphics. PNG | JPEG | TIFF You can export vector ai files into most common pixel formats. 99 Visual Media Design 105 > Digital Skills for Visual Media ILLUSTRATOR INTERFACE: KEY COMPONENTS Our exploration of Illustrator will focus on a few key panels: TOOL PANEL Contains all the Illustrator tools. Some tools share the same pane in this panel. PROPERTIES Use the Properties Panel to format objects and type. This is the context-sensitive hub of the Illustrator interface PATHFINDER Allows you to make simple shapes interact to create more complex shapes. LAYERS Just like Photoshop, Illustrator uses layers to manage complex files. SWATCHES This panel is used to create and manage colors, tints, gradients and patterns. 100 Visual Media Design 105 > Digital Skills for Visual Media VECTOR GRAPHICS: IMPORTANT TERMS Path. A path is what defines an object. Paths are composed of anchor points and segments. Anchor Point. Controls the direction of a path. Paths flow from one anchor point to another much like a “connect the dots” drawing. Every click with the Pen tool creates a new anchor point and connects the point to the previous anchor point with a line segment. There are two types of anchor points—smooth anchor points and corner anchor points. An anchor point can also have Bezier Control Handles for creating a curved segment. Segment. The part of a path between anchor points. There are two types of segments— straight segments and curved segments. Bezier Control Handles. Handles that extend from an anchor point to create and control a curved segment. The handles can work in unison (smooth), or separate from each other (corner). Smooth Point. An anchor point that creates a smooth or invisible transition between segments. If the direction of one handle is changed, the opposite handle will change as well. Corner Point. An anchor point that creates a corner in a path. A corner point can have one, two or no bezier handles. The Bezier handles work independently of each other—if you change the direction of one handle, it will not affect the other. Fill. Color applied to the inside of paths. A fill can be a solid color, a pattern or a gradient. Stroke. Color applied to a path. Only solid colors should be applied as strokes. Strokes can be of any thickness. The thickness of a stroke is called its weight. Anchor Point Segment Bezier Control Handle Smooth Point Corner Point 101 Visual Media Design 105 > Digital Skills for Visual Media THE PATHFINDER FILTERS The pathfinder filters allow you to make simple shapes interact in order to create more complex shapes. These commands are accessed from the Pathfinder Panel [Window > Pathfinder]. Pathfinder operations require two or more closed paths to be selected in order to work properly. UNITE New shape will take front color. MINUS FRONT Front object knocks out background. INTERSECT Overlapping area is selected. 102 Visual Media Design 105 > Digital Skills for Visual Media DRILL: ILLUSTRATOR SETUP You'll need to configure Illustrator in a sensible way before you jump in and start working in the program. This exercise will make some suggestions for an uncluttered setup, and build on the process you already went through with Photoshop in the previous section. CREATE SHORTCUTS Jump into the Applications folder and find the program icon for Illustrator. £ Drag this icon into the Dock to create a launch shortcut. £ Now hold down Cmd and drag the icon into the Sidebar for even easier access. £ Use one of these shortcuts to launch the program now. SET PREFERENCES £ Enable the Application Frame by going to Window > Application Frame. £ Go to Illustrator > Preferences. This should be your first stop when learning a new application. £ Use the left sidebar to jump into the Interface section and choose the Light option for Brightness. That way your screen will always match the screenshots you see in the reader. £ Poke around in the other program preferences and take note of all the ways you can configure the application. 103 Visual Media Design 105 > Digital Skills for Visual Media DRILL: CREATING AND SAVING ILLUSTRATOR FILES This drill will introduce you to basic techniques for creating and saving files in Illustrator. £ Go to File > New to bring up the new document dialogue; £ Make a file that is 1280 x 800 pixels. £ Equip a basic shape tool and add some geometry to your file. £ Go to File > Save to save the document. £ Give the file a descriptive name. Be sure to save it to the Desktop as a native Illustrator file [AI]. 104 Visual Media Design 105 > Digital Skills for Visual Media PROJECT: A SIMPLE LOGO This exercise will introduce you to Illustrator's suite of basic geometric shape tools and show you some simple ways to manipulate them. You'll combine 2 rectangles, an elipse and some type to create a simple logo design. Scenario: You've been hired to design a simple logo for a new clothing company called Cargo. You will deliver a native Illustrator file [.ai] suitable for a range of different branding projects. GETTING STARTED £ Jump into Adobe Illustrator. £ Go to File > New [Cmd-N] and make a new document that is 1000 x 1000 pixels. £ Type Cmd-S on your keyboard and save the file to the Desktop. £ Name your file LastName_Firstname_Cargo.ai CREATE THE SHAPE £ Equip the Rectangle Tool [M] £ Click a single time in the artboard. A dialogue will appear that allows you to enter precise numerical dimensions for the shape you need. You can also simply click and drag out the shape if you wish. £ Create a rectangle that is 200 x 700 pixels. £ Use the Selection Tool [black arrow] to roughly position this shape in the middle of your artboard. £ Save your file. 105 Visual Media Design 105 > Digital Skills for Visual Media FILLS AND STROKES Objects in Illustrator can be assigned two essential properties: fill and stroke. You can use the Properties Panel to easily assign these properties to any selected object. £ Be sure your shape is selected. £ Use the Appearance pane in Properties to assign it a deep red fill and a black stroke that is 4 points wide. DUPLICATE THE SHAPE Illustrator makes it easy to duplicate existing file elements. £ Select the rectangle with the Selection Tool [black arrow] £ Now, hold down Option and drag out a copy. £ Move your cursor to one of the corner handles and drag to rotate the new rectangle until it is perpendicular to the original shape you generated [holding down Shift will usefully constrain your rotation]. £ Save your file. ALIGN THE TWO SHAPES You can use Align to align these two shapes relative to each other. £ Select both rectangles with the Selection Tool. £ You will see a new Align pane in the Properties panel. £ Use the alignment controls to align the shapes vertically and horizontally. UNITE THE SHAPES You can use Illustrator's Pathfinder feature to combine these two rectangles into a single more elegant shape. £ Select both rectangles with the Selection Tool. £ You will see a new Pathfinder pane in the Properties panel. £ Click on the Unite option [left-most icon]. You should see the two shapes combine into a single unit. £ Save your file. 106 Visual Media Design 105 > Digital Skills for Visual Media ADD AN ELIPSE The Elipse Tool shares space with the other simple shape tools. You can use it to create circles and other eliptical shapes. £ Equip the Elipse Tool. £ Hold down Shift on your keyboard, and drag out a circle that is big enough to contain the cross shape in your file. £ Use Properties to assign a fill of None and a 1 point black stroke. £ Use Align to center the two shapes on your Artboard. £ Save your file. ADD THE TYPE You can use Copy and Paste to move elements between different Illustrator files, just as we did in Photoshop. £ Open the file CargoType.ai £ Use the Select Tool to select the type in this file £ Type Cmd-C to copy the text to the Clipboard £ Return to your working logo file £ Type Cmd-V to paste the type into this document. £ Save your file. SCALE THE TYPE The type needs to be scaled to fit inside the logo shapes. You can transform objects in Illustrator just as you did in Photoshop. £ Position the cursor over one of the corner handles of the type. £ Hold down Option and Shift and drag inwards to make the type smaller. £ Scale the type until it fits inside the red shape. £ Save your file. FINISH UP! Feel free to experiment with Fill and Stroke; make any changes you want to the working logo file. When you're happy with the design, move on to the next project. 107 Visual Media Design 105 > Digital Skills for Visual Media PROJECT: AN APPLICATION ICON This project will give you more practice working with shapes. You'll also learn about guides, opacity, and about exporting artwork for screen projects. Scenario: You've been hired to design an application icon for a new game called Kats. The icon will be used to market the game on the web, and as an app icon for phones and tablets. You will deliver a screen-ready file with a transparent background [.PNG]. GETTING STARTED £ Jump back into Adobe Illustrator. £ Go to File > New [Cmd-N] and make a new document that is 1024 x 1024 pixels. £ Type Cmd-S on your keyboard and save the file to the Desktop. £ Name your file LastName_Firstname_Kats.ai CREATE THE BACKGROUND SHAPE £ Go to the View Menu and make sure the Smart Guides option is checked. £ Equip the Rectangle Tool [M] £ Click once in the artboard and make a rectangle that is 512 x 512 pixels. Shapes in Illustrator are "live" when you create them. This means that they can be edited without switching tools. £ Drag the dot in the center of the rectangle to reposition the shape roughly in the middle of the artboard. £ The target shapes on each corner allow you to adjust the corner radius of the shape. Click and drag inward on one of these to make a rounded corner rectangle. £ Save your file. 108 Visual Media Design 105 > Digital Skills for Visual Media ADD THE KAT ARTWORK