Learn all about the true power of math and the Transform effect in this advanced Illustrator CC tutorial!
We’ll create a logo icon based on the Sparkle Website builder Mac app logo icon. Learn how to use snapping, smart guides, the Pen Tool, freeform gradients, and more!
Inspiration: https://sparkleapp.com/
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Tutorial Recording Notes:
Disclaimer: these are the actual notes I used to record this video and are written in a language you may or may not understand. Hopefully, you find them useful or cool.
- New document 2560×1440
- Create a rectangle filled with #f1f4f6
- Turn on Smart Guides AND Snap to Point
- Create a polygon 200px radius with 9 points and reflect it vertically
- Create two lines by holding down shift and dragging across the document as well as up and down the document
- I’ll select all of these shapes and lines and align them to the center of the document
- Use the Pen Tool to draw a perfect triangle on top of the polygon
- Show how the geometric center of the polygon is not in line with the center lines and what this does to a Transform effect applied to this
- Show the little center dot which is the geometric center and nudge it down to line it up
- Reattach the triangle to the top of the polygon
- Group the triangle and the centering lines
- Apply a Transform effect and see how the triangles line up perfectly
- Expand the appearance of this effect
- Use the Pen tool and draw a shape in between the “peaks” of our triangles (Smart Guides and the lines will help ensure it’s perfectly symmetrical for us)
- Use the Pen tool to draw the triangle on the top left side of new shape we just drew
- Copy the triangle and flip it horizontally
- Select those three new triangles and group them up
- Use the Magic Wand tool to select all green lines and delete them
- Create new centering lines and align them, etc… double check the geometric center is still correct
- Group the lines along with the new group of triangles
- Apply that same Transform effect to this group that we did for the triangles
- Expand the appearance of this new effect
- Use the magic wand again to get rid of the green lines
- Ungroup everything until you have a bunch of shapes
- Use the color chart and grayscale all these shapes according to that
- Group all these shapes back together
- Duplicate this group of shapes
- Shut off the group on top and fill the second group with black and add a 20pt stroke with rounded corners
- Go Object>Expand and expand the stroke
- Use the Pathfinder panel and hit the Unite button
- Add a freeform gradient to this shape and add “dots” near each point on the inner polygon shape
- Turn on the top group of shapes again and ungroup it and turn off the Bounding Box and set the fill to black and choose Grayscale in the pop out menu and use the color chart to add the correct values to begin the color effect and then set the layer to Luminosity in the Transparency panel
- Build out a shadow beneath the shape and this it up!
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