I am a huge fan of the updated Appearance panel in the Illustrator CS4. I have really found the Appearance panel to be useful when creating type treatments that I constantly need to repeat.  One of these styles is a metal type treatment. This tutorial is pretty similar to the Letterpress Font and Sketchy Font tutorials in that it uses the Appearance panel to create a type treatment that is fully editable when it is done.

(more…)

The new rumored “Nexus One” Google Phone has a pretty cool (and probably animated) background image. Today I’ll show you how to create that style with a few simple steps that powerfully integrate transparency modes to create cool lighting effects.

(more…)

Halloween is almost here, and I’m sure some of you need to do some last minute graphics for a client project or maybe so graphics for your Halloween party. So in this intermediate tutorial you will learn how to create a zombie illustration with a pen tablet from a photo. Have fun utilizing the Blob Brush and Eraser tool in recreating this tutorial or apply these techniques to other ghoulish illustrations!

(more…)

Well, it’s Blog Action Day 2009 today and the topic is Climate Change. So I decided to create a fun sun character tutorial. This intermediate tutorial is great for logos, children illustrations, and other projects relating to climate change. Moreover, you can easily apply this tutorial to other illustrations, logos, and projects!

(more…)

A popular typography trend in web design and print design is letterpress styled text. This text styling is easy to do in Photoshop, but in Illustrator, it is super simple to create letterpress styled text while keeping the text editable. Utilizing the Appearance panel and Graphic Styles, you can quickly and consistently apply this style to any editable text and other vector objects.

(more…)

Location based software and peripherals are very popular these days. So, In this beginner/intermediate Illustrator tutorial, I will show you how to create a stylized GPS icon using simple shapes and gradients. Using these basic techniques, you can easily create other icons, logos, and illustrations.

(more…)

There are some popular sketchy fonts available that are great for grungy and hand-drawn designs and illustrations. My problem is, I want to be able to use this sketchy style in any font. Turn’s out, it is actually really easy to do in Illustrator. Moreover, you can create a Graphic Style and easily apply the style to other editable fonts!

(more…)