Last up for Vectip’s Texture Week is wood grain. The steps for this technique are very similar to the previous Brushed Metal Texture tutorial. It uses the same Graphic Pen effect but stretched a little more. It also uses the Warp Tool and Twirl Tool. Also like the other texture tutorials, this technique is easy and applicable in logos, icons, interfaces or pretty much anything.
It used to be a time consuming process to create a halftone pattern. First, I would open a picture in Photoshop, convert it to grayscale, apply a halftone pattern effect, open it up in illustrator, trace it, and if didn’t get messed up somewhere in the process, I would use the halftone pattern in Illustrator. In Illustrator CS3 it is quite a bit easier to create halftone patterns without leaving Illustrator.
For a while, it seemed liked every client wanted grungy graphics. This might sound familiar, “I like it, but can we grunge it up more”. Don’t get me wrong, having some grunge can create a great deal of depth to a design or illustration, but there can be to much of a good thing. This is the technique I use because it is quick and consistent, making it easy to scum up any design or illustration.
In the following tutorial you will learn how to create a detailed cylindrical loading bar vector in Adobe Illustrator. For starters you will learn how to setup a simple grid and how to create the stand using basic vector shape building techniques and some neat linear gradients. Using a complex linear gradient, blending techniques and some Drop Shadow effects you will learn how to create the cylinder. Moving on, taking full advantage of the Snap to Grid feature, you will learn how to create a pixel perfect text. Finally, you will learn learn some neat Stroke tricks and some basic masking techniques.
Every smartphone has built in map software, and designers are sure to need GPS map vector icons. 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.
Here’s a great tutorial on how to create your own customizable web 2.0 button vectors! These shiny button vectors can pretty much be used for everything, and once you get the hang of it, you’ll be able to transfer these steps to any shape or style.
Want to create a sleek and modern metal icon suite? Need a brushed metal texture vector background? With this brushed metal texture vector tutorial you’ll be able to learn this super useful technique in just minutes. This brushed metal technique utilizes Illustrator’s Effects and is pretty simplistic when you break it down – easy to replicate numerous times. You can use the brushed metal texture in almost anything, but I find myself using it in icons, logos, and interfaces.
