There are a number of great tutorials, freebies, and articles related to vectors coming out on the web daily. Each month, I roundup some of the best posts that I have found useful. This month’s roundup is late because of my vacation. Still, I figured better late then never! For more links, follow my Twitter feed and if I missed anything, post a comment with any other interesting links.
Announcements
Adobe Illustrator CS4
Adobe has announced Creative Suite CS4. Check put the Adobe page devoted to Illustrator CS4 where you can learn about the new features, get tips, reasons to upgrade, and purchase options.
Other Adobe Illustrator CS4 Links
Illustrator CS4 Multi Artboards
Illustrator CS4 Appearance Panel
First Look: Adobe Illustrator CS4
Adobe Added Multitouch to Creative Suite 4, Didn’t Tell Anyone
It’s Going to Be Brilliant: Adobe Illustrator CS4
Tutorials
How to Create a Transparent Battery Icon
A nice tutorial with a number of great techniques for creating an iPhone like battery icon.
Experimental Text Effects
This tutorial really pushes some of Illustrator features.
Make a Shiny Gum Ball Machine with Mesh Gradients
A fun tutorial with techniques that can be easily applied to other illustrations.
Designing a Sleek Pencil Icon
A simple tutorial with great results.
Illustrator Tutorial: Wire Fence
Great techniques for creating overlapping objects.
Other Tutorial Links For September
How to Make a Delicious Vector Orange in 9 Decisive Steps
13 Amazing Gradient Mesh Tutorials
How to Create a Box Cutter Style Vector Knife
Vectips Tutorials on Vectortuts For August
How to Design a Set of Multicolored Buddy Icons
A Comprehensive Guide: Illustrator’s Paintbrush Tool and Brush Panel
How to Create a Trendy Retro Type Treatment
Create a Glowing Vector Lightsaber
Freebies
106 Delicious Water Color Illustrator Brushes
Another amazing set of brushes from ColorBurned.
Hand Drawn Vector Icons
A simple but effective set of sketchy icons.
Freeware Find: DrawBerry – A Free Vector Editor for OS X
Nice little program for free!
Free Font: Agrafa Hairline
A great free font.
Free Illustrated Vector Sneaker Graphics
Nice set of illustrations.
Other Freebie Links For September
DI Exclusive: Turqua 3d Isometric Vector Icon Pack by Monofactor
Cheers: A Free “Social” Icon Set
“Sweated From Pain” Illustration
105 Stunning Retro Tech-Shaped Illustrator Brushes
50 Killer Retro Starburst Brushes
Tips & Tricks
Duplicating a Gradient with Gradient Mesh
Interesting technique for duplicating a gradient.
Illustrator Magic: Part One
A really nice technique for creating scaling text boxes.
The Glyph Palette Explained
A nice breakdown of the Glyph Palette.
Adobe Illustrator CS3 Tutorial: Multiple Strokes and Fills
Overview of multiple strokes and fills.
The Paragraph Palette Explained
A quick brush up on the Paragraph Palette.
Other Tips & Tricks Links For September
Changing the “Proportions” of a Color Group
Setting Crop Marks and Bleeds in Adobe Illustrator
Vector Inspiration
Chris Leavens
Amazing vector artist.
Mad Men Illustrated
A fun series on Flickr.
40 Stunning Vector Landscape Illustrations
Some inspirational vector landscapes.
30 Kick-Ass Vector Based T-Shirts from Top Designers
Inspirational vector t-shirt designs.
Other Vector Inspiration For September
INTERVIEW: David Macy, Illustrator Product Manage
The Process of Designing a Killer Logo
Man, that Illustrator Magic trick is awesome. Thanks for the list Rype!
Great list! Like the battery tutorial a lot! Thanks!
Agreed — great list. Thanks for siting me as inspiration. It’s an honor!
Freaking AWESOME list 🙂 Thanks for including my vector icons. I appreciate it.
Thanks for mentioning my brushes!
Awesome stuff! I might get through it before Christmas 😉
What an excellent month September was, and thank you for reminding us with this great list. Time to read up on Illy4.
Thanks!