A while ago I did an article explaining how to create a country,s flag inside its map outline and I used as an example the Australian map and flag. I've since had a lot of interest from Australians who wanted to use the image so I thought I'd do one for Americans as I get a lot of visitors from the … [Read more...]
Simple design idea for corporate marketing
I was asked to come up with a visual to portray a corporate bank's image. This was one of the largest banks in the world, one that prided itself on coming up with intelligent solutions and, whilst it wanted to evoke reliability and gravity, it also wanted to be known as innovative. The tag line for … [Read more...]
How to design a 3D crystal ball in Illustrator
This starts, as most tutorials start, with something very easy: draw a circle. So, select your circle tool and drag diagonally to preferred size, not forgetting to hold down the shift key. Fill the circle white, with no stroke. Next, select the Gradient Mesh Tool (U) and click four points … [Read more...]
How to design sound waves in Illustrator
This is a nice little trick using Illustrator's Blend option. To create perfect sine-waves – or something very close – first of all, draw a line. Then go Filter > Distort > Zig Zag... and choose the number and height of waves you want (remembering to click the smooth radio button, otherwise … [Read more...]
Creating a country’s flag inside its map outline
Quite often I'm looking for a simple iconic device to represent a country without having to just reproduce the flag alone. So, as you can see above, why not put the flag inside the country's shape. Also, it's free! It's relatively easy to find a country's flag and shape on the internet and … [Read more...]
Designing waves and wavey lines in Illustrator
You can use this tutorial to make weeds or grasses swaying in the wind as above. Or colour them orange, yellow and red and you've got flames. They are also a useful decorative feature that seems to be quite common these days. Start with a line... Go Filter > Distort > Zig Zag, or Effect … [Read more...]
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