POSTERS ON ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR
I've used Adobe Illustrator in my previous design projects for highschool, however I was very limited in both my knowledge and usage as it was an entirely new piece of software to me. In this post I embark on the journey of trying to further my skills in Illustrator, and try to make creative approaches to the tutorials I learned from.
ASSIGNMENT PART 1: 10 TUTORIALS
The first tutorial was mostly about general tools and shortcuts.
In this video I learnt primarily how to edit basic shapes to fit my needs. This includes
-duplicating shapes (alt+f)
-changing the number of points on a star (up/down arrows),
-holding shift to snap to grid and control scale on objects when resizing
-deleting/creating anchor points to edit shapes
-joining shapes together with the shape builder tool (shift+m)
-round/sharpen the corners on shapes (multi-select points + hold shift)
-use shift + up, down, left and right arrows on selected text to change spacing
-use the dropper tool to keep consistent text size
Below are screenshots I annotated while working on the poster
FINAL RESULT
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This video was my first introduction to meshes and the blend tool. The only real difficulty I had was remembering that I had to adjust the settings on the blend tool to fit the situation each time as the mesh tool was relatively intuitive.
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This tutorial explained how to use lines/borders as spines. I only really used it on the spine created via pencil tool but I know I can use symmetrical shapes as well as spines for the gradients. My only real struggle with this one was making a dynamic shape as I'm still getting used to the pencil tool.
Not much to add here, a relatively straightforward and simple tutorial. If I were to do it again I'd spend more time working on the formatting and balancing empty space.
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FAILED TUTORIAL
This tutorial isn't bad, but my understanding of the software is not good enough yet and I ended up biting off more than I could chew on this. My main issues were that the version used in the video is different than mine, and so the layout of the tools and such isn't the same- particularly when adjusting the gaps between the halftone dots. It was similar to using a paint bucket with low tolerance when removing the background, there were lots of gaps and white spots.
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https://www.instagram.com/p/CY1hdJhNe0X/ (not a hyperlink)
I had only previously used the pathfinder a little bit and was only aware of the divide tool, so this was a helpful way to remind myself of the basics of this tool. Initially I struggled with this tutorial due to it being very fast paced with minimal instructions and on instagram (can't scroll through the video). This led to me not knowing that I had to use the direct select tool on the sections to be able to individually edit and colour them. I'm pleased with the result, but if I were to do it again I'd either choose a font where the borders of the letters actually met aligned vertically or I'd edit them directly so they did so.
also to get the layered effect from the drop shadow you need to rearrange each piece in order from lowest to highest which is so annoying. Very time consuming, there must be a better way.
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https://www.instagram.com/p/CfysGB3DPK2/ (not a hyperlink)
In this tutorial I learned how to align text on a path using the type on a path tool. I used the transform tool and played around with the settings to achieve the desired skew which leaves a pretty trippy result. Very straightforward tutorial.
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TUTORIAL 6
I had some experience with the mesh from the previous poster however this time was slightly different because I had to learn to use the select tool to apply gradient mapping. as shown I also learnt that causing the mesh anchors to overlap leads to some pretty weird patterns- it has potential for another style but I wanted to focus on the tutorial so I stuck to keeping them separate. To preface also I intentionally made this poster a little ridiculous with the rainbow gradient drip, strange squiggles and comic sans font because the gradient mapping reminded me of how I used to play around with art software before I took it seriously. That and I was reminded of skittles by the colours.
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This tutorial was another usage of blend mode, however it was different because it involved me turning letters/numbers into shapes by expanding them. As such I forgot to decrease the line width on the smaller number which led to that desired effect of fading to transparency not occurring. I'll be making sure to edit the line width before expanding the objects so that next time I can achieve the desired a
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https://www.instagram.com/p/CYZeVuRpsT9/
I struggled with this one because I couldn't figure out how to anchor the point of rotation on this shape, and there was no help for this on the tutorial. In the end I chose to follow an alternative route and used the repeat tool which led to a relatively similar shape. I don't know if it's due to this alternative method or not but when I tried to experiment by making copies and changing the scale and rotation of the shape it fully affected every part of it in ways I hadn't intended, leading to some cool patterns. This reminded me a little bit of plankton, filter feeders and jellyfish so I decided to incorporate these little emblems into a deep-sea themed poster.
If I attempt another design which utilises copying on a radial axis I will try look for alternative tutorials.
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This tutorial introduced me to the isometric rotation as well as using the construction line to divide sections. I unfortunately had an issue with the software where for some reason the base isometric variation wasn't the same angles on both sides which led to some parts not matching correctly. I tried rotating each side to try fix this but it didn't work. Next time I'll have a little more testing with the specific angles and see if there is a way to avoid this by browsing online forums.
I also had the issue of the grain filter as part of the tutorial just repeatedly desaturating the darkest part of the design to be the same saturation as the other part which really annoyed me. It also removed the glow and I'm not sure why it did this but when I add grain effects next I will check to see if there are adjustable layer modes as I couldn't see any this time.
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This tutorial was relatively straightforward but It was helpful to combine multiple aspects of blending with adjusting position using the align tools and experimenting with gradient direction and opacity.
FINAL 10 POSTERS GALLERY
Sorted by least favourite on the top, favourites on the bottom.
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PART 2: RECREATING 3 POSTERS FROM SCRATCH
I really enjoyed this part of the assignment because I chose 3 album covers for my posters and decided to explore different technical challenges through my posters. I ended up choosing one with a heavy emphasis on vectors and line variation, one with a 90's Russian pop feel and a cute little cover that is simple but recognisable from a distance.
PART 3: CREATING POSTER FOR MEDIA
The agency given to me in the final part of this assignment was really freeing, as I was no longer tied to follow a specific theme or reference for this poster. I ended creating a promotional poster for a new (unreleased) song called "Shark Brain" from Eartheater's upcoming album "Aftermath" which I had heard at a concert when she was touring and came to Auckland. The vibes I wanted to create for this poster were slightly grungy and dull, accented with metallic flashy parts which would capture the attention of anyone who walks past it. Below is my process for this poster.
Final Poster
Reflection
This whole assignment had me coming in on the weekend to finish work after I ended my work day. Very stressful! Not a lot of time to finish everything but I was motivated because I enjoyed learning about using Illustrator, and have actually learned more in 3 weeks from this assignment than I did all of last year. I'm actually looking forward to using my newly learned skills in making more posters- that's how much fun I had.
