Learn design principles & the essentials of vector drawing

Name: Learn design principles & the essentials of vector drawing
Rating: 4.6 (53 reviews)

Things Organised Neatly

Created bySarah Parkinson-Howe

Last updated 4/2020

English

What you'll learn

Adobe Illustrator
Design Principles, Balance, Heirachy, Contrast, Alignment
Essential Vector Drawing, NO PEN TOOL!
Creating complex shapes using the Pathfinder and Shape Modes
Color Guide, Pattern Swatches, Global Color
Layout
Research and Illustration

Course content

1 section • 9 lectures • 2h 4m total length

Introduction1:48
Things organised neatly, Learn design principles and the essentials of vector drawing in illustrator.
I LOVE Adobe illustrator, it’s definitely my second home and the programme I spend the most time in as a graphic designer. The skills you learn in this class are essential in creating unique icons, illustrations and assets for your projects. No pen tool required!
Join me in Illustrator and let’s get started!
Research6:13
Research! A very important part of any design project! This phase is where you get to explore your subject matter…
Choose 6-7 images to use as reference for your drawings.
Setting up your file6:21
Set up your file
Create and duplicate artboards
Save your file
First Illustration11:44
Import/place images
Introduction to the basic shapes
Using the anchor point tool to change curves to corners
Changing the corner radius on objects
Eyedropper tool
Align palette
The Pathfinder and Shape Modes19:38
Learn how to use the pathfinder and shape modes to create complex illustrations from basic shapes.
Design Principles4:48
Design Principles
Balance, Contrast, Alignment and Hierarchy
As a designer you may intuitively work with some of the principles without realising it, it becomes intuition after years of practice but it is good to remind yourself of the theory in your practice from time to time! As a new designer you may spend hours pushing your illustrations around until something feels right and you are often not sure why it feels right so let’s have a quick look at some of the principles we might use in our artwork today.
Final Illustration30:32
Adding Color and final Arrangement41:16
Working with the design principles in mind we arrange our objects, add colour, work with global swatches, the colour guide and create a pattern swatch.
Export as a Jpeg ready to share on Instagram!
Thing Organised Neatly: Things to think about1:42
Things to think about within your design.

Requirements

You need to have Adobe Illustrator

Description

I LOVE Adobe illustrator, it’s definitely my second home and the programme I spend the most time in as a graphic designer. The skills you learn in this class are essential in creating unique icons, illustrations and assets for your projects. No pen tool required!

I created this class to help beginner designers see how easy it can be to create llustrations and a beautiful composition of elements. Working only with basics shapes and the pathfinder palette as well as the design principles of balance, hierarchy, alignment and contrast.

Some times you just need project to follow along with, to practice and hone your skills, we will work through some research and a bit of theory to help you understand why you are making certain choices in your design.

You will choose a theme, it could be the items on your shopping list, your favourite biscuits, fruit, anything you like really, the challenge will be reducing those items to their simplest form, we will work with minimal colours and a pattern swatch to fill the drawings, with the final output being all your illustrated elements organised neatly in a square composition, (perfect for sharing on Instagram)

I love seeing what my students create so please share your projects or let me know if there is anything you are having trouble with and I will do my best to help.

Join me in Adobe Illustrator and let’s get started!

Some reviews of this course

Loved loved loved the entire class. As a beginner, I learned many shortcuts, tricks, and new tools. I can't wait to learn more from you :)

"Great course! I learned some new AI wizardry e.g. using circular shape as a swatch pattern + colour guide window for generating palettes"

"This class is ideal to build efficient drawing habits. It focuses on a few key tools and explains every step necessary to adapt those tools to simple vector drawings."

"WOW! What a fun lesson! I have learned so much, thank you for sharing with us! You are an awesome teacher :)"

Who this course is for:

Adobe Illustrator beginners
Graphic Designers
Designers looking for tips tricks and a bit of theory!
People wanting to improve their design skills