Sultan Yaqub: Playing with Vectors in Illustrator, Work of Art

To create a dynamic design, Lets play with Vectors in Adobe Illustrator !

Lets play with Illustrator and try to create a cool black and white artwork. The inspiration here taken from some skateboard deck designs which have sort of 3D effect without using gradients or anything, and not exactly a woodcut effect either.The whole process is an excellent way to improve Illustrator techniques.In this tutorial we are goi to see how to create a design from scratch.

First sketch

Go Digital !

Step 1

Create a new document in Illustrator, Using a web format with 1920x1200 pixels. After that add a black rectangle using the Rectangle Tool (M). This rectangle will be beneath all the other new objects, you can even create a new layer (Window>Layer) move it into this layer and lock the layer so you won't be able to edit it.

Step 2

With the Ellipse Tool (L) add a white ellipse in the center of the black rectangle. To do that go to Window>Align, then select the objects and click Horizontal Align Objects and Vertical Align Objects.

Step 3

Add another circle a little smaller the the first one, using white for the color and black for the stroke. Also use 4pt for the Stroke weight.

Step 4

Once again add an ellipse using the Ellipse Tool (L) and fill it with black. It will be smaller than the others. After that aligned it in the center using the Align options. Duplicate this ellipse. We will need one that will be always beneath the new elements and another to be used to create some vector bevel effects.

Step 5

Duplicate one of the black ellipse from the previous step and move it down a little bit, like the image below. Fill it with white. Select the both ellipses and go to Window>Pathfinder. Select the second options on theShape Modes, the Minus Front.

Step 6

Repeat the same process we did in the steps 4 and 5 but with smaller circles. Look at the image below for reference, 1 is from steps 4-5 and 2 is from this step, Also the red circles are for reference.

Step 7

Duplicate both elements and flip them vertically. The idea is that these elements will be used to create a sort of bevel and give some depth to the illustration.

Step 8

Add anohter ellipse, this time a white ellipse in the center of the design.

Step 9

Create another black ellipse in the center smaller than the previous one. Use the image below for reference.

Step 10

Duplicate the ellipse from the previous step and align them in the center, after that resize the ellipse a little bit and move it up a few pixels so the top part will be thinner than the bottom.

Step 11

Once again, repeat the same thing as the previous steps 9 and 10, but make it thicker, as we already know this tutorial is all about playing with the tool.

Step 12

Create a triangle using the Polygon Tool. Fill it with black. Re size it to get a triangle like the one in the image below.

Step 13

With the triangle selected, press ENTER to open the Move Dialog Box. Use 10px for the Horizontal and0px for the Vertical. Then press COPY.

Step 14

Now press Command (MAC)/Control(PC) + D several times until you cover the circle from side to side.

Step 15

Select the two elements in the very center and start resizing them vertically only. Repeat that for the other elements.

Step 16

With the Rectangle Tool (M) create a thin black rectangle (1), then a large one with white(2), anotherblack one (3) and then another white one very thin that will work like a stroke. Group these rectangles so you can use the group to create more elements.

Step 17

Start creating blocks with 4 elements with copies of the group of objects we created in the previous step. Rotate them so none of them will have the same angle.

Step 18

Repeate the previous step 7 times. The idea is inspired by those old hubcaps or a bicicle wheel. Notice that all of them have different rotations.

Step 19

Add an ellipse to be used as reference for the Type on Path Tool. With the Type on Path Tool click on the ellipse to add the text that will follow that path.Use MOD for the font and 72pt for the font size.

Step 20

Now using the same technique we did in the previous step, add more text, this time use the same font but with smaller size, 48pt. Use the image below for reference.

Step 21

Select all the rectangle elements created in the Step 19 and group them, after that duplicate the group, fill it with black and put it beneath the original group. Move the black group to the left and bottom, the idea is to create a shadow for those elements.

Conclusion

The idea of Abduzeedo was to play with vectors and create a design that has depth but using only black and white. However I love to place texture over vectors. Now use an old paper texture, courtesy of Shutterstock and you can get it here. Place the texture on top of the other elements and change the Transparency Mode to Multiply.You will have a really nice effect.This is not exactly a super effect but it is really good to improve your Illustrator skills.