Watch the course tutorials here:
What is the course about?
This course will serve as a crash course into Adobe Illustrator for beginners new to the program. Illustrator is a software part of the Adobe Creative Suite and is used widely to create vector graphics and artworks in all design industries.
We will explore the main tools of the program whilst reproducing a series of diagrams created by OMA for their Seattle Library project. Illustrator is a program that gives you incredible control over vector-based graphics, so architectural diagrams are the perfect way for a beginner new the program to explore and learn the software.
What will you learn in each video?
- 14 tutorials
- 1hr, 6 minutes
- Illustrator
Illustrator is a vector-based graphics software, and this lesson will give context and compare it to raster-based graphics to better understand the difference.
This lesson will examine the different ways we can setup new documents in Illustrator, and provide tips on when is best to use what type of document.
This lesson will explore the Illustrator interface, and explain how to customize the view of all toolbars.
This lesson will examine the selection tools and transformation tools in Illustrator that give us control over the manipulation of our objects.
This lesson will explore the typical shapes we can create in Illustrator, and how we can customize the appearance of these shapes through the use of strokes and fills.
Aside from strokes and fills, there are many other ways in Illustrator we can customize the appearance of our objects. This lesson will examine how to apply gradients and customize them with different colours and blends, how to create custom patterns from vector drawings, and how to manipulate image objects.
Illustrator has a collection of text editing tools we can use to apply labels to our diagram. We can also customize these labels and adjust them using the direct selection tool.
Like any design software, Illustrator has a layer control panel. This lesson will explore how to use layers in your InDesign document.
One tool in Illustrator that is worth touching on is the Image Trace tool. Often you will come across a problem where you want to convert a raster image into a vector object. This is a common problem when you have a technical drawing of a plan, or some kind of raster mapping data of an urban area. This lesson will demonstrate how to use the Image Trace tool on a technical architectural drawing.
The pen tool gives you greater control in the custom creation of shapes and objects in Illustrator. This lesson will explore how to create simple polygonal shapes with the pen tool, and how to add Bezier handles to produce curvature with the pen tool. We will then use the pen tool to create the basis for our OMA Seattle Library program diagram.
The Shapebuilder is one of the most powerful tools available to us in Illustrator, and it allows us to create custom shapes from overlapping objects. In this lesson, we will demonstrate how to use simple shapes to create complex shapes with Shapebuilder.
In this lesson we will bring everything we have learned together so far to complete our program diagram for OMA’s Seattle Library.
A new workflow that has recently been added to Illustrator is the Text to Vector Graphic AI tool. This tool lets us experiment with an AI assistant that will create vector graphics for us. In this lesson we will test out the AI Generative Vectors tool by creating small icons that relate to the program of OMAs Seattle Library.
Once you have created a final artwork, you will want to export it as an external file for printing or presenting on a screen. This lesson will examine different ways to export your files in Illustrator.
What are the learning objectives for the course?
- Understand how to navigate the Illustrator interface and use basic tools
- Demonstrate an understanding of how to customize the appearance of shapes and objects in Illustrator
- Learn how to create simple diagrams using the tools available in Illustrator
- Understand how to create complex shapes with the pen tool and shapebuilder tool
- Learn how to export files as high quality images