Designing Your Logo With Adobe Illustrator

Name: Designing Your Logo With Adobe Illustrator
Author: Joseph Tury

Learn to use the basics of Adobe Illustrator’s workspace to create your logo

Preview the first lesson free — get full access to all 8 lessons.

Course: On-Demand

In this lesson I will explain the importance of using Adobe Illustrator for logo designs. First, understand that Illustrator is a vector based application. Vectors are made up of points, curves, lines, and shapes that are based on mathematical formulas. Vectors appear to be sharp and crisp no matter what size you make them. I'm going to zoom in on this key shape that I've created in Illustrator. You can see the size percentage represented in the panel on the lower left of the Illustrator app. Now pay attention to the edge of the key as I increase the size of the image to 800, 1200, 1600, 2400, and even 3, 200 times the original size. Notice how crisp and clean the edges appear, even at this magnification. I will now select the shape and manually increase the overall size, making it much larger than the actual artboard. Using the zoom tool, I will magnify the edge several times. And as you can see, it still retains its clean lines with no ragged edges showing. Because vector shapes are mathematically based shapes, they can be increased as large as you want or as small as you want and never lose their clean edges. Now Let's take a look at this same shape in Adobe Photoshop and see how different the edges will appear. Photoshop is a raster-based program. Raster images are composed of pixels and pixels have lots of sharp edges when expanded too much. You can see the percentage on the lower left as I grab the Photoshop Zoom tool and magnify the shape to 1200%. Immediately, you can see how the edges become pixelated and jagged. The screen is made up of tiny squares which cause pixel-based images to appear ragged when expanded. Now I will manually increase the overall size of the image, just like I did in Illustrator. I will make it larger than the artboard and let's take a look at what happens to the edge. At its original size it is very acceptable, however, even at 400% the edge becomes quite soft and ragged looking. Remember, the Illustrator version looked great even at 3200%. This is not to say that Photoshop cannot be used for logos, but the base design should be created in a vector-based application such as Adobe Illustrator. If you have access to Photoshop, follow along with me. Create a blank layer. Grab the Ellipse tool. Hold Shift and drag and make a perfect circle. Use the Paint Bucket tool to fill the circle with black. Make sure it is on its own layer in a document. Using the Zoom tool, magnify the shape and take a close look at the edge. At a reasonably small size, the edge doesn't look bad, but once again is very ragged looking when zoomed in and the pixelation is very evident along the edges. Now open Illustrator and make a circle using the shape tool. Again hold shift to create a perfect circle. Once again use the magnifying zoom tool and zoom into the design up to 3200%. The edge of the circle has a perfect clean edge. Your logo may be small as on a business card or perhaps super large on a digital screen or billboard and with vector graphics, it will always be extremely sharp. In the next lesson, we will work with the guide tools in Illustrator.

Intermediate Provider : Joseph Tury 8 Lessons · 37m in Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese

Course Description

Once the research and development phase is over, it is time to dive into creating. But first, you need to know what tools to use for the process and how to utilize them to your best advantage. It is important to understand why Illustrator should be your first-choice software for logo construction and where to locate helpful—and often overlooked—guides. We’ll show you the multiple panels, shortcuts, tool variations, and drop-down menus you can use to increase your productivity and creativity.

In these lessons, you will learn about using Adobe Illustrator for logo design, why it is essential for logo creation, and which tools are invaluable to the process. Adobe Illustrator provides designers with nearly everything they need to create high-quality, professional logos, and these lessons will guide you on where to find them and how to use them.

What You'll Learn

Recognize the importance of vector-based illustration for logo design
Discover overlooked tools and seldom-used guides within Adobe Illustrator
Use the Type Tool and advanced type techniques for logo work
Apply the Pen Tool, Shape Tools, and Pathfinder Panel in logo construction
Locate color options and helpful guides in Illustrator
Use Illustrator's panels, shortcuts, tool variations, and drop-down menus to increase productivity

Key Takeaways

Adobe Illustrator is presented as the first-choice software for logo construction because it is vector-based.
Adobe Illustrator provides designers with nearly everything they need to create high-quality, professional logos.
The course shows where to find helpful and often-overlooked guides and tools, and how to use them.
Using Illustrator's multiple panels, shortcuts, tool variations, and drop-down menus can increase productivity and creativity.
The lessons cover specific tools including the Type Tool, Pen Tool, Shape Tools, Pathfinder Panel, and color options.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does this course cover?

It covers using Adobe Illustrator for logo design, including why it is essential for logo creation and which tools are invaluable to the process, with lessons on the Type Tool, advanced type techniques, the Pen Tool, the Shape Tools, the Pathfinder Panel, helpful guides, and where to find color options.

Why does the course recommend Adobe Illustrator for logo design?

Because Illustrator is vector-based and provides designers with nearly everything they need to create high-quality, professional logos, making it the first-choice software for logo construction.

What skills will I gain from this course?

The course is associated with skills in Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Graphic Arts, Graphic Design, Icon Design, and Logo Design.

When is this course intended to be used in the design process?

It is intended for after the research and development phase is over, when it is time to dive into creating and you need to know what tools to use and how to utilize them to your best advantage.