LETTERING + GRAPHIC
DESIGN LEARNING
If you’re throwing a BBQ or are in need of some summer get-together themed vector elements, this week’s freebie is a set of hand drawn BBQ vectors! Slap them on your homemade sauce and marinades, create some party coasters, rubber stamp them on napkins, or stick them in your facebook BBQ party invite. Whatever you use them for, you’ll be able to ring in summer better than all of your friends. 🙂 Read on for the free download link!
Happy Tuesday! I thought I’d add a more advanced tutorial to the mix since we’ve really laid all the foundation in earlier tutorials. Plus, this one’s really fun and with just a few quick steps, you end up with a pretty cool outcome. In this week’s video, we’ll add vector dimension to typography by taking some hand lettering created with the Wacom tablet (like in this or this tutorial), and we’ll add vector gradients to simulate shadows to bring in that vector dimension. The end result is a 3d looking piece of your own typography, plus you can use the same technique for any kind of artwork, not just typography – think logos, patterns, icons and illustrations! Let’s get started!
Happy Tuesday! Hope you all had a great weekend! It was around 80*F all weekend just outside of Atlanta and perfect. Spence and I put new mulch around our home for the first time, added some solar lights to the walk up to the front door and sat on our patio each morning sipping delicious lattes from our recently purchased espresso machine. Wish we could do that every day 🙂
With it getting warmer out and summer noticeably on the way, I was thinking after completing the yard work this weekend that I could really go for a popsicle! I had a request not too long ago to add a few more cute illustration-type tutorials, so this week, a watercolor popsicle it is! We’ll create everything in Illustrator, then add in some pretty watercolor texture to finish it all off – a popsicle kind of is frozen watercolor if you think about it, so it totally works 🙂 Let’s get started!
If you’ve ever wondered how to create a hipster logo, this week’s tutorial is for you! I received such great feedback from the hipster badge tutorial I published last year that I wanted to follow it up with a logo. I also created a playlist over on youtube if you’d like to subscribe to other hipster-related goodness as it’s created 🙂 Hipster logos are pretty quick and easy to make yourself–it really just comes down to a breathable layout, creative (little) elements and finding *just* the right fonts. In this week’s tutorial, we do it all – and quickly too. Let’s get started!
This blog is a little overdue for a freebie! With the templates I create, I typically draw out a bunch of different elements, scan them in, then clean them up – very much the same process I use for vectorizing hand lettering. There are always some elements I wish I had used, but they never quite make it onto the design. This week’s freebie are some of my favorite hand drawn dividers that I plan on using for something, but rather than leave them sitting in a folder, I’m giving all 10 of them to you! Each divider comes as an ai, eps + psd file for versions of Illustrator and Photoshop, CS3 or newer. Read on for the download link!
Happy Tuesday! I’ve had a few requests for more lettering tutorials, so I’m here to deliver! I’ve also made a lettering playlist which you can check out here where I’ll keep them all together 🙂
In this week’s quick tip video tutorial, we’ll digitally letter the number 3 two ways. For the first way, we’ll be using this Wacom tablet (or any of these) and the brush tool in Illustrator. After that, we’ll digitally letter the same number 3 from scratch using just the pen tool. We’ll go over the best way to plot your points and basic point handle adjustments using the direct select tool in Illustrator. Let’s get started!
Hatched drop shadow text effects are becoming more common in typefaces these days – Trend was one of the first to offer a layered font with a faux hatched drop shadow which motivated others to offer them. But what if you want a hatched drop shadow on the font you’re using, not trend? What if it’s for a one-off headline where lots of text doesn’t need it, it just needs to look beautiful in one powerful instance? That’s when we start making art instead of adjusting type, which is why this week’s tutorial isn’t on a text layer style; we’ll be customizing our hatched drop shadow to fit an artistic style.
It might be because of the Valentine’s season, but for whatever reason, I had this song stuck in my head this past weekend. Before I knew it, I was doodling, so this week’s freebie is a set of hand drawn bows + arrows. A few hand drawn hearts are also thrown in for good measure 🙂
As Spence and I continue brainstorming our wedding invites, I’ve had flourishes and frame elements on the brain a lot lately. It’s so much harder (but so rewarding!) when you’re designing something for yourself! This past weekend I designed a whole set of flourishes + frames in my pursuit to exhaust every option. 🙂
My flourish extravaganza has led to this week’s freebie: a set of vector flourishes and frame elements for Illustrator, CS3 or newer.
Happy 2015! To ring in the new year freebie-style, this week’s freebie is a set of 5 unique hand drawn vector bursts. Use these on invitations, web banners, social media posts and more. I’ve found they’re perfect for creating more energy in your layouts, as well as providing a focus wherever you let the center of the burst lie. Download includes all 5 bursts as an ai and eps file for versions of Illustrator, CS3 or newer. Read on for the download link + larger preview images!
If you’re in a pinch for some holiday design goodies, you’ve come to the right place! Here’s a roundup of every-tuesday content from the past two holiday seasons, enjoy!
Driving through our neighborhood on the way home Friday night, I couldn’t help but notice the vibe in our subdivision had changed…holiday lights were going up! I love this time of year; it just felt like it came sooner than usual this year. To ring in the start of the holiday decorating season, in this week’s tutorial we create a string of vector holiday lights, then create a pattern brush out of them for unlimited hang-them-where-and-how-long-you-want-them use 🙂 Let’s get started!
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