A non-definitive guide on how to make a strokes-intact dot for outline style icons.

Sometimes you need to make a dot in Adobe Illustrator. And sometimes it takes you so long to figure out how to make said dot that you begin to contemplate the benefits of giving up design entirely and living as a hermit in the woods. To save others from this path of existential angst, here’s a quick tutorial.

Almost five years ago, I had the honor of writing a post on Smashing Magazine about my Photoshop panel GuideGuide. Since then it has seen wild success as the most installed third-party Photoshop extension, an achievement I’m quite proud. In that time, I’ve added some powerful features and, most recently, expanded it to Illustrator. This post will give you a taste of how GuideGuide can change the way you use guides in Photoshop and Illustrator.

It’s always fun to play around in Adobe Illustrator creating stylised illustrations of random objects. It’s also great practise, which helps you experiment with new tools and techniques that you could draw upon in your future projects. Follow along with today’s tutorial to create a series of tasty vector popsicle graphics in Illustrator. We’ll use a range of handy tools to create the first colourful lollipop, then build upon each subsequent illustration with new techniques that help to further customise the artwork further.

Speaking about using sharp angles and shapes, Tokyo-based illustrator Jun Takahashi uses this technique to create geometric sports characters.

How To Create a Geometric Pattern in Adobe Illustrator
TUTORIALS 17 JULY 2017 19 COMMENTS
Abstract geometric patterns are one of my favourite things to create in Adobe Illustrator. There’s an infinite number of results that can be achieved by simply changing up the parameters, shapes or colours used each time. In today’s tutorial I’ll show you a series of techniques you can use to make your own vector geometric pattern. Follow the step by step guide exactly to replicate my design, or remix your own custom pattern artwork by using these techniques as a foundation for your experiments.

My favourite Mac app icons are simple enough to be easily read in the Dock, yet they contain interesting details when viewed up close. They have large vibrant areas of colour, yet they contain enough contrast and shading to give them a sense of volume.