When Q. Cassetti came in for the workshop she showed the
class how to use many tools in Illustrator and some tools from Photoshop. Not only did she show us how to use the tools
that she prefers to use, but she also showed us some of her secrets for making
simple but attractive designs.
The first
thing she showed us was how to make a simple three colored object from an
image. Q. put the image she wanted into
Photoshop and used the ‘Color Range’ tool to select different colors. Once she exported each color from Photoshop
she could open them in Illustrator and put them together. This technique is very useful because you can
create a very accurate illustration of any complicated object, such as animals
or people.
Q. showed us
how to create any brush or swatch that we want and it is a lot easier than I
had expected. You can create any
pattern, shape, or lines in a document and drag them into the swatches panel or
brushes panel. This is beneficial
because if you have a pattern that you want to use in more than one object you
can just make it a swatch so that you can use it as a fill. It is also useful if you want to create
something such as hair because that way you can create your own strand of hair
to use over and over again. You can
also use this technique to create symbols by dragging an object into the
symbols panel. This way you can use
objects repeatedly while minimizing your file size.
One of Q.s
favorite tools to use or play with is the ‘3D Extrude & Bevel’. With this tool you can create bottles or
other curvy shapes. The nice part about
this tool is that you can place text that forms to the curvature or angle of
the object that you make 3D. This can
come in handy if your make an object such as a bottle that needs a label on it.
Q. showed us
a few ways to make text more interesting by using the ‘Envelope distort’ tool
and by making text a compound path. To
make text warp to an object you use the ‘Envelope distort’, one word or a whole
paragraph can be used for this and all the text will warp to fit within an
object that is above it. The other
technique is putting an image within the text.
In order to do this the text needs to be an outline and a compound path. Then you put a picture or whatever graphic
you choose behind the text. Create a
clipping mask and you will have a graphic forming to the shape of your text.
This workshop with Q. was extremely useful
because she has experience using these tools for her job. Her experience is noticeable as she knows
simpler techniques that create satisfying results. She did an exceptional job at teaching her
techniques to the class and I for one learned a lot.
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