The Logo Design Process. Layers Magazine Tutorial

In this tutorial Jacob Cass takes us through the different stages of the logo design process: researching, composing a design brief, sketching, reflecting, developing, color brainstorming and presentation...

"Logo design in today’s world is totally underrated. People don’t understand how important a good logo is and how valuable it is to their business. Let me guide you through the basics of what makes a good logo, while also walking you through the process of creating the identity and logo design for one of my recent clients, Vero, a limited liability company based in Miami, Florida. Hopefully, this will give you an understanding of what actually goes on behind the scenes while creating a professionally designed logo..." Proceed to tutorial page

How To Skew A Dot Pattern with Adobe Illustrator

Here we have a great video tutorial for Adobe Illustrator explaining how to use the Free Transform, Shear, Skew and Reflect tools to create vector logo types and icons in perspective

Important shortcuts to remember:
*Mac OS
Cmd + Opt + Shift + Drag with the Free Transform Tool = Shear
Cmd + Shif + Drag with Free Transform Tool = Skew

*Windows
Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Drag with the Free Transform Tool = Shear
Ctrl + Shif + Drag with Free Transform Tool = Skew

More about using the "Free Transform Tool" here.

The "Live Color" Feature in Adobe Illustrator CS4

Learn how to use the "Live Color" feature in Adobe Illustrator. Video tutorial by Colin Boyd.

"Adobe Illustrator CS4 Tutorial Video on using Live Color. Learn from an expert from the comfort of your own desk, this Adobe Illustrator Tutorial video uses clearly laid out examples to help you follow along..."

From Sketch To Digital Art. Adobe Illustrator And Photoshop Tutorial

A great comprehensive video tutorial from TutCandy. Click the play button and learn how to convert a sketch into digital artwork using Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. If you pay attention you may also learn some useful shortcuts.

"In this tutorial we will show you how to go from sketch to vector and maintain that hand-drawn look. We start off cleaning the image in Photoshop, don't freak if you haven't got it, all photo editing software should have very similar functions.
Then take it into illustrator and use the automated live trace tool, which I normally think auto anything does a pretty terrible job but for rough hand-drawn linework it will work just perfectly."

Sketch to vector Illustrator Tutorial from che mcpherson on Vimeo.

Working with Clipping Masks and Free Transform in Adobe Illustrator

"You’ve probably heard of a Clipping Path in Photoshop. Well, a Clipping Mask in Illustrator is pretty much the same thing (Corel Draw calls it a “Powerclip,” and in Freehand, “Paste Inside”). It’s a vector path that masks, or “clips” out part of the image. Clipping Masks provides vector artists with more flexibility when building and organizing files. For designers, they can be scary at first, but are easy to de-mystify... Here we go:

In Photoshop and InDesign, Clipping Paths are often used to isolate an irregular shape in a photo to create a “cutout”. Since irregular vector shapes can be easily made, why would you need to use a Clipping Mask in Illustrator? Most of the time, they’re used to crop a set of irregular shapes into a neat, simple shape. In this regard, it can be helpful to think of them as “cropping masks.” Except with one benefit: the cropped or excluded part of the image doesn’t really go away, it’s just hidden. Let’s have a look. Full Article (via iStockPhoto)

From Sketch To Vector Art

Vector Art Blog is always watching. And we never miss the chance to spread the word about online publications that we love."Locus Of Control" Blog just posted a great digital illustration tutorial that explains the process of creating sharp vector artwork from a sketch using a scanner and the Live Trace feature in Illustrator...

"When you scan a sketch into your computer, the lines are often light and have fuzzy edges. Resizing the scan blurs or pixelates the image. You can use Photoshop to darken the lines, but they’re still not going to be as clean and sharp as if you vectored the sketch.Vectoring your scanned sketches is great for comics or other artwork, and is especially handy in the process of logo design." Full Tutorial

Vector Skyline Adobe Illustrator Tutorial

A video tutorial by Liron Tocker, explaining the stages of creating a vector skyline illustration using Adobe Illustrator. The tutorial is useful for beginner artists to understand the process of tracing graphic elements using the Pen Tool...

Sports Team Logo Design Tutorial

A comprehesive logo design tutorial for Aobe Illustrator from favorite digital illustration magazine Computer Arts. Alan Wardle shows you how to create an eye-catching logo design and brand from scratch.

My brief was to design a brand identity for a youth mountain biking team based in London. As they’re based in an urban environment, this team needed an aggressive logo so they’d be taken seriously when travelling to rural events around the country...

...In this tutorial, I’ll lead you through everything from designing the logo to setting brand rules. We’ll also look at creating other elements such as team uniforms, helmets and merchandise using your designs along the way. Full tutorial

3D Extrude and Bevel + Map Art Adobe Illustrator

If you haven't used the 3D Extrude and Bevel and Map Art features in Adobe Illustrator yet, this tutorial may be a great starting point...

Following the the instructions you will create a 3d Dice illustration. The techniques are basic but they can be applied in more challenging compositions.

"Are you feeling lucky? See if you can roll a lucky 7 with this tutorial on how to create 3d dice!"

Mosaic Effects with Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop

An Illustrator and Photoshop tutorial from Digital Ars Magazine exploring techniques for designing mosaic effects using vector symbols and global colors...

"We’ve all seen mosaics made up of smaller images, and there’s a handful of Photoshop plug-ins or standalone software that can generate impressive but somewhat automated results.
But what if you want total control over your mosaics’ appearaty to update it at the click of a button?" Full Tutorial

3D Vector Logo Tutorial

A logo design video tutorial from Layers Magazine, covering a few gradient techniques and using the "3D extrude and bevel" effect in Adobe Illustrator...

Even though it is considered as a logo design tutorial, the skills shown can be applied many areas of digital illustration. Video Tutorial Link

Vector Hair Template for Adobe Illustrator

Here we have another great vector resource for those of you who enjoy composing detailed fashion design illustrations. A Vector Hair Template for Adobe Illustrator by chewedkandi.

The layers in the *AI file are all properly named and organized so you can easily customize color and shades...


This file could help you understand the structure and work flow steps in composing vector hair illustrations. It has also been used in a comprehensive Adobe Illustrator tutorial, available here.

To use, you will need WinRar or StuffIt (Mac OS) to expand the archive. Download

Infographics with Adobe Illustrator

A comprehensive digital illustration tutoarial from Digital Arts Magazine. Wendy Ding takes you through the differents steps of translating abstract elements into a 3D, easy to understand illustrations that will enforce the visual communication in your composition. 

"Infographics, such as the one above, are great visual tools for communicating large amounts of data. Breaking down large amounts of abstract data, they place the information in context and transform it into tangible and useful knowledge." Full tutorial

Working with masks in Adobe Illustrator Tutorial

A few weeks ago, Computer Arts magazine published a PDF tutorial about various clipping and opacity masking techniques in Adobe Illustrator.

"Ben the Illustrator shows you the range of brilliant features hidden within your masking tools.

A mask might appear to be just a simple tool for covering something up, but Adobe Illustrator’s masking tools offer far more than one basic use. Along with the Compound Path, Illustrator’s Clipping and Opacity Masks can take your illustration and design onto a new level of detail, precision, texture and shape. To know when to use each tool, you simply need a clear understanding of what each one does." Full tutorial & source files.

Skateboard Deck Design Workflow (Adobe Illustrator Tutorial)

Another outstanding tutorial from Computer Arts Magazine, that explores the process of composing visual design concepts for skateboard decks with our favorite vector editor - Adobe Illustrator. To read the tutorial you need Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your machine."Skate decks are without question one of the coolest products around to design. Everything from their unique shape and size to their tactile finish offers us designers a truly rewarding blank canvas to splash some color over..." Full tutorial and source files

Vector Flames Tutorial

TUTVID.com is another great source of Video tutorials for digital illustration with Adobe Products. You can visit and subscribe to their Youtube channel here. Click on "continue reading" to access the video.

Below you can have a look at a tutorial for Adobe Illustrator that shows you an useful technique for drawing vector flames.

High Tech Winter Scene Illustration

Fresh materiall from Digital Arts Magazine. A digital illustration tutorial showing you various techinques and a workflow for composing a high-tech 3D winter landscape using Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop.

"This futuristic image – which resembles a Bond villain’s polar lair – is created using three separate applications, and will put your compositing skills through their paces.

The structure’s blueprint is created in Illustrator, and then transformed into a 3D object using Cinema 4D, before being composited into the landscape in Photoshop." Full tutorial

Organic Illustrations. Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator Tutorial

A digital illustration tutorial from Computer Arts Magazine, showing you how to combine Photoshop and Illustrator techniques in order to compose organic illustrations. 

"Doug Alves reveals the thinking and methods behind his incredible artwork... When I was kid, I used to spend my vacations in a small, peaceful town that was nature-rich, and when I was researching for my own style I just brought my childhood into my illustrations." Full tutorial and support files

Giclée Printing (Illustrator and Acrobat Pro Tutorial)

A 15 step tutorial from (Ben and Fi O’Brien) Computer Arts Magazine, that shows you the different stages of Giclée print production. Skills covered: Creating artwork to be output for printing in Adobe Illustrator. Understanding spot and process colors. Flattering your composition and preparing a PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro.

"Since investing in an Epson R2400 Stylus Photo Printer two years ago, we have been able to broaden our scope from working solely on commissioned illustration projects to also producing art prints for the interior design-conscious public." Full tutorial and source files.

Pattern Shapes Tutorial for Adobe Illustrator

Layers Magazine has just published a video tutorial for Adobe Illustrator CS4, showing how to build seamless patterns and creating design elements out of them. The video covers the usage of the "Transfrom effect" and a handy shortcut trick for selecing / deselecting objects in different stacking order. Tutorial link