1. Create a Bullet Character Style

First of all I create a new Character Style (Window > Styles > Character Styles) that defines the style of my bullet. Usually I just want to have the bullet in a different color and size. I start from a duplicate of my body copy Character Style, by choosing Duplicate Style... from the contextual menu after (right) clicking the body copy style in the Characters Style panel.

2. Create a Bulleted List

Next, I select my text, and make it a Bulleted List which you can select from the Control bar at the top, or go to Type > Bulleted & Numbered Lists > Apply Bullets. Then I select my entire list, hit Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + T to evoke the Tabs panel and tweak things to my preference.

3. Create a Bulleted List Paragraph Style

Once the list is finished, I select it and create a new Paragraph Style for my list. Under the option Bullets & Numbering, I first set the List Type to Bullets and then I select my bullet style I created before in the Character Style dropdown.

4. Create a Numbered List Paragraph Style

I also create a separate Paragraph Style for numbered lists by duplicating this style and setting the List Type to Numbers. One thing you have to keep in mind with numbered lists is that when you create a 2nd list, the numbering continues. To reset the numbering, (right) click into the list text to evoke the contextual menu and choose Restart Numbering. Hope you enjoyed this tip.

5. Different Spacing for the First and Last Bullet

You can use the Indents and Spacing section of the Paragraph Style dialog to specify Space Before and Space After. Use the option 'Space Between Paragraphs Using Same Style' to specify the space between the bulleted list items. For example, if Space Before is 6 pt, Space After is 8 pt, and Space Between is 0 pt, the bulleted list will have 6 pt before the 1st item, 8 pt after the last item and in between the bulleted list items, space will be 0 pt. Oh, and did you know you can also quickly remove the bullet style from a paragraph by just clicking into the paragraph and toggling the Bullet List icon button in the Control panel (at the top right)?

6. Glyphs as Bullets & Nested Lists

One of the lists I had to create was one with checkboxes. To change each bullet into a checkbox, I created a separate Character Style first where I used Minion Pro as type face since that font has the checkbox as glyph. Then I created a separate Paragraph Style and selected the 'checkbox' glyph as Bullet Glyph under Bullets and Numbering, and as Character Style I selected the style I created for the checkbox. Then there was the task of a 2nd level list, a nested list. Here I added a second Paragraph Style with an increased left indent. So for multi-level lists you need to create a Paragraph Style for each level.

Create a Running Header

To insert dynamic chapter titles in InDesign Master Pages, you first create a paragraph style for your chapter names and name it something like 'Chapter Name'. Once the style is created you go to Type > Text Variables > Define... In the window that appears, select Running Header and click the 'Edit' button. Then in the Style dropdown menu select your 'Chapter Name' paragraph style. 

Dynamic Chapter Title

Next, go to your Master Page, and insert a text frame where you want the chapter title to appear. With the text cursor blinking in that text field go to Type > Text Variables > Insert Variable > Running Header. This will insert a text snippet <Running Header> (or the name you entered in the Name field). This will now automatically display your 'chapter name' (paragraph style) on each page where this Master Page is applied.

Section Marker

Maybe you're (also) working with different sections in your document and instead of showing the chapters, you just want to have the sections appear dynamically. Or maybe you want to show both the section and the chapter (more info on how to create sections in InDesign). When you create a section, you create a so called 'Section Marker'. Besides the page numbering options, you also have the option to give this 'Section Marker' a name. Here you enter the exact text of how you want this section to appear in your document. 

Automatic Sections

Once this is done for each section of your document that you want to show, go to the Master Pages that is applied to the pages of your document and have your text cursor in the text field where you want this section title to appear. If needed create a new text field. Now with the text cursor blinking in that text field go to Type > Insert Special Characters > Markers > Section Marker. The word 'Section' will appear in the text field. This will now show the text that you entered in the 'Section Marker' field in your document on the pages where this Master Page is applied to. As you might have noticed from that menu list, there is also Current Page Number, and Section Number. So the same method applies for adding those into your document.

Create Sections

Some of the workbooks include multiple sections, each with different page numbering styles. For example, the pages before the table of contents might use Roman numerals, while the pages afterward follow standard numbering (1, 2, 3, and so on). To set this up, you need to divide your document into two sections: one for the Roman numerals and another for the standard numbering. Here’s you do this: In the Pages panel, select the starting page of a new section. Open the panel’s dropdown menu and choose Numbering & Section Options. Configure the numbering style for that section. To start a new section, repeat the same steps, selecting the first page of the next section. It’s also a good idea to add a prefix for each section to avoid conflicts when exporting to PDF (this will be explained in more detail later). For simplicity, I usually assign A to the first section, B to the second, and so on. This keeps things organized and easy to manage. One thing to keep in mind when creating new sections in your document, is that by default the 1st page of a new section always starts on the right side. To avoid spreads and pages to shuffle, you need to uncheck the 'Allow Document Pages to Shuffle' and 'Allow the Selected Spread to Shuffle' option first ☝🏼

Adding Page Numbers & Section Markers

Adding page numbers is straightforward. First, use the Type Tool to create a text frame in the location where you want the page number to appear. While the cursor is active in the text frame, go to Type > Insert Special Character > Markers > Current Page Number. I typically place page numbers on the Parent Pages, so they automatically appear on all pages that use that Parent Page. Similarly, you can also insert a Section Marker. The process is almost identical. Now you go to Type > Insert Special Character > Markers > Section Marker. However, make sure you’ve assigned a name to each section in the Section Marker field within the Numbering & Section Options window since this name will appear into the marker field.

Export Certain Page Ranges to PDF

Another common task I handle is exporting PDFs, not just for the entire document but often excluding the cover pages (the first and last pages). To do this, go to File > Export… (Cmd/Ctrl + E), select Adobe PDF (Print), and in the export window, specify the range of pages you want to include. For example, if the back cover is page 70, I might enter 2-69 as the range. However, to ensure accuracy, use a + symbol before the page number since the + references the actual page position in the Pages panel. In this case, entering +2-69 will export the correct range. However, if you have used section prefixes, it becomes even easier to use them in front of the page number and enter something like A2–B69, mimicking what you see in the Pages panel.

Export Only The 1st & Last Page to PDF

While developing the new design concept, I explored the idea of creating a logo animation, much like I did for my V icon here on the blog. The new design was a perfect fit to illustrate the meaning behind the name—an amalgamation of “duo” (a pair) and “oh!” However, as I worked on the animation, I decided to take a more playful approach and went with “uh oh!” instead. 😃

Once I finalized the animation, it got me thinking about all the different logos Duoh! has had since its inception in August 1992—33 years ago, in a pre-internet era that feels like a lifetime ago. I started digging up my old logos, but unfortunately, some of the digital files from the early ’90s were inaccessible due to outdated storage formats like unreadable DVDs.

Going back in time, 1992 

Reflecting on how time has passed and looking back at all these old logos, I decided to create an animation (in Adobe After Effects) showcasing the evolution of the Duoh! logo—from 1992 to today. I included every design except one: a variation of the 2000 version featuring a similar desert-like landscape but with a floating 3D cube displaying the original 1992 logo. As I mentioned before, that early design was more of an illustration than a proper logo. Eventually, I let go of the cube and opted for the orange “D” with an exclamation mark as the icon instead. As for the original 1992 logo, all I remember is a rough pencil sketch that I later digitized. Back then, textured recycled paper and a grungy, weathered aesthetic were all the rage. To me, at the time, that logo felt like the perfect fit.

2003

Another recurring element I’m sure you’ve noticed, was the swoosh line—you’ll notice it in the 2000 logo and even more prominently in the 2003 version. That was the era of swooshes! 😂 The style back then was completely different—no more playfulness. Looking back, I find this one the least appealing of all, but at the time, we wanted to present ourselves as a bit more “serious.”

2007

That phase lasted about four years until 2007, when I completely changed direction. The new look reflected our personal approach as an inseparable duo, complete with the fun tagline “beauty & brains.” It often sparked the inevitable question: “So, who’s beauty and who’s brains?”—which, of course, was exactly the reaction we hoped for. 😂 And we loved it!

2015

In 2015, this logo received a small update—I adjusted the colors, repositioned the wordmark, and simplified the icon by removing a few bubbles and stars. At the time, we were using Brandon Grotesque as our typeface, so the tagline also got a subtle refresh to match. I just realized that this logo lasted for 10 years, which, compared to the other periods, is the longest of all.

2025

The idea of combining the exclamation mark with the letter “d” stuck in my mind for a while, making the actual design process for the new logo quite brief. Once I started sketching, I quickly arrived at the desired result. The subtle detail in the letter “o” was Geert’s idea and was added later while I was already working on the animation.

Let’s hope this logo lasts another 10 years, just like the last one, and that I can make good progress on the new design of the business site. For now, I’ve only updated the logo, colors, and typeface. Our portfolio showcase is a bit behind—isn’t it always the case that your own projects are the last to get attention?

Create Compound Shape

First you create two separate circles. Then you turn them into a Compound Path by selecting both and going to Object > Compound Path > Make (or you can hit Cmd/Ctrl + 8). Next, you go to Effects > Path > Offset Path...and enter a value that makes them overlap each other.

Add Effect Again

Now choose this effect again, and enter the same number but now with a minus sign in front. Assure you have Round selected as Joins. With Preview checked you should see the result. Click OK. Select only the smaller circle by using the white arrow. Now move the circle around and see the magic happening! 😃

Create a Text Thread

You can link two text frames and have text flow from one frame to another. When your text doesn't fit into your area, you see a little red square with a plus inside at the bottom-right corner of the text frame. To have your text flow from one frame to the other, click into the red plus square. This will give you a loaded pointer. Now click and drag a new text frame anywhere you want it and the text will be loaded into this new frame. You can move, edit, resize these text frames anyway you like. You can even add anchor points and edit the whole path e.g. if the text needs to align around a photo or illustration.

Remove or Break Threads

At times, you may need to make changes to your layout or text that require breaking the thread between two text frames or removing a specific frame from the thread. To remove a frame from the thread, you select it and go to Type > Threaded Text > Release Selection. This will release it from the text thread, and the text will flow into the next object (in the chain). Choose Type > Threaded Text > Remove Threading and all threads will be removed. Or even better, with the Type tool selected just click the first text frame, of the frame from where you want the thread to be broken.

Add Rows and Columns

You can split large paragraphs into rows, columns, or a combination of both to make your text easy to read and visually appealing. Select an area type object, and choose Type > Area Type Options. Here you can set the amount of columns, the size of the gutter... You can even add a margin around your text by adding an inset spacing value.

Fit a Headline Across the Width

When adding a paragraph as a headline, you can easily adjust it to fit the width of the text frame by expanding the spacing between each letter. Just use the Type tool to select your text and choose Type > Fit Headline. This will increase the space between the letters to perfectly align within the frame.

Finding inspiration was perhaps more challenging then, but there was also less risk of being influenced by countless existing concepts. Today, we have a vast amount of information at our fingertips, which makes it harder to create something truly original. Now and then I have clients tell me that my design proposal reminds them too much of an existing brand. Every logo needs a unique edge to avoid this issue, which adds this extra layer of complexity to the design process.

Early to Mid Nineties

I launched my freelance business in August 1992 under the name Duoh!. I'm not sure what sparked the nostalgia, but dusting off these old designs made me appreciate the vintage style of some of them and so I wanted to share (a couple of) my logo designs I created over the past 30+ years, starting with the oldest ones from the early and mid nineties:

Some of them are rather timeless and are actually still in use: Elprinta and Omnipack Reyniers still exist today and were designed in the mid nineties. The Neyts fish shop logo was my final graduation project, created during my last year of design school. I even had a little truck model with the logo printed on paper (but color painted myself, since color printing was not really an option back then) and glued to it. The Copa Cabana logo was designed for a dance club, while the Sint-Aubertus logo was for a chain of Belgian bakeries, for which we also created a series of paper bags for different types of bread. The Beluga logo was crafted for a delicacy shop.

The Tunenbel logo was designed for a Belgian export company to Tunis, All Meal delivers flour, and CS2 is a Belgian semiconductor company (the dots were printed in silver on the business card). As for Gowy and De Valck Engineering, I honestly don't remember much 🙈, except that the Gowy logo was a freelance job in 1993 for a local ad agency. The Cornelis logo was designed for my accountant at the time.

Late Nineties to Early Twenties

Then came the Internet! It opened a whole new world for me and I threw myself into learning HTML, and creating websites. However, in the very early days graphics were very limited. It was more a source of information then it was to find inspiration... Somewhere end of 1996 I had my business up and running on the web. Then when the Duoh! website was nominated  “Dynamic Site of The Day” by Macromedia (in 1997 I think 🤔) it got some visibility. Later in 2003 I also started my blog. 

I can honestly say that the internet saved my business. Before its arrival, there was no way for me to reach a wide audience. The ability to connect with people worldwide was exactly what I needed to find new clients and work. It couldn't have come at a better time because I remember struggling to make a living and being on the verge of giving up freelancing. Most of the logos shown in the image above date back from that period of time. I don't know their exact year but it must be in the range of 1998 til 2008 give or take. Many of them were developed during the dot-com bubble era.

With a background in print, designing logos has always been one of my specialties. It remains so today, and despite my years of experience, the challenge is as engaging as ever. The process hasn’t become easier or faster; to me, it has always felt a bit like solving a puzzle. There's also a very small element of what might be called 'luck.' On rare occasions, I achieve a surprising result in a relatively short amount of time. It only happened once or twice. Some are just easier than others. There's no set rule for how long a logo design will take.

Unfortunately, a few of them never saw the light of day. Many were dot-com startups that didn’t survive, such as MeowLife, a social network for cat lovers. Other companies or organisations simply don't exist anymore. However a couple still do such as Social Signal, The Perfect Wedding, Bia Creations & Acturent (both with my very old website design), and DISC BV for who I also created the Research Software logo.

Early Twenties until 2015

When viewing these logo designs, especially those in the two images previously to the one here above, you'll notice the influence of the internet on the design style. I've incorporated more colors and effects like gradients. Many of these logos are still in use today, provided the businesses still exist.

2015 Until Today

What’s also striking is the diversity of design styles. While I have an overall preference for sans serif typefaces or creating my own script typefaces, I also tend to favor logo designs that include a distinctive logo mark.

Not all of these logo designs are still in use today, and some are more recent than others. Incorporating a logo mark not only enhances recognizability but also ensures the design fits well within a square or circle, which is crucial for social media.

In many cases, my logo design work involves redesigning an existing logo. Depending on the job and the client, I might need to start from scratch, but more often, I am tasked with improving the existing logo. This could involve retaining and enhancing certain elements. For instance, with Suikerdraakje (sugar dragon in English), the little dragon had been their mascot for years. My job was to keep the dragon but redraw it. I illustrated it in various poses and angles for use in their website design and other applications.

For the French version of Suikerdraakje, named Dragon Dragées, we also took on the task of designing the logotype. We selected the Kevlar Bold font as the base and transformed some of the letterforms to achieve a more script-like style. Each letter connects seamlessly with the next, with the "s" being custom-crafted to ensure a smooth transition when linked to the "u". The same approach was applied to the letter "s" in the French logotype. However, since it is the final letter in this case, its shape was adjusted differently to suit its position at the end of the word. Furthermore, we also gave the letters “k” and “r” special treatment. 

Like with any design work, it's hard to estimate the time needed to complete the job. There are always so many variables to factor in when providing an estimate to the client. Sometimes a logo design can take up many design rounds to get it right. Fortunately (at least in my experience), this is more the exception than the rule. The best thing you can do is create as many sketches as possible. One of the last logos I created was for one of my best longterm clients. Knowing the client well is always a very good advantage, but even though that is certainly not enough for a guarantee the project will go smooth and easier than average. The 'type' and 'subject' of the logo plays a very important factor, and so is the name itself. For instance, the characters of the name, and the length is also be a factor. Then there is the briefing: how well do you get briefed? Oh and the decision makers. This can be a very tricky one.  For this logo design, I filled about six pages with doodles, and worked out about 6 different concepts in 9 design rounds before arriving at the final logo design. This was actually a record in all these years. We stumbled about 3x on a "oh this has already been done before" and a "oh this looks too similar to..." situation, knowing that I have never seen the logo in question before.

General Setup

Below is an image displaying the final illustration along with the Layers panel. Each object is organized into a separate sublayer, arranged in the correct stacking order: the sky and sea at the bottom, followed by the umbrella, beach ball, bucket with shovel, the clouds, and the beach in front. Notice that the beach layer is positioned in front of other objects to allow the beach ball to appear partially buried in the sand.

Preparation

Just like before, I decided to give you a little help to get started. I’ve saved a template file that includes the required color Swatches, document dimension, and a horizontal guide to help position the elements of your illustration. There is also a separate swatches ASE file included.

Choosing The Right Color Palette

People often ask how I choose the color palette for my artwork, and it's challenging to provide a straightforward answer. Generally, I select colors intuitively and somewhat randomly, based on what I feel complements the subject or brand. For this illustration, I avoided flashy colors typically associated with the sun, beach, sea, and beach balls. Instead, I opted for a limited, vintage-inspired palette: the blue isn't quite blue, the red is more orange, and the yellow and white have a muted tone.

When lacking inspiration, extracting colors from a photo can be helpful. I usually choose one or two bright colors that contrast well together, along with a light and a dark color. They can be complementary but don't necessarily have to be; they should create a harmonious effect. However, good color choices alone don't guarantee a beautiful design or artwork. The way you apply your color palette is equally important, along with many other factors. This topic could fill a book, but for now, let's not get too sidetracked and move on. 😊

Creating The Beach Ball

We'll go object by object, starting with the beach ball. There are several ways to draw a beach ball, but I chose to keep it very simple.

1. Draw a Circle

Start by drawing a circle of 100 x 100 px. Select the Ellipse tool, click the canvas, and enter 100 as pixel value in both fields. You can also drag a circle with Smart Guides on so you can see the width and height values, while holding down the Shift key, and stop dragging when you have reached a value of 100 pixels. Apply the off-white swatch as fill.

2. Draw 2 Straight Lines

Add a vertical guide on the center of the circle: drag out from the Rulers. If the Rulers aren’t visible, go to View > Rulers > Show Rulers or hit Cmd/Ctrl + R. Before proceeding to the next step, change the Fill and Stroke swatches at the bottom of the Toolbar. Click the Fill swatch in the Toolbar, and select the No Fill swatch (the one with diagonal red line). Then click the Stroke swatch and choose black.

Now select the Pen tool and draw 3 straight thin black lines as followed: Make sure to start outside the circle, and make 3 clicks in the order and approximate place as shown in the illustration below, with the 2nd click exactly on the vertical guide. After the 3rd click, when you have drawn the first 2 lines (which are connected to each other), hold down the Cmd/Ctrl key and click once on your canvas. This will break the connection for the next click, allowing you to create the last line as a separate object, rather than connecting it to the two lines you've already drawn.

3. Draw a 3rd Straight Line

Now draw the 3rd line by clicking at the corner point of line 1 and 2 first, and the 2nd click somewhere bottom right outside the circle as shown in the image below.

4. Copy Reflect

Select the 3 lines using the Selection tool (black arrow), use the Shift key to select the 3rd line. Go to the Toolbar and choose the Reflect tool (located under the Rotate tool). Click in the intersection point on the vertical guide as shown in the image below, choose Vertical Axis, and hit the Copy button.

5. Make With Warp

Select all the black lines, and go to Object > Envelope Distort > Make with Warp…. In the Warp Options window that appears, choose Arch from the dropdown menu, choose Horizontal, and put the Blend slider to 50%. Check Preview to check out the result. If things look more or less similar as shown in the image below, click OK.

6. Align Lines and Circle

Select the warp object and make it a bit less wide. Move the object down if needed.Ensure that all black lines extend outside the circle and that the object and the circle are horizontally center aligned with each other. If Smart Guides are on you should get visual clues on when the object is perfectly centered, but if in doubt, you can select both objects and choose the Horizontal Align Center option from the Control bar at the top (Window > Control) or via the Properties panel.

7. Expand

Select the warp object and go to Object > Expand… In the Expand window leave the settings as is (Object and Fill are selected) and click OK.

8. Divide

Select both the circle and the lines, go to the Pathfinder panel and select the Divide option. This will divide the circle into sections, allowing each part to be colored appropriately.

9. Apply Colors

The object is now grouped. To select part by part to apply a color, we need to double click the object first. This takes us into Isolation mode. Notice the grey bar at the top of your document. Normally, all other objects would be faded out, but since we only created this one, you won't see this effect. Now you can select each section individually and apply the appropriate color fill. See the image below for guidance.

10. Rotate The Beach Ball 45º

The only thing left to do is to rotate the beach ball 45°. To do this, go out of Isolation mode first. You can do this by clicking the arrow button at the top, or by simply hitting the Escape key. Select the beach ball using the Selection tool (black arrow). Hover your cursor over one of the object's corners until it changes into rotation arrows. Then, start dragging to the right to rotate the object, and hold down the Shift key to snap the rotation to exactly 45° (see image below). Release the mouse. Lastly move the beach ball into position, so the bottom anchor touches the horizontal guide, then use the down arrow key on your keyboard twice to move the ball a little bit more down.

11. Organize

Next step: name & organize your layers. It’s important to keep your file clean so you can save time in a later stage in case your illustration becomes complex. It might feel ridiculous to do this at this stage and for such a simple illustration as this. It's of course up to you to decide if this is valuable. Click the triangle next to the layer name in the Layers panel, double click in the text field of the object, and rename it to beach ball.

The Bucket & Shovel

1. Draw a Square

Select the Rectangle tool and draw a square of 50 x 50 px. Apply the lightest teal fill. Move the square to the left of the beach ball, and into position so the bottom anchor points touch the horizontal guide.

2. Draw a Rectangle

Draw a slightly wider rectangle above the square, ensuring that its bottom edge aligns with the top edge of the square. You'll notice a visual cue—a green line will appear, indicating the alignment. Once aligned, apply the slightly darker teal fill to the rectangle. Select both the square and the rectangle, and choose the Vertical Align Center option from the Options bar.

3. Move Bottom Anchor Points Inwards

Select the Direct Selection tool (white arrow), and select the left bottom anchor point of the square and the rectangle. Hit the right arrow key twice. Now select the right bottom anchor point of the square and the rectangle, and hit the left arrow key twice.

4. Draw a Tiny Circle

Select the Ellipse tool, and draw a small circle (7 x 7 px) in the center of the rectangle. Since this is a small circle make sure to zoom in a little bit first. Draw this circle from the center out. To do this, first hover with your cursor over the center point to find it. You should see the word ‘center’ in small (magenta) colored type. Hold down the Option/Alt key first, click and start to drag, then hold down the Shift key as well. When you’ve reached the size, release the keys first, then the mouse. If this seems hard to do you can select both the rectangle and the circle, and use the align tools to center align them both vertically and horizontally. Then select the circle, rectangle and square, and align all 3 objects vertically.

5. Apply Fill

Apply the light teal fill to the small circle, and change the fill opacity blending mode to Multiply, to darken it al little bit.

6. Draw The Bucket Handle

Select the Line tool and draw a diagonal line starting from the center point of the small circle. While drawing (by click dragging) the line, hold down the Shift key to draw a perfect diagonal line.

7. Apply Stroke Color, Weight and Style

Apply the darkest teal as stroke color, and select the value of 3 pt from the Weight dropdown. Then also choose the Round Cap option. Select all bucket shapes and hit Cmd/Ctrl + g to group the object.

8. Draw The Stem of The Shovel

Draw a short vertical line (see image below), and apply a Weight of 7 pt tick. Give it the orange color, and make sure the line has a Straight cap.

9. Draw The Shovel Handle

Select the Rectangle tool and draw a small horizontal rectangle right above the vertical line (see image below) for the handle of the shovel, using the same stroke width and color as the stroke. Select both objects and choose Vertically Center Align from the Options bar at the top or from the Properties panel.

10. Apply Rounded Corners

Select the Direct Selection tool (white arrow), and select the 2 bottom anchor points of the rectangle. 2 small circles should appear. Click into one of them and start dragging inwards to the end so the bottom part becomes fully rounded.

11. Organize Layers

Select both objects and group them together (Cmd/Ctrl + g). Go to the Layers panel and name your sublayers (see image below): drag the ’shovel’ layer into position. Move it under the ’bucket’ layer.

12. Rotate The Shovel

Select the shovel and move it into place as shown in the image below. Rotate it a little to the left, just as you learned before using the Selection tool, but this time you don’t need to hold down the Shift key since you only need to rotate a few degrees to the left.

13. Move Shovel & Bucket Into Place

Select both the bucket and the shovel and move them into position as shown in the image above.

The Umbrella

1. Draw a Red Circle

Select the Ellipse tool and draw a circle of about 200 x 200 px size. Give the circle the orange fill.

2. Draw a Rectangle

Select the Rectangle tool and draw a rectangle on top covering about 2/3 of the circle, as shown in the image below. Make sure the rectangle is also wider than the circle.

3. Minus Front

Select both objects, go to the Pathfinder or Properties panel and choose Minus Front from the Shape Modes.

4. Draw a Line

Select the Line tool, and draw a vertical line right in the center of the shape (the vertical green line that appears in the center should be your visual clue). Draw the line from top to bottom while holding down the Shift key to keep the line perfectly vertical (see image above).

5. Apply Stroke Color

Apply 12 pt as Weight, and give it the dark teal swatch color stroke. In the Appearance panel select Multiply as blending mode at 50% Opacity.

6. Draw Arches

Double click the Arch tool. In the Options window that appears, set the Base Along to the Y-Axis. Next make sure your fill swatch is set to no fill, and your stroke swatch is set to black (or any other color, it doesn’t matter really). Now draw the 1st arch starting from the top center point of the umbrella going towards the left side. Just click drag like you draw a line. Make sure the arch goes a bit further below the orange part (see image below).

7. Draw The Other Arches

Now draw a 2nd arch to the right of the 1st arch, again starting from the top center point of the umbrella as shown in the image below.

8. Copy Reflect

Select both arches, and select the Reflect tool. Click exactly on the path of the vertical teal stroke. In the Reflect window that appears, select Vertical as Axis. Check the Preview option to see what will happen. Hit the Copy button to copy the arches.

9. Divide

Just like we did for the beach ball, we will cut the umbrella into segments so we can apply a color to each segment. Select the arches and the orange shape. Go to the Pathfinder or Properties panel and select the Divide option.

10. Add Color

As with the beach ball, the divided segments are now grouped into a single object. Double-click it to enter Isolation Mode, allowing you to apply a different color to each segment. Give the 2nd and 4th part the off-white color. Hit the Escape key to leave Isolation Mode.

11. Organize

Group the umbrella objects together (Cmd/Ctrl + g), and give the sublayer a name (’umbrella’). Move the sublayer into place, below the beach ball.

12. Create Composition

Create a perfect composition by rotating the umbrella 45° to the right. Hold down the Shift key while rotating.

13. Move Into Place

Move the umbrella into the right position as shown in the image below.

Complete The Beach Scene

1. Create The Beach

Select the Rectangle tool and draw a yellow sandy rectangle below the horizontal guide on top of the 3 objects (so the bottom of the beach ball is slightly hidden).

2. Create The Sky

With the Rectangle tool still selected, draw a light blue rectangle above the beach.

3. Organize The Layers

Organise your layers again by naming the object's name and by moving them into place in the Layers panel. The sky should be moved down below all other layers.

4. Create a Cloud

Next we’ll create some clouds. Select the Ellipse tool and draw a couple of slightly overlapping circles next to each other that resembles the shape of a cloud as shown in the image below. You can use a white fill for each circle. Ensure they overlap slightly and are roughly aligned at the bottom..

5. Draw a Line

Select the line tool, ensuring the fill swatch in the toolbar is set to 'no fill' and the stroke swatch is set to a color. Now draw a horizontal line on top of the circles (hold down the Shift key). Make sure the line doesn’t touch the blue sky as it crosses the circles, and make it wider than the circles.

6. Divide

Select the circles and the line and choose Pathfinder > Divide just like before.

7. Remove Unnecessary Parts

Select the Shapebuilder tool from the toolbar, and remove the unnecessary parts by clicking the shapes one by one while holding down the Alt/Option key. A minus should appear in your cursor as shown in the image below.

8. Unite

With the object still selected Go to Pathfinder > Unite.

9. Clean Up The Path

This step is optional, but I’m meticulous about clean paths and dislike unnecessary anchor points. If you agree, you can clean up the cloud path by removing any unnecessary anchor points you find. Select the Delete Anchor Point tool from the toolbar and click in the anchor points that should be removed.

10. Add More Clouds

To add a couple of more clouds, repeat the steps to create a cloud, or copy reflect and resize the one you’ve created. When you are ready, select all the clouds and apply the off-white color swatch as fill, but only for 50%, by moving the slider in the Color panel to 50% (see image above).

11. Create The Sea

Last but not least, we’ll create the sea in the very distance. Select the Rectangle tool and draw another rectangle. Give it the light teal color at 75% (move the color swatch slider 75%). Give the object the name ’sea’ in the Layers panel and move the sublayer into place right above the ’sky’ layer.

Finishing Touch

12. Add pattern effect

Your illustration is finished, but you could also decide to add a subtle vector pattern that lays on top of your illustration. By default, Adobe Illustrator offers some nice subtle patterns that you can apply to your artwork. In this illustration I’ve used the pattern ’USGS 22 Gravel Beach’. You can find this pattern by going to the Swatches panel and selecting the Options dropdown menu (the arrow icon at the top right of the panel). In this dropdown choose Open Swatch Library > Patterns > Basic Graphics > Basic Graphics_Textures.

To quickly add a simple pattern effect on your illustration, you can draw a rectangle on top that covers your entire illustration, and give it a pattern fill like ’USGS 22 Gravel Beach’. Then in the Appearance panel you can change the blending mode of the fill to Overlay. You can also play with the Opacity value.

All vector-based

The beauty of these subtly patterns is that they are all vector-based. If you scale your image up to 500% everything will still look crystal sharp. You can also decide to apply different patterns to certain objects, by applying a 2nd fill on top of the color fill. You can also resize the patterns using the Scale tool (and by double clicking the tool to evoke the Scale options window), and by only checking the option Transform Patterns. This way the pattern is resized but not the object itself. The possibilities are endless.

That’s it! I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial.

Enjoy the Summer!

Add Form Elements

While the document is titled with the term 'checklist', I opted not to use checkboxes since users can only respond with 'yes' or 'no'. Instead, I utilized radio buttons for their responses. After finalizing the layout and locking the layers, I began incorporating the form elements. To add form elements, you go to Window > Interactive > Buttons and Forms. First you need to place a frame at the location where you want to place a form field. In my case I added a small square at the location of the 1st radio button. With the frame selected, I chose Radio Button from the Type dropdown in the Buttons and Forms panel.

Prepare the Form

Alternatively, you can also right-click a frame and choose Interactive > Convert to.... Next, I entered a name, which in my case is the question number A.01. Then I chose OnRelease or Tap as Event, I entered Yes as Description and 1 as Value. Then I duplicated this radio button frame to the 'No' answer location and adjusted the Description to No and the Value to 0. After this I duplicated both radio buttons over and over again while constantly adjusting the name to the corresponding question. On the last page I added a Reset button, so users can reset the form if needed. Lastly I added a Text field frame for the total score.

Export to Interactive PDF

As far as I'm aware, the action to calculate the score for this field can only be implemented in Acrobat. Therefore, each time the document is edited, this part needs to be redone, which is unfortunate. After exporting the document to an Interactive PDF, I opened it in Adobe Acrobat to add the calculation action to the score form field. Upon selecting Prepare Form under the Tools menu in the left sidebar, all the form fields are listed on the right side of the document.

Finalize in Acrobat

Upon double-clicking the score field, I defined the font, size, and other visual options in the appearing window. Additionally, under the Calculation tab button, I entered my sum calculation. Here, I selected 'Value is the sum (+) of the following fields' and clicked the Pick button to select all the radio button fields. Initially, I hit the Select All option and then deselected the fields that needed to be excluded. This step is crucial because initially, I wasn't aware that the score field itself, the reset button, and a few other fields (A, B, C, and D) apparently added by either InDesign or Acrobat were interfering with my calculation. Finally, all that remained was to save the document and test it.

As you all know graphic design is my true passion, but I love the thrill and process that goes into transforming that design into a real working website, going all the way from front-end CSS/HTML markup to back-end CMS integration with Craft CMS. The journey of this project, after design completion to CMS implementation, presented a learning curve. There were moments of stumbling or discovering more efficient methods, yet it's through these mistakes that true learning occurs.

The Local Set Up using DDEV

As I mentioned before, this project was a bit of a challenge for me, also because it's been a while since I delved into these kind of technical intricacies, particularly at the macOS Terminal level. You see, in the past, I typically set up PHP-driven sites locally on my Mac using MAMP Pro. However, this time around, I've opted for DDEV, utilizing Docker containers via orbStack. For someone with a design background like myself, this represents a significant leap, but the advantage lies in running PHP within a contained environment, mitigating the risk of causing any significant damage if I make mistakes. If something goes awry, I can simply discard the container and start anew. Just in case you’re wondering, yes I had to start from scratch a couple of times. That was only during this setup phase, primarily due to the lack of easily accessible guidance tailored to designers like me who may struggle with developer jargon. Tutorials also usually just start with “I have already DDEV installed....” and directly move on to the next step, which seems to me like explaining this part of the process is really not worth the effort. Guess it’s ’no biggie’ for developers 😁

Nevertheless, I made it that far, and so I decided to fully integrate my workflow with GitHub as well, which I also haven’t really used before. While I have the GitHub desktop app installed, I find it convenient to perform stage, commit, and push commands directly within Nova. As far as running Craft, the only Terminal commands I need are 'ddev start' when initiating work on the project and 'ddev stop' upon completion. Additionally, I've also installed Craft’s first-party plugin for rich text fields, CKEditor, using a Composer command in Terminal which you can simply copy & paste from the Craft Plugin Store.

Why I Choose Craft CMS

Let's focus back on Craft, the CMS both this site and my business site runs on (for +12 years). You might wonder why I prefer to stick with Craft. Apart from my close relationship with its founder and creator, as well as my design work to Pixel & Tonic, Craft CMS stands out to me as the most robust, reliable and flexible platform out there. On top of that, it has a very user-friendly interface, and there is also a great community. Moreover, Craft gives me full control over the HTML markup complemented by Craft's Twig templating system. There are many ways you can build your site. Unlike many other platforms out there, Craft does not dictate how you should build your site.

Craft gives me full control over the HTML markup complemented by Craft's Twig templating system. Unlike many other platforms out there, Craft does not dictate how you should build your site.

When I started this project, Craft 5 was still in its early beta phase. At that time I was unsure if I should choose version 4 still, or go with version 5 already. Ultimately, I opted for version 5 due to all the new features that I knew I would miss out on with version 4. Choosing version 5 initially meant I wouldn't need to overhaul substantial parts of my work later to benefit from its improvements and innovations. Thankfully, I had the flexibility to extend the project timeline slightly, enabling me to synchronize the project's completion with the forthcoming official release of Craft 5.

Craft 5

Below is a preview that my client will see when editing the 'Over ons' (About) page. I'm not sure if you notice it, but in my perspective, the seamless updating of the site elevates its appeal, turning what could be perceived as a challenge into a welcoming experience.

Craft 5 enhances the updating process, offering a plethora of customizable settings, such as collapsing the sidebar or hiding the right side, making updates a breeze. With Craft 5, accessing deeper content through slide-out panels ensures quicker and smoother navigation, expediting various tasks.

Longform Content

One of the new features I really like is the ability to nest entries in Craft's first-party rich text field plug-in named CKEditor. Using this feature allows you to generate longform content, providing clients with a user-friendly environment akin to Microsoft Word, all while ensuring there's no clutter of unnecessary HTML code being output. So as a developer, you retain complete control over the HTML markup output.

{{ entry.longformContent }}

It also provides an easier way towards template coding. You only have to deal with this longform tag in combination with partials containing the different pieces that you want this form to output, as you can view from my template code in the image below:

Reusing Fields as Instances

Craft 5 simplifies the process of defining your content using custom fields. These fields are automatically categorized and distinguished by icons, allowing you to easily identify their usage. What's particularly appealing is the ability to reuse fields as different instances. This reduces the amount of fields enormously and simplifies things a lot which obviously impacts overal performance as well.

Refined UI

The new refined UI of the control panel is definitely a job well-done. One of the really cool touches is the option to show entries as (colored) cards, and my top favorite, the all in one combined slide-outs workflow, which drastically speeds up the process. To me it is also a great improvement in finding my way 😃 Another aspect I appreciate about Craft is its page preview feature. This is not a new feature, but it's certainly noteworthy. This operates flawlessly, instilling confidence prior to publishing a page on the site. Additionally, Craft offers full control over saving drafts, managing different versions, authors, scheduling online/offline status, adjusting the slug (URI part), and more.

Future Updates

I've decided to keep a bit of a log of the steps I took to put the site live or other steps to take when there are Craft updates etc. so that I have some kind of roadmap to turn to for future projects. Especially since the setup part of a PHP based site running Craft  5 locally on my computer was a bit of a hurdle. If I look back at the whole process, this might actually be the hardest part. As for putting the site live and small updates, I had the great help from Pixel & Tonic’s CTO Brad Bell, who wrote a complete GitHub workflow CI action script. That script contains a trigger which automatically deploys my GitHub push commands directly onto the host (at Arcustech). This script works with a couple of so called ‘secret fields’ that holds the ‘secret’ data –hence its name– such as the host, login and passwords. However, for extra security the content of these fields on GitHub are empty or invisible (achieved via a specific setting). The clever thing about this powerful script lies in its versatility for future endeavors. With just a tweak of the secret fields tailored to each project, I'll be ready to roll. This streamlines the maintenance and updates of the site, making it effortlessly manageable. I'm truly thankful for having this in my toolkit. 🙏