This post is part of a weekly series showcasing inspirational vector art. Although the series showcases vector art, some work might just be vector inspired, not created completely with vector art. If you have any art suggestions, feel free to comment! For more vector art inspiration, check out the Vectips Flickr Group.

Robot Pink Mao by Loguy

Indian Mobile Girl by Loguy

American Mobile Girl by Loguy

Flight of the Conchords by Aaron Horkey

The Break by RNSaffold

Largest Nosering Ever by Freakshow6

sebastien CUYPERS

Firma el Libro por Darfu-México Los Niños De Darfu by Omar Mijangos 1000changos

My Magical Tee by MikeLaughead

Le Carnaval de la Folie by Christian San Jose

Revolver by Death by Colour

Electro Ganesh poster by Lavínia Carvalho

Wonderland State of Mind by Helen Huang

Nike – Dream your 90 by Happycentro

LMS MonoGRAM by Like Minded Studio

Factory by Luca Belotti

blue by neslirawles

Mister Mista Series 02 by Price

God Save the Villain! by Enkel Dika

Almighty’s by Andreas Krapf

Yoki Safari – Issue 1 Promo by Freakshow6

Hari autumn for dodongo-fin by Freakshow6

Brrrrr by Zzanthia

Lashified Characters by kinkei

In this tutorial I will show you how to create a cute creature from a sketch. This tutorial uses custom brushes, the Paintbrush tool, Pen tool, and the Live Paint Bucket tool. Even if your not a huge fan of the cuteness, you can use these techniques for other illustrations, logos, and vector elements.

Final Image

Below is the final image we will be working towards.

Tutorial Details

Program: Adobe Illustrator CS4
Difficulty: Intermediate
Topics Covered: Custom Brushes, Paintbrush Tool, Live Paint Bucket tool
Estimated Completion Time: 1-1.5 hours

Step 1

Create a sketch with traditional media or in a design application like Photoshop. Once created, scan in the image and save it on your computer.

Step 2

In Illustrator, create a new document, go File > Place, find your image, and place it on your document. From the Layers panel, rename the current layer by double-clicking on layer and typing “Template”. Next, press the Lock icon for the “Template” layer from the Layers panel.

Step 3

Press the Create New Layer button from the Layers panel and rename it “Outline”.

Step 4

For the outline of the creature we are going to create two custom Art Brushes. For the first one, use the Ellipse tool (L) and create a oblong ellipse. With the Direct Selection tool (A) grab the left anchor point and drag it to left, doubling its width. Next, take off any stroke and fill it with black.

Step 5

Drag the new ellipse shape into the Brushes panel and choose New Art Brush from the New Brush dialog. With the Art Brush Options dialog open, keep the default options except change the Method to Tints from the Colorization Method drop-down menu.

Step 6

For the second custom brush, create a very narrow ellipse and fill it with black. Like in the previous step, create a new Art Brush and set the Colorization Method to Tints.

Step 7

Now that we have our two custom brushes, we can start tracing the sketch, But before we start, there are some tips you should be aware of.

Paintbrush tool or Pen tool

You can use the Pen tool (P) or Paintbrush tool (B) to create the paths that you will apply the custom brushes to. I prefer to use the Paintbrush tool (B) because it is quick and your selected custom brush is automatically applied to the path. If you are going to use the Paintbrush tool (B), it is a good idea to set some of the Paintbrush tool’s (B) options. To do this, double-click on the Paintbrush tool (B) from the Tools panel. When the Paintbrush Tool Options dialog opens, change the Fidelity to 10. This creates a smooth line with using the Paintbrush tool (B). If you are going to use the Pen tool (P), simply selected your created path and select the desired brush from the Brushes panel.

Avoid Paths with Sharp Angles

When creating stroked paths with the custom brushes I try to stay away from creating paths with angle less then 90 degrees. As you can see in the example below, Illustrator tends to add weird remnants in angled paths. To get around this I use two different paths each with minimal anchor points. Curvier paths are usually alright.

Use Stroke Weight

If the brush you apply is too thick, you can adjust the Stroke Weight form the Stroke panel.

Alternate Brushes

Use the different brushes we created to add line variance in the trace. I use the first brush when I want a stroke thicker at one end compared to the other.

Change Direction of Brush

To change the direction of the brush stroke, select your stroke and press the Brush Options button at the bottom of the Brushes panel. In the Stroke Options dialog, you can check the Flip Along or Flip Across check-box until you reach the desired direction. This works great for the first brush we created. Depending on the path, you might need to switch the direction so the thick or thin part of the stroke is on the desired side of the path.

Step 8

With the Paintbrush tool (B) or Pen tool (P) start tracing your sketch making sure you are in the “Outline”layer and you are thinking about the tips in the step above. For the shapes that will be filled black, use the Pen tool (P) to create the shape. You can also use the Ellipse tool (L) or Rectangle (M) for any shapes like the eyes of the creature.

Step 9

Finish outlining all the dominate lines and shapes of the sketch.

Step 10

Select all the brush strokes by going Select > Object > Brushed Strokes and the go Object >Expand Appearance.

Step 11

Now that we are done creating the outlines for the character we can start coloring the illustration with the Live Paint Bucket (K). First select a set of main colors for the creature. I chose pink and white. You can create these colors by mixing them in the Color panel and pressing the New Swatch button in the Swatches panel.

Step 12

Select all your artwork and choose the Live Paint Bucket (K) from the Tools panel. This will automatically convert the artwork into a Live Paint Group. With the Live Paint Bucket, hover over the open spaces you want to fill. Use the arrows keys to cycle through the colors you want to fill the spaces with. When you cycle to the desired swatch, click in the desired open area to fill it.

Step 13

Select the Live Paint group and go Object > Live Paint > Expand.

Step 14

Now that the Live Paint Group is expanded, use the Magic Wand tool (Y), hold down the Shift Key, and select all the colors in the artwork. Once selected, Cut (Command + X) the shapes. Create a new layer from the Layers panel, label it “Color”, place the new layer below the “Outline” layer and Paste in Front (Command + F) the colored shapes.

Step 15

The creature is looking pretty good, but let’s add some shadows to give it more depth. With the Pen tool (P), create shadow shapes in the “Color” layer. Fill the shadow shapes with darker colors than your original colors. Continue until you have created all the shadow shapes.

Step 16

To make the colors a little more vibrant, change the fill color of the outlines in the “Outline” layer. I also used one of my custom brushes to add more detail to the eyebrows. This is a good point to touch up or add any more detail you think the illustration is lacking.

Step 17

We are almost done, but to make the illustration really pop, let’s put it on a colored background. Create a new layer from the Layers panel, label it “Background”, and place it above the Template layer and below the “Outline” and “Color” layers.

Step 18

With the Rectangle tool (M), create a rectangle, and fill it with a color.

Step 19

We can also add some depth to the background by creating some bigger brush strokes. Use the Paintbrush tool (B), select a color slightly lighter than your background, set stroke weight very high (around 8 pt depending on the size of your artwork), and create a brush stroke. Create about 15 more brush stroke and mix up the Stroke Weight for some of them.

Step 20

For the finishing touches create some shadows below the creature with the Paintbrush tool (B) and a darker color than your background. All done!

Final Image

Below is the final image again. These techniques work really great on other illustrations and vector artwork especially for t-shirt designs.

Fuctastic has created an awesome skull illustration for the readers of Vectips. Download the illustration and check out all the intricate details! It is a great illustration to use by itself or pick through the many elements used to create the skull!

Illustrator Version: CS4 and Illustrator 10 EPS
License: See Terms in Download

This post is part of a weekly series showcasing inspirational vector art. Although the series showcases vector art, some work might just be vector inspired, not created completely with vector art. If you have any art suggestions, feel free to comment! For more vector art inspiration, check out the Vectips Flickr Group.

Vader by Hydro74

The Black Panther Party by Rusc

Have You No Sole!? by Nate Bear

Adidas Originals: Celebrate Originality by Jared Nickerson

Red Fox by Drew Millward

Commission Work – portrait 3 by LimKis

ARTTM | Beaver by sockmonkee

Vector Self by agrivaine

Oh sí, me gusta mucho! by zitone

Andrés Martínez Ricci

high priestess tarot card by strongstuff

Chicago Children’s Museum by supercorn

Jo Jo left his home… by Predrag Milankovic

AKA.MEDIAONE

Love letters hate laters by hellosmellytrees

RAHZEL by AKA.MEDIAONE

Rezza Rangzar

The Opos ____

Marcelo Oliveira

jonathan ball

Gulliver by Hugo Herrera

Lost in Space by Niarkozaurus

Mystic Bear by NIARK1

Travis Price

idol – luvgalz exhibition 2 by stenkat

Von Glitschka is a designer and illustrator with over 23 years experience. Von’s work has received numerous awards and has appeared in such publications as Communication Arts, Print, HOW Design, Society of Illustrators, Graphis, American Illustration, and Logo Lounge II, III, IV and V. Von has been kind enough to provide Vectips with an interview, so read on to learn about his Illustrator experience and industry insights.

Von Glitschka Around the Web

• Glitschka Studios
• Vonster Books
• Art Backwash

Interview

Hey Von, thanks for taking the time to provide Vectips with an Interview! To start, could you tell us about your illustrating background and what made you become a illustrator?

I’ve drawn since I was very young. My mom is very creative so that kind of rubbed off on me. I use to just hang out in my bedroom with a friend listen to my Star Wars talking record and draw pictures. I was always getting into trouble for drawing on my papers growing up too.

As I went into high school I remember thinking “I don’t want to go to a regular college and do math.” Mind you this was before the internet so the way we did research was to ask our guidance counselor to find information on something and they’d get it. Well I asked for information on film school, I wanted to go into the movies. The guidance counselor came back and said she couldn’t find anything?

I was stumped. A few weeks later a person from the Burnley School of Art came through our art class and the convinced me I needed to go to art school. No math at art school.

I never set out to be a full-time illustrator. I was trained as a graphic designer and illustration was always just an additional skill set I would use when a project needed it. At first I just assumed all graphic designers also illustrated. It wasn’t until around 1995 I realized I could leverage illustration as it’s own marketable talent. And from that point forward I handled it as such.

I have entertained the thought of going to film school after my kids graduate from college. I still think I could direct and or art director better than a lot of movies I see produced. This of course is more of a fantasy than a reality at this point, but not out of realm of possibility. You have to dream new dreams to stay relevant and fresh.

Von winning my first art award at 5yrs old & a recent self-portrait.

What is your favorite and least favorite thing about the illustrating industry?

Favorite: Unbridled creativity and exploration. Never ceases to amaze me at the depth of unique work being done, and that inspires me of course to pursue my own approach.

Least Favorite: The illustration industry is still embedded with an old school mind set that really holds some back from flourishing with their art. Too many have the idea that a “One style fits all approach” should for some reason be an ironclad rule applied to all illustrators. This is at best a problematic understanding of illustration. That approach might have worked in general in the pre-digital world but it’s at best a flawed methodology in today’s marketplace.

I know what I just said will cause many illustrators to view my comments in the same light as me drop kicking babies. But life wouldn’t be too exciting if you didn’t stir it up at times.

Illustrators in general tend to think of themselves as existing outside of “Graphic Design” as if they are their own unique industry, when in fact they fall under the banner of “Graphic Design.” Their livelihood depends on the design industry and thus their work needs to be versatile enough to work in a range of projects in order to be the appropriate solution for the given project. I’ve always found that illustrators who first worked as designers before moving over to illustration full-time make for better illustrators because they clearly understand this, have a better comprehension of marketing, and also apply a designers eye to their work as well.

Too many non-illustrators view illustration as mere image makers. When in fact they should view us as idea formulators that can also build out what we conceptualize. Good thinking makes for great art and way too many creative directors don’t think that way when working with an illustrator. Part of the problem is most illustrators don’t do a good job of communicating this aspect of their service either, so the problem is two fold.

Digital Lifestyle

As a professional Illustrator, what are your thoughts in general when it comes to stock and low cost illustration?

Technically I refer to myself as an “Illustrative Designer.” I call upon both skill sets in nearly all my work and rarely do I do purely illustrative projects that don’t entail a design context such as editorial work. An interesting side-effect of this reality is that most non-illustrating designers call me an “Illustrator” and most non-designing illustrators tend to call me a “Designer.” They both focus on the aspects of my work they don’t do themselves and assume I’m not in their camp.

A few years ago I had my owl illustration hanging in the Society of Illustrators in NYC and got contacted by a web site that lists illustrators inviting me to participate. I said sure but didn’t hear anything back and then got an email from the site saying “Sorry but you were invited by accident. You’re not an illustrator. Frankly I’m not sure what you are?” LOL

I’m OK with stock illustration as long as it allows the illustrator/creator to control the rights and ownership of their art and they’re just granting usage rights to it and not selling it outright for cheap.

Of course not all models being pushed are good ones, such as iStockphoto.com which plays no part in creating the art, has an art Gestapo that forces the creators to adhere to antiquated digital file methods which means rounds of needless alterations and limitations in order to maximize sales to the lowest common denominator, has an automated site, and yet takes a 70% cut of the profits when it sells it for mere peanuts. And they don’t really pay you money, you get credits which are like getting paid with wooden nickels. But I digress.

A few good models for stock sites are:
Illoz
Profilestock

Owl

How did you get involved with the FreelanceSwitch podcast?

Dickie Adams reviewed my first design book “Crumble.Crackle.Burn.” When I emailed him for a mailing address it turned out he lived about a par three from my home studio here in town? I was like “No way!” We’ve been friends ever since and he invited me to be part of the Freelance Radio podcast. It’s fun being able to talk shop, horror stories and all.

I still think my voice sounds stupid when I hear myself talk.

Tape Illustration

Could you describe your typical workflow for an illustration?

My typical work flow (creative process) doesn’t alter too much from one project to the next. The style and end usage may be drastically different but the general frame work I operate under remains consistent. To fully understand it people can visit my tutorial site at http://www.illustrationclass.com

In 2008 I spoke at the Boston HOW Design Conference on the topic of “Illustrative Design” you can listen to that and view the presentation that goes over my process here: http://snipurl.com/creativeprocess

Illustrationclass.com Tutorial

How has social networking impacted your career positively and negatively?

My mind is always churning. I have funny random thoughts all the time and never bothered to document any of them before. So I look at social networking as a way to archive my random thoughts. Capture funny, clever, spur of the moment ideas and share them. Technically it’s part of my creativity and so far I’ve managed to land a few paying gigs from doing that on Twitter.

I know I enjoy other creatives who do the same such as: @etherbrian His tweets have made me laugh many times because they are drenched in creative thought.

Beautiful Vectors

If you could be magically turned into any Illustrator tool, what tool would it be and why?

I’d want the ability to select something and copy/paste it. That way I could do yard work easier. Just walk around drag selecting all the weeds, copy them, walk to the garbage can and paste. It could also serve as a 4th dimensional stash to hide stuff too. The possibilities are endless. Muhahahahaha! <—— Evil Laughter!

Tickles the Evil Clown

What is your favorite Illustrator tip, trick, or technique? Your least favorite?

I love blend modes and blending to transparency in CS4. Layering elements to create a rich depth or detail to an illustration. Least favorite is when I am done working on something and I’ve used all these great blend modes and transparency settings and the client than asks for a CS Ai format because they don’t have CS4. DOH!

It’s frustrating because Adobe Photoshop has always been pretty good about being backwards compatible. But Adobe Illustrator seems like they change the game all the time and don’t give a crAip about legacy files or even provide an easy way to migrate a file accurately to an older one short of rebuilding the art to adapt to a previous version which makes it a pAin in the Aiss for the end user.

I’m just sick of the Adobe politics hampering my work flow.

NFL Patches

What aspects of your illustrations reflect parts of your personality?

My humorous side tends to shine through in a lot of work that allows for that to happen. That said I do a lot of serious work too and at times I’ve had Creative Directors look at my portfolio and go out of their way to say “We don’t want this humorous.” as if I wouldn’t realize a funeral home logo shouldn’t be “Ha ha!”

I let the project dictate the style direction I take, this keeps the approach appropriate. My personality still shows within any stylistic context though and I think that is pretty normal. You don’t want design so neutered of intrinsic character that is just looks like a pedestrian variety of vanilla imagery.

Illustrative Patterns

In addition to doing client work, you write books, sell Vonster Brand products, and more. Of these, which has been to most finically and personally rewarding?

I get asked about the books a lot. They are a lot of fun to work on, but as I tell everyone who asks “There are no John Grisham authors in design books.” (Bill Gardner of Logo Lounge is the closest to that though) I like doing books because they are rewarding creatively, fun artistically, and enjoyable to share with others.

I haven’t made a whole lot of money from them, but that wasn’t my motive to begin with. I am just thankful to be able to have the opportunity. That said I’m working on my third book now which you can take a peek at here: http://snipurl.com/gsornament

I’ve always really liked designing t-shirts. So every so often I create one and put it up at http://www.zazzle.com/vonster/gifts and that funds my Starbucks habit.

Tribal Bear

Any new projects on the horizon that you would like to share?

I’m in the middle of a new business venture now I’ve branded “Unica Design.” It’ll be a line of designer concrete tiles I’m creating with a tile manufacture in California which we’ll market nationwide. They’ll be offered to interior designers and come with a matching textile repeat pattern that can be edited color wise to match any environment design.

Right now we are in the prototype stage having molds done via CNC and I’ll be refining them. I suspect we are still a few months out from launching a website and sending samples to the various show rooms nation wide. It’s exciting but is a lot of hard work to pull it all off.

My fingers are crossed.

Concrete tile design

Thanks again for the interview! Is there advice any that you could give for aspiring and professional illustrators?

Designers should be your best friends, since they’ll be the ones who provide you with your work. So get to understand marketing, and make your work flexible to an ever changing commercial market.

Don’t be afraid to try new things, like illustrating in a different style, fail, try others, fail, share your art online, get no response, share a funny story, get a lot of response, be nice, tell the truth, pursue your dreams, and never stop doodling.

Senior Skully

There are a number of great tutorials, freebies, and articles related to vectors coming out on the web daily. Each month, I roundup some of the best posts I have found useful. I can’t include everything I’ve seen throughout the month, but you can follow my Twitter feed to get all the daily links. Post comments with links that I have missed so everyone can see them!

Tutorials

Create an Abstract, Textured Artwork in Illustrator

How to Design a Cheeky Koala Mascot Head

Draw a concept car in Illustrator

Create a Les Paul Guitar in Illustrator

Explore New-Folk Illustration Styles

How to Create a Stylish Phone in Illustrator

Tips and Tricks

Create a Set of Pressure Sensitive Inking Brushes for Illustrator

Scripting Illustrator Part 1 – How to Convert a Flat Process Color into its Matching Gradient

Using Vectors for the Web: Part 1

Enabling Editable Crop Marks Filter in AICS4

Art Files: Illustrator’s Missing ‘Collect for Output’

Vector Freebies

New free set: Colorful ornaments & patterns

Freebie: Media Icons from IconShock

High-Quality Vector Musical Instruments

Vector Flames Vol1

Vector Inspiration and Articles

Sanjay Patel Interview

Inspiration: Fantastic Logos Across the Color Spectrum

This post is part of a weekly series showcasing inspirational vector art. Although the series showcases vector art, some work might just be vector inspired, not created completely with vector art. If you have any art suggestions, feel free to comment! For more vector art inspiration, check out the Vectips Flickr Group.

Cheshire Cat by JrDragao

Gamezone 2010 Poster by Toy Factory

Fear and Paranoia by Oliver Hambsch

Ta Loco Maluco? by errikos muchacho

Spicers Paper by Price

Insert Coin aka Super Mario chick by TokyoCandies

Graffiti Brazil: Ronah Carraro

Thai spirits collections by Nlinn Na ratchasima

Gold Sweeper by Boris Hasabike

WRATH by MisterISK

The Tar Pit Creature by Alex Mathers

The Grog Shop: Sebastien Grainger by Go Media

Alan Defibaugh

jonathan ball

jonathan ball

jonathan ball

Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales by Andreas Krapf

lina vaitiekunaite

Darwinamic by Samuel Werczler

PEACHBEACH

PEACHBEACH

Love Hurts by luis cazares

RUN! MR.CASH RUN by maxime archambault

February 10 by Keuj

sheriff jr. by eatmeatraw

PEACHBEACH

PEACHBEACH

School series, Librarian by Charlene Chua

Kervin W Brisseaux

Old Time Marvels by Darryl Graham

In this tutorial, I will show you how to create a briefcase icon with rectangles, ellipses, and gradients. This briefcase icon is great for web designs and user interfaces. Moreover, you can easily apply these techniques to other icons, logos, and illustrations.

Final Image

Below is the final icon we will be working towards.

Tutorial Details

• Program: Adobe Illustrator CS4
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Topics Covered: Shape tools, Gradient panel, Effects
• Estimated Completion Time: 20-30 minutes

Step 1

Create a new document and with the Rectangle tool (M), create a rectangle for the main body shape of the briefcase.

Step 2

With the rectangle selected, go Effect > Stylize > Round Corners. In the Round Corners dialog, change the Radius to 10 px. This value might be different depending on the size of your main rectangle. Next, go Object > Expand Appearance.

Step 3

Fill the shape with a radial gradient form the Gradient panel. Change the first color stop in the gradient to a light brown color and the second color stop to a dark brown color. With the Gradient tool (G), scale the circumference of radial gradient vertically, expand the gradient past the left and right borders of the shape, and move it slightly towards the bottom of the shape.

Step 4

With the Rectangle tool (M), create a rectangle about a third tall and slightly wider than the size of the main shape. Place the new rectangle over the top part of the main body shape. This will be our flap.

Step 5

With the flap shape selected, go Effect > Stylize > Round Corners and change the Radius in the Round Corners dialog to 10 px. Next go, Effect > Warp > Arc Lower. In the Warp Options dialog make sure Horizontal is selected and change the Bend to 18. Now go Object > Expand Appearance.

Step 6

Fill the flap shape with a linear gradient from the Gradient panel. For this gradient we are going to add two color stop giving us a total of four color stops in the gradient. To add the color stops, simply click just below the Gradient Slider in the Gradient panel twice. Change the first color to a brown color, the second to a light brown color, the third the same brown color as the first color stop, and the last one to a dark brown color. Select the second color stop and change the Location from the Gradient panel to 16 and change the Location of the third color stop to 34. Next, change the Angle of the gradient to -90.

Step 7

With the Rectangle tool (M), create a rectangle half the height and same width as the main shape. Go Effect > Warp > Arc Lower. In the Warp Options dialog, make sure Horizontal is select and change the Bend to -9. Expand the Appearance, fill the shape with your dark brown, and go Object > Arrange > Send Backward (Command + [ ).

Step 8

Select the main shape and go Object > Path > Offset. In the dialog, change the Offset to -8 px. Take off any fill and change the stroke color to white. From the Stroke panel, change the Weight to 2 pt and select a 5 pt Dashed Line. From the Transparency panel, change the Opacity to 25. Next, go Object > Arrange > Bring Forward (Command + ] ).

Step 9

Select the flap shape and go Object > Path > Offset and change the Offset to -8 px. With the new offset still selected use the Eyedropper tool (I) and sample the dashed line you created in the first step. Next, with the Direct Selection tool (A), select the top line in the new dashed line and delete it by pressing the Delete button.

Step 10

Create a small square with the Rectangle tool (M) and place it where the bottom of the flap shape arc. Fill the square with a linear gradient with the first color stop a gray color and the second color stop white. In the Gradient panel, change the Middle Point of the gradient to 18 and the Angle to -90.

Step 11

Offset to square by 2 px and press the Reverse Gradient button from the Gradient panel.

Step 12

Select the original square, Copy (Command + C), and Paste in Front (Command + F). With the Selection tool (V), select the top of the square and scale it vertically down to about two thirds of its original size.

Step 13

Select the offset square, Copy (Command + C), Paste in Back (Command + B), and move down slightly with the Selection tool (V). Next, change the fill to your dark brown color.

Step 14

Draw a small ellipse in the bottom half of the square shapes and draw a thin rectangle coming out of the bottom of the circle. Select both shapes and press the Unite button in the Pathfinder panel.

Step 15

Fill the new shape with a linear gradient, change the first color stop a dark gray color, the second an even darker gray color, and change the Angle to 90. With the shape still selected, Copy (Command + C), Paste in Back (Command + B), move down slightly, and change the fill to white.

Step 16

Create a rectangle from the top of the buckle shapes to slightly above the flap shape. Use the Eyedropper tool (I) and sample to flap linear gradient and change the Angle to -90.

Step 17

Select the new rectangle, Copy (Command + C), and Paste in Back (Command + B). With the Selection tool (V), widen the shape slightly and make the top of the copy line up with the top of the flap. Change the copy to your dark brown color and set the Opacity to 45 from the Transparency panel.

Step 18

Create a small rectangle on top of the flap shape. Fill the rectangle with a three color stop gradient. Change the first color stop to a gray color, the second white, and the third to a gray color.

Step 19

Use the Selection tool (V), Hold down Alt/ Option, hold down Shift, and drag a copy of the rectangle to the opposite side of the top flap.

Step 20

Use the Rounded Rectangle tool and create a thin rounded rectangle connecting the two small rectangles. With the rounded rectangle selected, go Effect > Warp > Arc, make sure Horizontal is selected, and change the Bend to 18. Next, go Object > Expand Appearance.

Step 21

Fill the arc shape with a linear gradient, change the first color stop to a dark gray color, the second color stop to black, and change the Angle to -90.

Step 22

Offset the arc shape by -4 px and change the stroke color to a gray color. Select both arc shapes and send them behind the smaller square shapes.

Step 23

Select all the artwork we have created so far, Copy (Command + C), and Paste in Front (Command + F). With the copies still selected, go Object > Transform > Reflect. In the Reflect dialog change the Axis to Horizontal. Next, move the reflected copies right under the original artwork.

Step 24

Create a rectangle over top half of the reflection. Fill the rectangle with a linear gradient, change the first color stop to white, the second color stop to a rich black and change the Angle to -90.

Step 25

Select the reflection and gradient and choose Make Opacity Mask from the pop-up menu of the Transparency panel. Next, change the opacity of the mask to 60.

Step 26

Create an ellipse bigger than the main briefcase artwork and fill it with a radial gradient. Scale the ellipse down vertically to about an eight of its original size. Set the Blending Mode to Multiply from the Transparency panel and place the ellipse over the bottom part of the briefcase. Select the ellipse and opacity mask and send them behind all other artwork. All done! You can also place your icon on different color backgrounds. In my example I placed the icon on a dark gray radial gradient background.

Final Image

Below is the final image again.

This post is part of a weekly series showcasing inspirational vector art. Although the series showcases vector art, some work might just be vector inspired, not created completely with vector art. If you have any art suggestions, feel free to comment! For more vector art inspiration, check out the Vectips Flickr Group.

Sanna Annukka

Sanna Annukka

detalhe by silviopequeno

Happy Valentine’s / Year of the Tiger! by Charlene Chua

Love Coupon Matchbooks by Rachel Wiles

Revelations 2:2008 by jimiyo

A symbiotic kind of love by Boris Hasabike

Toro Spain Cities by Rivas brothers

FANTA by Basar Bellisan

Avalanche 2010 by Areadesign

Mr. T(iger) by Enkel Dika

Sip of Summer by acrylicana

She Knows by caramelaw

Risperidone by bogielicious

Giant Mutant Killer Creatures Attack! by Sketchy Pictures

Invisible Creature

Release the Ink! by Delicious Design League

2010 . IT’S TIME TO.. by LikeMindedStudio.com

The Breakfast Club Art Print by Michele Rosenthal

Skeletor by Todd Slater

Shaun White Art for Oakley Stamp Poster by Mel Marcelo

Faith No More Concert Poster by Brian Ewing and Buff Monster

Smart by Konstantin Shalev

Thank you mister Dubuffet by hellosmellytrees

FLORAL by Chow Hon Lam

If you found the previous Letterpress, Sketchy, and Metal type treatment tutorials useful, then you are going to like this Stitched Label Type tutorial. Like the previous tutorials, this one relies heavily on the Appearance panel, making it easy to edit the text and apply the treatment to other fonts and vector elements.

Final Image

Below is the final type treatment we will be working towards.

Tutorial Detail

• Program: Adobe Illustrator CS4
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Topics Covered: Appearance panel, Effects, gradients
• Estimated Completion Time: 15-20 minutes

Step 1

Create a new document and without the Type tool (T) and type out some text. Change the font to whatever you like. I suggest using something heavy like the Museo Slab 1000 font I am using.

Step 2

Before we start adding new fills and strokes from the Appearance panel, it is good to start with a clean slate. Select you text and take off any fill or stroke.

Step 3

From the pop-up menu of the Appearance panel, select New Fill. Keep the default black color for now, we will be changing it later on in the tutorial.

Step 4

Again, create another New Fill From the Appearance panel. Select the second fill in the Appearance panel and change the fill to a red color.

Step 5

Select the red fill in the Appearance panel then go Effect > Convert To Shape > Rounded Rectangle. When the Shape Options dialog opens select the Relative radial button and change the Extra Width and Extra Height to 18 px. These number might be higher or lower depending on the dimensions of you text.

Step 6

With the red fill selected in the Appearance panel, press the Duplicate Selected Item button at the bottom of the Appearance panel. Change the last red fill in the list to a gray color. With the gray fill still selected, go Effect > Path > Offset and change the Offset in the dialog to 5 px. Just like in the previous step this numerical values might change depending on the size of your text.

Step 7

Now that we have all the major shapes done, we can start by add some detail and stitching to the text. To start, select the first black fill in the Appearance panel. Change the fill to a liner gradient with the first color stop in the gradient white and the second color stop a light gray. From the Gradient panel change the Angle of the gradient to -90.

Step 8

With the text selected, choose New Stroke from the pop-up menu of the Appearance panel. Change the color of the stroke to gray, set the Weight to 1pt, check the Dashed Line checkbox, and input 2 pt in the first Dash filed of the Stroke panel. Next, go Effect > Path > Offset and change the Offset in the dialog to -2 px.

Step 9

Select the main white text linear gradient fill in the Appearance panel and press the Duplicate Selected Item button. Select the second white text gradient, fill it with a light gray and choose Multiply for the Blending Mode from the Transparency panel. Next go Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. With the Transform dialog open, change the Vertical Move to -2 px.

Step 10

Select the red color fill from the Appearance panel and change it to a linear gradient. From the Gradient panel, change the first color stop to red, the second to dark red, and change the Location to -90.

Step 11

From the pop-up menu of the Appearance panel, choose New Stroke. Next, Go Effect > Convert to Shape > Rounded Rectangle, change the Extra Width and Height to 10 px, and change to Corner Radius to 5 px. Change the stroke to a light yellow color, change the weight to 1.5 pt, and change the Dashed Line value to 8 pt.

Step 12

With the yellow stroke selected, press the Duplicate Selected Item button in the Appearance panel. Make sure you have the second yellow stroke selected and go Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. In the dialog, change the Vertical Move to -2 px. Next, change the stroke color to a light gray and set the Blending Mode to Multiply.

Step 13

Select the last fill in the Appearance panel list, change the fill to a linear gradient, change the first color stop a light gray, the second color stop to a gray color, and change the location of the gradient to -90 from the gradient panel. With the last fill still selected, go Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow. In the Drop Shadow dialog, change the Opacity to 50, X Offset to 0, Y Offset to 5 px, and the Blur to 5 px.

Final Image

Now we have a nice stitched type treatment. Even better, it is fully editable! You can change the font or even apply it to other vector objects. I suggest creating a Graphic Style to make applying the treatment extremely easy. Simply select your text treatment and press the New Graphic Style button in the Graphic Styles panel. Below are some examples of different text and icons. Have fun!