Say you have a two-column layout: a main column with content. Say it has a lot of content, with sections that requires scrolling. And let’s toss in a sidebar column that is largely empty, such that you can safely put a position: sticky; table of contents over there for all that content in the main column. A fairly common pattern for documentation.
Bramus Van Damme has a nice tutorial on all this, starting from semantic markup, implementing most of the functionality with HTML and CSS, and then doing the last bit of active nav enhancement with JavaScript.
For example, if you don’t click yourself down to a section (where you might be able to get away with :target styling for active navigation), JavaScript is necessary to tell where you are scrolled to an highlight the active navigation. That active bit is handled nicely with IntersectionObserver, which is, like, the perfect API for this.
Here’s that result:
CodePen Embed Fallback
It reminds me of a very similar demo from Hakim El Hattab he called Progress Nav. The design pattern is exactly the same, but Hakim’s version has this ultra fancy SVG path that draws itself along the way, indenting for sub nav. I’ll embed a video here:
That one doesn’t use IntersectionObserver, so if you want to hack on this, combine ’em!
In the following steps, you will learn how to create a bubble text design using a bubble letter font in Adobe Illustrator.
For starters, you will learn how to create the text using a cute bubble font. Next, using the Appearance panel along with Offset Path and Transform effects, you will create the starting style for your bubble text effect. Moving on, you will learn how to further stylize your bubble font using basic blending techniques, built-in patterns, and a Gaussian Blur effect. Using strokes and some Drop Shadow effects, you will learn how to add the final touches to your text design.
In the final steps, you will learn how to easily save and reuse the Appearance attributes of your bubble letter font and how to create a simple background for a text design.
For more inspiration on how to adjust or improve your final text design using cool bubble letter fonts, you can find plenty of resources at GraphicRiver.
What You Will Need
You will need the following font in order to complete this text design:
1. How to Create a New Document and Use a Bubble Font
Step 1
Hit Control-N to create a new document. Select Pixels from the Units drop-down menu, enter 850 in the width box and 600 in the height box, and then click that More Settings button. Select RGB for the Color Mode, set the Raster Effects to Screen (72 ppi), and then click Create Document.
You should also open the Info panel (Window > Info) for a live preview with the size and position of your shapes. Don’t forget to set the unit of measurement to pixels from Edit > Preferences > Units. All these options will significantly increase your work speed.
Step 2
Pick the Type Tool (T), click on your artboard, and open the Text panel (Window > Type > Character).
Select the Bomber Balloon font and set the size to 250 px. Type the „BUBBLE” text and make it black (R=0 G=0 B=0). Feel free to search for more cool bubble letter fonts and use them instead of this one.
2. How to Create Bubble Text Effects
Step 1
Make sure that your cute bubble font stays selected, open the Swatches panel (Window > Swatches), and click that [None] swatch to remove the existing text color. This should make your text invisible, but don’t worry—we’ll fix it immediately.
Open the Appearance panel (Window > Appearance) and add a new fill using the Add New Fill button from the bottom of the panel. Select the new fill and set its color to R=40 G=73 B=138.
Step 2
Make sure that your text design stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a second fill using that same Add New Fill button, and select it. Set the color to R=50 G=120 B=181 and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -4 px Offset and click OK.
Step 3
Make sure that your text design stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel. Select the top fill and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 4
Make sure that your text design stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a third fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Set the color to R=73 G=152 B=212 and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -8 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 5
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a fourth fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Set the color to R=71 G=188 B=235 and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -12 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 6
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a fifth fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Apply the linear gradient shown below (Window > Gradient), set its Angle to 90 degrees, and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -16 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 7
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a sixth fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Set the color to white (R=255 G=255 B=255) and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -22 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image, click OK, and go to Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Enter a 2 px Radius, click OK, and return to the Appearance panel. Expand your white fill and click on Opacity to open the Transparency fly-out panel. Lower the Opacity to 30% and change the Blending Mode to Overlay.
Step 8
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the white fill and duplicate it using the Duplicate Selected Item button from the bottom of the panel. Expand the newly added fill, select the existing Gaussian Blur effect, and remove it by clicking on Delete Selected Item from the bottom of the panel.
Step 9
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a new fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Change its Blending Mode to Overlay and apply the linear gradient shown below. The yellow zero from the gradient image stands for the Opacity percentage. This simply means that you must select that gradient slider and lower its Opacity to 0% from the Gradient panel.
Step 10
Open the fly-out menu from the Swatches panel and go to Open Swatch Library > Patterns > Basic Graphics > Basic Graphics_Texture. Make sure that your text design stays selected and focus on the Appearance panel.
Add a new fill using the Add New Fill button and select it. Apply the Mezzotint Dot pattern from Basic Graphics_Texture panel and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK. Be sure that you uncheck the Transform Objects box and check the Transform Patterns box. This will scale the applied pattern without affecting its boundaries.
Step 11
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the top fill, lower its Opacity to 50%, and change the Blending Mode to Color Dodge.
Step 12
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and focus on the Appearance panel.
Add a new fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Apply the USGS 22 Gravel Beach pattern from the Basic Graphics_Texture panel and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 13
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the top fill, lower its Opacity to 80%, and change the Blending Mode to Color Dodge.
Step 14
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the stroke, set the Weight to 8 px, and apply the linear gradient shown below (don’t forget to select the right gradient slider and lower its Opacity to 0%). Change its Blending Mode to Soft Light and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -4 px Offset and click OK.
Step 15
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a second stroke using the Add New Stroke button from the bottom of the panel, and select it. Set the Weight to 4 px and apply the linear gradient shown below (don’t forget to select the left gradient slider, lower its Opacity to 0%, and change the Location to 25%). Lower its Opacity to 70% and change the Blending Mode to Color Dodge, and then go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -6 px Offset and click OK.
Step 16
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the bottom fill and go to Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow. Enter the attributes shown in the top left window (in the following image), click OK, and then apply the other four Drop Shadow effects shown below.
3. How to Save and Use a Graphic Style
Step 1
Make sure that your text design is still selected, and open the Graphic Styles panel (Window > Graphic Styles). Click the New Graphic Style button to save the appearance attributes of your selection.
Step 2
Pick the Ellipse Tool (L) and simply click on your artboard to open the Ellipse window. Create two 50 px circles and a 70 x 50 px ellipse. Place these new shapes roughly as shown in the following image.
Step 3
Select the three shapes added in the previous step and apply your graphic style from the Graphic Styles panel.
Step 4
Select the top circle and go to Effect > Warp > Arch. Check the Vertical box, drag the Bend slider to 15%, and click OK.
Select the other two shapes and again go to Effect > Warp > Arch. Check the Horizontal box, drag the Bend slider to 15%, and click OK.
4. How to Add a Simple Background for Text Effects
Pick the Rectangle Tool (M), click on your artboard to open the Rectangle window, and use it to create a 610 x 860 px shape. Make sure that this new shape covers your entire artboard and send it to the back (Shift-Control-[).
Fill it with the radial gradient shown below and use the Gradient Tool (G) to stretch your gradient as shown in the following image.
Congratulations! Your Text Design Is Complete!
Here is how your bubble letter font should look. I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial and can apply these techniques for your future text effects. Don’t hesitate to share your final result in the comments section.
Feel free to adjust the final text design and make it your own. You can find some great sources of inspiration at GraphicRiver, with interesting solutions to improve your text effects.
In the following steps, you will learn how to create a bubble text design using a bubble letter font in Adobe Illustrator.
For starters, you will learn how to create the text using a cute bubble font. Next, using the Appearance panel along with Offset Path and Transform effects, you will create the starting style for your bubble text effect. Moving on, you will learn how to further stylize your bubble font using basic blending techniques, built-in patterns, and a Gaussian Blur effect. Using strokes and some Drop Shadow effects, you will learn how to add the final touches to your text design.
In the final steps, you will learn how to easily save and reuse the Appearance attributes of your bubble letter font and how to create a simple background for a text design.
For more inspiration on how to adjust or improve your final text design using cool bubble letter fonts, you can find plenty of resources at GraphicRiver.
What You Will Need
You will need the following font in order to complete this text design:
1. How to Create a New Document and Use a Bubble Font
Step 1
Hit Control-N to create a new document. Select Pixels from the Units drop-down menu, enter 850 in the width box and 600 in the height box, and then click that More Settings button. Select RGB for the Color Mode, set the Raster Effects to Screen (72 ppi), and then click Create Document.
You should also open the Info panel (Window > Info) for a live preview with the size and position of your shapes. Don’t forget to set the unit of measurement to pixels from Edit > Preferences > Units. All these options will significantly increase your work speed.
Step 2
Pick the Type Tool (T), click on your artboard, and open the Text panel (Window > Type > Character).
Select the Bomber Balloon font and set the size to 250 px. Type the „BUBBLE” text and make it black (R=0 G=0 B=0). Feel free to search for more cool bubble letter fonts and use them instead of this one.
2. How to Create Bubble Text Effects
Step 1
Make sure that your cute bubble font stays selected, open the Swatches panel (Window > Swatches), and click that [None] swatch to remove the existing text color. This should make your text invisible, but don’t worry—we’ll fix it immediately.
Open the Appearance panel (Window > Appearance) and add a new fill using the Add New Fill button from the bottom of the panel. Select the new fill and set its color to R=40 G=73 B=138.
Step 2
Make sure that your text design stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a second fill using that same Add New Fill button, and select it. Set the color to R=50 G=120 B=181 and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -4 px Offset and click OK.
Step 3
Make sure that your text design stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel. Select the top fill and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 4
Make sure that your text design stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a third fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Set the color to R=73 G=152 B=212 and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -8 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 5
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a fourth fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Set the color to R=71 G=188 B=235 and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -12 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 6
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a fifth fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Apply the linear gradient shown below (Window > Gradient), set its Angle to 90 degrees, and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -16 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 7
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a sixth fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Set the color to white (R=255 G=255 B=255) and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -22 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image, click OK, and go to Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Enter a 2 px Radius, click OK, and return to the Appearance panel. Expand your white fill and click on Opacity to open the Transparency fly-out panel. Lower the Opacity to 30% and change the Blending Mode to Overlay.
Step 8
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the white fill and duplicate it using the Duplicate Selected Item button from the bottom of the panel. Expand the newly added fill, select the existing Gaussian Blur effect, and remove it by clicking on Delete Selected Item from the bottom of the panel.
Step 9
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a new fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Change its Blending Mode to Overlay and apply the linear gradient shown below. The yellow zero from the gradient image stands for the Opacity percentage. This simply means that you must select that gradient slider and lower its Opacity to 0% from the Gradient panel.
Step 10
Open the fly-out menu from the Swatches panel and go to Open Swatch Library > Patterns > Basic Graphics > Basic Graphics_Texture. Make sure that your text design stays selected and focus on the Appearance panel.
Add a new fill using the Add New Fill button and select it. Apply the Mezzotint Dot pattern from Basic Graphics_Texture panel and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK. Be sure that you uncheck the Transform Objects box and check the Transform Patterns box. This will scale the applied pattern without affecting its boundaries.
Step 11
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the top fill, lower its Opacity to 50%, and change the Blending Mode to Color Dodge.
Step 12
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and focus on the Appearance panel.
Add a new fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Apply the USGS 22 Gravel Beach pattern from the Basic Graphics_Texture panel and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 13
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the top fill, lower its Opacity to 80%, and change the Blending Mode to Color Dodge.
Step 14
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the stroke, set the Weight to 8 px, and apply the linear gradient shown below (don’t forget to select the right gradient slider and lower its Opacity to 0%). Change its Blending Mode to Soft Light and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -4 px Offset and click OK.
Step 15
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a second stroke using the Add New Stroke button from the bottom of the panel, and select it. Set the Weight to 4 px and apply the linear gradient shown below (don’t forget to select the left gradient slider, lower its Opacity to 0%, and change the Location to 25%). Lower its Opacity to 70% and change the Blending Mode to Color Dodge, and then go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -6 px Offset and click OK.
Step 16
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the bottom fill and go to Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow. Enter the attributes shown in the top left window (in the following image), click OK, and then apply the other four Drop Shadow effects shown below.
3. How to Save and Use a Graphic Style
Step 1
Make sure that your text design is still selected, and open the Graphic Styles panel (Window > Graphic Styles). Click the New Graphic Style button to save the appearance attributes of your selection.
Step 2
Pick the Ellipse Tool (L) and simply click on your artboard to open the Ellipse window. Create two 50 px circles and a 70 x 50 px ellipse. Place these new shapes roughly as shown in the following image.
Step 3
Select the three shapes added in the previous step and apply your graphic style from the Graphic Styles panel.
Step 4
Select the top circle and go to Effect > Warp > Arch. Check the Vertical box, drag the Bend slider to 15%, and click OK.
Select the other two shapes and again go to Effect > Warp > Arch. Check the Horizontal box, drag the Bend slider to 15%, and click OK.
4. How to Add a Simple Background for Text Effects
Pick the Rectangle Tool (M), click on your artboard to open the Rectangle window, and use it to create a 610 x 860 px shape. Make sure that this new shape covers your entire artboard and send it to the back (Shift-Control-[).
Fill it with the radial gradient shown below and use the Gradient Tool (G) to stretch your gradient as shown in the following image.
Congratulations! Your Text Design Is Complete!
Here is how your bubble letter font should look. I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial and can apply these techniques for your future text effects. Don’t hesitate to share your final result in the comments section.
Feel free to adjust the final text design and make it your own. You can find some great sources of inspiration at GraphicRiver, with interesting solutions to improve your text effects.
In the following steps, you will learn how to create a bubble text design using a bubble letter font in Adobe Illustrator.
For starters, you will learn how to create the text using a cute bubble font. Next, using the Appearance panel along with Offset Path and Transform effects, you will create the starting style for your bubble text effect. Moving on, you will learn how to further stylize your bubble font using basic blending techniques, built-in patterns, and a Gaussian Blur effect. Using strokes and some Drop Shadow effects, you will learn how to add the final touches to your text design.
In the final steps, you will learn how to easily save and reuse the Appearance attributes of your bubble letter font and how to create a simple background for a text design.
For more inspiration on how to adjust or improve your final text design using cool bubble letter fonts, you can find plenty of resources at GraphicRiver.
What You Will Need
You will need the following font in order to complete this text design:
1. How to Create a New Document and Use a Bubble Font
Step 1
Hit Control-N to create a new document. Select Pixels from the Units drop-down menu, enter 850 in the width box and 600 in the height box, and then click that More Settings button. Select RGB for the Color Mode, set the Raster Effects to Screen (72 ppi), and then click Create Document.
You should also open the Info panel (Window > Info) for a live preview with the size and position of your shapes. Don’t forget to set the unit of measurement to pixels from Edit > Preferences > Units. All these options will significantly increase your work speed.
Step 2
Pick the Type Tool (T), click on your artboard, and open the Text panel (Window > Type > Character).
Select the Bomber Balloon font and set the size to 250 px. Type the „BUBBLE” text and make it black (R=0 G=0 B=0). Feel free to search for more cool bubble letter fonts and use them instead of this one.
2. How to Create Bubble Text Effects
Step 1
Make sure that your cute bubble font stays selected, open the Swatches panel (Window > Swatches), and click that [None] swatch to remove the existing text color. This should make your text invisible, but don’t worry—we’ll fix it immediately.
Open the Appearance panel (Window > Appearance) and add a new fill using the Add New Fill button from the bottom of the panel. Select the new fill and set its color to R=40 G=73 B=138.
Step 2
Make sure that your text design stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a second fill using that same Add New Fill button, and select it. Set the color to R=50 G=120 B=181 and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -4 px Offset and click OK.
Step 3
Make sure that your text design stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel. Select the top fill and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 4
Make sure that your text design stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a third fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Set the color to R=73 G=152 B=212 and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -8 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 5
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a fourth fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Set the color to R=71 G=188 B=235 and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -12 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 6
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a fifth fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Apply the linear gradient shown below (Window > Gradient), set its Angle to 90 degrees, and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -16 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 7
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a sixth fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Set the color to white (R=255 G=255 B=255) and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -22 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image, click OK, and go to Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Enter a 2 px Radius, click OK, and return to the Appearance panel. Expand your white fill and click on Opacity to open the Transparency fly-out panel. Lower the Opacity to 30% and change the Blending Mode to Overlay.
Step 8
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the white fill and duplicate it using the Duplicate Selected Item button from the bottom of the panel. Expand the newly added fill, select the existing Gaussian Blur effect, and remove it by clicking on Delete Selected Item from the bottom of the panel.
Step 9
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a new fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Change its Blending Mode to Overlay and apply the linear gradient shown below. The yellow zero from the gradient image stands for the Opacity percentage. This simply means that you must select that gradient slider and lower its Opacity to 0% from the Gradient panel.
Step 10
Open the fly-out menu from the Swatches panel and go to Open Swatch Library > Patterns > Basic Graphics > Basic Graphics_Texture. Make sure that your text design stays selected and focus on the Appearance panel.
Add a new fill using the Add New Fill button and select it. Apply the Mezzotint Dot pattern from Basic Graphics_Texture panel and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK. Be sure that you uncheck the Transform Objects box and check the Transform Patterns box. This will scale the applied pattern without affecting its boundaries.
Step 11
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the top fill, lower its Opacity to 50%, and change the Blending Mode to Color Dodge.
Step 12
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and focus on the Appearance panel.
Add a new fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Apply the USGS 22 Gravel Beach pattern from the Basic Graphics_Texture panel and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 13
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the top fill, lower its Opacity to 80%, and change the Blending Mode to Color Dodge.
Step 14
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the stroke, set the Weight to 8 px, and apply the linear gradient shown below (don’t forget to select the right gradient slider and lower its Opacity to 0%). Change its Blending Mode to Soft Light and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -4 px Offset and click OK.
Step 15
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a second stroke using the Add New Stroke button from the bottom of the panel, and select it. Set the Weight to 4 px and apply the linear gradient shown below (don’t forget to select the left gradient slider, lower its Opacity to 0%, and change the Location to 25%). Lower its Opacity to 70% and change the Blending Mode to Color Dodge, and then go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -6 px Offset and click OK.
Step 16
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the bottom fill and go to Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow. Enter the attributes shown in the top left window (in the following image), click OK, and then apply the other four Drop Shadow effects shown below.
3. How to Save and Use a Graphic Style
Step 1
Make sure that your text design is still selected, and open the Graphic Styles panel (Window > Graphic Styles). Click the New Graphic Style button to save the appearance attributes of your selection.
Step 2
Pick the Ellipse Tool (L) and simply click on your artboard to open the Ellipse window. Create two 50 px circles and a 70 x 50 px ellipse. Place these new shapes roughly as shown in the following image.
Step 3
Select the three shapes added in the previous step and apply your graphic style from the Graphic Styles panel.
Step 4
Select the top circle and go to Effect > Warp > Arch. Check the Vertical box, drag the Bend slider to 15%, and click OK.
Select the other two shapes and again go to Effect > Warp > Arch. Check the Horizontal box, drag the Bend slider to 15%, and click OK.
4. How to Add a Simple Background for Text Effects
Pick the Rectangle Tool (M), click on your artboard to open the Rectangle window, and use it to create a 610 x 860 px shape. Make sure that this new shape covers your entire artboard and send it to the back (Shift-Control-[).
Fill it with the radial gradient shown below and use the Gradient Tool (G) to stretch your gradient as shown in the following image.
Congratulations! Your Text Design Is Complete!
Here is how your bubble letter font should look. I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial and can apply these techniques for your future text effects. Don’t hesitate to share your final result in the comments section.
Feel free to adjust the final text design and make it your own. You can find some great sources of inspiration at GraphicRiver, with interesting solutions to improve your text effects.
In the following steps, you will learn how to create a bubble text design using a bubble letter font in Adobe Illustrator.
For starters, you will learn how to create the text using a cute bubble font. Next, using the Appearance panel along with Offset Path and Transform effects, you will create the starting style for your bubble text effect. Moving on, you will learn how to further stylize your bubble font using basic blending techniques, built-in patterns, and a Gaussian Blur effect. Using strokes and some Drop Shadow effects, you will learn how to add the final touches to your text design.
In the final steps, you will learn how to easily save and reuse the Appearance attributes of your bubble letter font and how to create a simple background for a text design.
For more inspiration on how to adjust or improve your final text design using cool bubble letter fonts, you can find plenty of resources at GraphicRiver.
What You Will Need
You will need the following font in order to complete this text design:
1. How to Create a New Document and Use a Bubble Font
Step 1
Hit Control-N to create a new document. Select Pixels from the Units drop-down menu, enter 850 in the width box and 600 in the height box, and then click that More Settings button. Select RGB for the Color Mode, set the Raster Effects to Screen (72 ppi), and then click Create Document.
You should also open the Info panel (Window > Info) for a live preview with the size and position of your shapes. Don’t forget to set the unit of measurement to pixels from Edit > Preferences > Units. All these options will significantly increase your work speed.
Step 2
Pick the Type Tool (T), click on your artboard, and open the Text panel (Window > Type > Character).
Select the Bomber Balloon font and set the size to 250 px. Type the „BUBBLE” text and make it black (R=0 G=0 B=0). Feel free to search for more cool bubble letter fonts and use them instead of this one.
2. How to Create Bubble Text Effects
Step 1
Make sure that your cute bubble font stays selected, open the Swatches panel (Window > Swatches), and click that [None] swatch to remove the existing text color. This should make your text invisible, but don’t worry—we’ll fix it immediately.
Open the Appearance panel (Window > Appearance) and add a new fill using the Add New Fill button from the bottom of the panel. Select the new fill and set its color to R=40 G=73 B=138.
Step 2
Make sure that your text design stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a second fill using that same Add New Fill button, and select it. Set the color to R=50 G=120 B=181 and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -4 px Offset and click OK.
Step 3
Make sure that your text design stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel. Select the top fill and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 4
Make sure that your text design stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a third fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Set the color to R=73 G=152 B=212 and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -8 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 5
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a fourth fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Set the color to R=71 G=188 B=235 and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -12 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 6
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a fifth fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Apply the linear gradient shown below (Window > Gradient), set its Angle to 90 degrees, and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -16 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 7
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a sixth fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Set the color to white (R=255 G=255 B=255) and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -22 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image, click OK, and go to Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Enter a 2 px Radius, click OK, and return to the Appearance panel. Expand your white fill and click on Opacity to open the Transparency fly-out panel. Lower the Opacity to 30% and change the Blending Mode to Overlay.
Step 8
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the white fill and duplicate it using the Duplicate Selected Item button from the bottom of the panel. Expand the newly added fill, select the existing Gaussian Blur effect, and remove it by clicking on Delete Selected Item from the bottom of the panel.
Step 9
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a new fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Change its Blending Mode to Overlay and apply the linear gradient shown below. The yellow zero from the gradient image stands for the Opacity percentage. This simply means that you must select that gradient slider and lower its Opacity to 0% from the Gradient panel.
Step 10
Open the fly-out menu from the Swatches panel and go to Open Swatch Library > Patterns > Basic Graphics > Basic Graphics_Texture. Make sure that your text design stays selected and focus on the Appearance panel.
Add a new fill using the Add New Fill button and select it. Apply the Mezzotint Dot pattern from Basic Graphics_Texture panel and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK. Be sure that you uncheck the Transform Objects box and check the Transform Patterns box. This will scale the applied pattern without affecting its boundaries.
Step 11
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the top fill, lower its Opacity to 50%, and change the Blending Mode to Color Dodge.
Step 12
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and focus on the Appearance panel.
Add a new fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Apply the USGS 22 Gravel Beach pattern from the Basic Graphics_Texture panel and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 13
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the top fill, lower its Opacity to 80%, and change the Blending Mode to Color Dodge.
Step 14
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the stroke, set the Weight to 8 px, and apply the linear gradient shown below (don’t forget to select the right gradient slider and lower its Opacity to 0%). Change its Blending Mode to Soft Light and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -4 px Offset and click OK.
Step 15
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a second stroke using the Add New Stroke button from the bottom of the panel, and select it. Set the Weight to 4 px and apply the linear gradient shown below (don’t forget to select the left gradient slider, lower its Opacity to 0%, and change the Location to 25%). Lower its Opacity to 70% and change the Blending Mode to Color Dodge, and then go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -6 px Offset and click OK.
Step 16
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the bottom fill and go to Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow. Enter the attributes shown in the top left window (in the following image), click OK, and then apply the other four Drop Shadow effects shown below.
3. How to Save and Use a Graphic Style
Step 1
Make sure that your text design is still selected, and open the Graphic Styles panel (Window > Graphic Styles). Click the New Graphic Style button to save the appearance attributes of your selection.
Step 2
Pick the Ellipse Tool (L) and simply click on your artboard to open the Ellipse window. Create two 50 px circles and a 70 x 50 px ellipse. Place these new shapes roughly as shown in the following image.
Step 3
Select the three shapes added in the previous step and apply your graphic style from the Graphic Styles panel.
Step 4
Select the top circle and go to Effect > Warp > Arch. Check the Vertical box, drag the Bend slider to 15%, and click OK.
Select the other two shapes and again go to Effect > Warp > Arch. Check the Horizontal box, drag the Bend slider to 15%, and click OK.
4. How to Add a Simple Background for Text Effects
Pick the Rectangle Tool (M), click on your artboard to open the Rectangle window, and use it to create a 610 x 860 px shape. Make sure that this new shape covers your entire artboard and send it to the back (Shift-Control-[).
Fill it with the radial gradient shown below and use the Gradient Tool (G) to stretch your gradient as shown in the following image.
Congratulations! Your Text Design Is Complete!
Here is how your bubble letter font should look. I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial and can apply these techniques for your future text effects. Don’t hesitate to share your final result in the comments section.
Feel free to adjust the final text design and make it your own. You can find some great sources of inspiration at GraphicRiver, with interesting solutions to improve your text effects.
In the following steps, you will learn how to create a bubble text design using a bubble letter font in Adobe Illustrator.
For starters, you will learn how to create the text using a cute bubble font. Next, using the Appearance panel along with Offset Path and Transform effects, you will create the starting style for your bubble text effect. Moving on, you will learn how to further stylize your bubble font using basic blending techniques, built-in patterns, and a Gaussian Blur effect. Using strokes and some Drop Shadow effects, you will learn how to add the final touches to your text design.
In the final steps, you will learn how to easily save and reuse the Appearance attributes of your bubble letter font and how to create a simple background for a text design.
For more inspiration on how to adjust or improve your final text design using cool bubble letter fonts, you can find plenty of resources at GraphicRiver.
What You Will Need
You will need the following font in order to complete this text design:
1. How to Create a New Document and Use a Bubble Font
Step 1
Hit Control-N to create a new document. Select Pixels from the Units drop-down menu, enter 850 in the width box and 600 in the height box, and then click that More Settings button. Select RGB for the Color Mode, set the Raster Effects to Screen (72 ppi), and then click Create Document.
You should also open the Info panel (Window > Info) for a live preview with the size and position of your shapes. Don’t forget to set the unit of measurement to pixels from Edit > Preferences > Units. All these options will significantly increase your work speed.
Step 2
Pick the Type Tool (T), click on your artboard, and open the Text panel (Window > Type > Character).
Select the Bomber Balloon font and set the size to 250 px. Type the „BUBBLE” text and make it black (R=0 G=0 B=0). Feel free to search for more cool bubble letter fonts and use them instead of this one.
2. How to Create Bubble Text Effects
Step 1
Make sure that your cute bubble font stays selected, open the Swatches panel (Window > Swatches), and click that [None] swatch to remove the existing text color. This should make your text invisible, but don’t worry—we’ll fix it immediately.
Open the Appearance panel (Window > Appearance) and add a new fill using the Add New Fill button from the bottom of the panel. Select the new fill and set its color to R=40 G=73 B=138.
Step 2
Make sure that your text design stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a second fill using that same Add New Fill button, and select it. Set the color to R=50 G=120 B=181 and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -4 px Offset and click OK.
Step 3
Make sure that your text design stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel. Select the top fill and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 4
Make sure that your text design stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a third fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Set the color to R=73 G=152 B=212 and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -8 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 5
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a fourth fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Set the color to R=71 G=188 B=235 and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -12 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 6
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a fifth fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Apply the linear gradient shown below (Window > Gradient), set its Angle to 90 degrees, and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -16 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 7
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a sixth fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Set the color to white (R=255 G=255 B=255) and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -22 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image, click OK, and go to Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Enter a 2 px Radius, click OK, and return to the Appearance panel. Expand your white fill and click on Opacity to open the Transparency fly-out panel. Lower the Opacity to 30% and change the Blending Mode to Overlay.
Step 8
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the white fill and duplicate it using the Duplicate Selected Item button from the bottom of the panel. Expand the newly added fill, select the existing Gaussian Blur effect, and remove it by clicking on Delete Selected Item from the bottom of the panel.
Step 9
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a new fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Change its Blending Mode to Overlay and apply the linear gradient shown below. The yellow zero from the gradient image stands for the Opacity percentage. This simply means that you must select that gradient slider and lower its Opacity to 0% from the Gradient panel.
Step 10
Open the fly-out menu from the Swatches panel and go to Open Swatch Library > Patterns > Basic Graphics > Basic Graphics_Texture. Make sure that your text design stays selected and focus on the Appearance panel.
Add a new fill using the Add New Fill button and select it. Apply the Mezzotint Dot pattern from Basic Graphics_Texture panel and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK. Be sure that you uncheck the Transform Objects box and check the Transform Patterns box. This will scale the applied pattern without affecting its boundaries.
Step 11
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the top fill, lower its Opacity to 50%, and change the Blending Mode to Color Dodge.
Step 12
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and focus on the Appearance panel.
Add a new fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Apply the USGS 22 Gravel Beach pattern from the Basic Graphics_Texture panel and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 13
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the top fill, lower its Opacity to 80%, and change the Blending Mode to Color Dodge.
Step 14
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the stroke, set the Weight to 8 px, and apply the linear gradient shown below (don’t forget to select the right gradient slider and lower its Opacity to 0%). Change its Blending Mode to Soft Light and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -4 px Offset and click OK.
Step 15
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a second stroke using the Add New Stroke button from the bottom of the panel, and select it. Set the Weight to 4 px and apply the linear gradient shown below (don’t forget to select the left gradient slider, lower its Opacity to 0%, and change the Location to 25%). Lower its Opacity to 70% and change the Blending Mode to Color Dodge, and then go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -6 px Offset and click OK.
Step 16
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the bottom fill and go to Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow. Enter the attributes shown in the top left window (in the following image), click OK, and then apply the other four Drop Shadow effects shown below.
3. How to Save and Use a Graphic Style
Step 1
Make sure that your text design is still selected, and open the Graphic Styles panel (Window > Graphic Styles). Click the New Graphic Style button to save the appearance attributes of your selection.
Step 2
Pick the Ellipse Tool (L) and simply click on your artboard to open the Ellipse window. Create two 50 px circles and a 70 x 50 px ellipse. Place these new shapes roughly as shown in the following image.
Step 3
Select the three shapes added in the previous step and apply your graphic style from the Graphic Styles panel.
Step 4
Select the top circle and go to Effect > Warp > Arch. Check the Vertical box, drag the Bend slider to 15%, and click OK.
Select the other two shapes and again go to Effect > Warp > Arch. Check the Horizontal box, drag the Bend slider to 15%, and click OK.
4. How to Add a Simple Background for Text Effects
Pick the Rectangle Tool (M), click on your artboard to open the Rectangle window, and use it to create a 610 x 860 px shape. Make sure that this new shape covers your entire artboard and send it to the back (Shift-Control-[).
Fill it with the radial gradient shown below and use the Gradient Tool (G) to stretch your gradient as shown in the following image.
Congratulations! Your Text Design Is Complete!
Here is how your bubble letter font should look. I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial and can apply these techniques for your future text effects. Don’t hesitate to share your final result in the comments section.
Feel free to adjust the final text design and make it your own. You can find some great sources of inspiration at GraphicRiver, with interesting solutions to improve your text effects.
In the following steps, you will learn how to create a bubble text design using a bubble letter font in Adobe Illustrator.
For starters, you will learn how to create the text using a cute bubble font. Next, using the Appearance panel along with Offset Path and Transform effects, you will create the starting style for your bubble text effect. Moving on, you will learn how to further stylize your bubble font using basic blending techniques, built-in patterns, and a Gaussian Blur effect. Using strokes and some Drop Shadow effects, you will learn how to add the final touches to your text design.
In the final steps, you will learn how to easily save and reuse the Appearance attributes of your bubble letter font and how to create a simple background for a text design.
For more inspiration on how to adjust or improve your final text design using cool bubble letter fonts, you can find plenty of resources at GraphicRiver.
What You Will Need
You will need the following font in order to complete this text design:
1. How to Create a New Document and Use a Bubble Font
Step 1
Hit Control-N to create a new document. Select Pixels from the Units drop-down menu, enter 850 in the width box and 600 in the height box, and then click that More Settings button. Select RGB for the Color Mode, set the Raster Effects to Screen (72 ppi), and then click Create Document.
You should also open the Info panel (Window > Info) for a live preview with the size and position of your shapes. Don’t forget to set the unit of measurement to pixels from Edit > Preferences > Units. All these options will significantly increase your work speed.
Step 2
Pick the Type Tool (T), click on your artboard, and open the Text panel (Window > Type > Character).
Select the Bomber Balloon font and set the size to 250 px. Type the „BUBBLE” text and make it black (R=0 G=0 B=0). Feel free to search for more cool bubble letter fonts and use them instead of this one.
2. How to Create Bubble Text Effects
Step 1
Make sure that your cute bubble font stays selected, open the Swatches panel (Window > Swatches), and click that [None] swatch to remove the existing text color. This should make your text invisible, but don’t worry—we’ll fix it immediately.
Open the Appearance panel (Window > Appearance) and add a new fill using the Add New Fill button from the bottom of the panel. Select the new fill and set its color to R=40 G=73 B=138.
Step 2
Make sure that your text design stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a second fill using that same Add New Fill button, and select it. Set the color to R=50 G=120 B=181 and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -4 px Offset and click OK.
Step 3
Make sure that your text design stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel. Select the top fill and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 4
Make sure that your text design stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a third fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Set the color to R=73 G=152 B=212 and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -8 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 5
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a fourth fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Set the color to R=71 G=188 B=235 and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -12 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 6
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a fifth fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Apply the linear gradient shown below (Window > Gradient), set its Angle to 90 degrees, and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -16 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 7
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a sixth fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Set the color to white (R=255 G=255 B=255) and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -22 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image, click OK, and go to Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Enter a 2 px Radius, click OK, and return to the Appearance panel. Expand your white fill and click on Opacity to open the Transparency fly-out panel. Lower the Opacity to 30% and change the Blending Mode to Overlay.
Step 8
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the white fill and duplicate it using the Duplicate Selected Item button from the bottom of the panel. Expand the newly added fill, select the existing Gaussian Blur effect, and remove it by clicking on Delete Selected Item from the bottom of the panel.
Step 9
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a new fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Change its Blending Mode to Overlay and apply the linear gradient shown below. The yellow zero from the gradient image stands for the Opacity percentage. This simply means that you must select that gradient slider and lower its Opacity to 0% from the Gradient panel.
Step 10
Open the fly-out menu from the Swatches panel and go to Open Swatch Library > Patterns > Basic Graphics > Basic Graphics_Texture. Make sure that your text design stays selected and focus on the Appearance panel.
Add a new fill using the Add New Fill button and select it. Apply the Mezzotint Dot pattern from Basic Graphics_Texture panel and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK. Be sure that you uncheck the Transform Objects box and check the Transform Patterns box. This will scale the applied pattern without affecting its boundaries.
Step 11
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the top fill, lower its Opacity to 50%, and change the Blending Mode to Color Dodge.
Step 12
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and focus on the Appearance panel.
Add a new fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Apply the USGS 22 Gravel Beach pattern from the Basic Graphics_Texture panel and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 13
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the top fill, lower its Opacity to 80%, and change the Blending Mode to Color Dodge.
Step 14
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the stroke, set the Weight to 8 px, and apply the linear gradient shown below (don’t forget to select the right gradient slider and lower its Opacity to 0%). Change its Blending Mode to Soft Light and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -4 px Offset and click OK.
Step 15
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a second stroke using the Add New Stroke button from the bottom of the panel, and select it. Set the Weight to 4 px and apply the linear gradient shown below (don’t forget to select the left gradient slider, lower its Opacity to 0%, and change the Location to 25%). Lower its Opacity to 70% and change the Blending Mode to Color Dodge, and then go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -6 px Offset and click OK.
Step 16
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the bottom fill and go to Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow. Enter the attributes shown in the top left window (in the following image), click OK, and then apply the other four Drop Shadow effects shown below.
3. How to Save and Use a Graphic Style
Step 1
Make sure that your text design is still selected, and open the Graphic Styles panel (Window > Graphic Styles). Click the New Graphic Style button to save the appearance attributes of your selection.
Step 2
Pick the Ellipse Tool (L) and simply click on your artboard to open the Ellipse window. Create two 50 px circles and a 70 x 50 px ellipse. Place these new shapes roughly as shown in the following image.
Step 3
Select the three shapes added in the previous step and apply your graphic style from the Graphic Styles panel.
Step 4
Select the top circle and go to Effect > Warp > Arch. Check the Vertical box, drag the Bend slider to 15%, and click OK.
Select the other two shapes and again go to Effect > Warp > Arch. Check the Horizontal box, drag the Bend slider to 15%, and click OK.
4. How to Add a Simple Background for Text Effects
Pick the Rectangle Tool (M), click on your artboard to open the Rectangle window, and use it to create a 610 x 860 px shape. Make sure that this new shape covers your entire artboard and send it to the back (Shift-Control-[).
Fill it with the radial gradient shown below and use the Gradient Tool (G) to stretch your gradient as shown in the following image.
Congratulations! Your Text Design Is Complete!
Here is how your bubble letter font should look. I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial and can apply these techniques for your future text effects. Don’t hesitate to share your final result in the comments section.
Feel free to adjust the final text design and make it your own. You can find some great sources of inspiration at GraphicRiver, with interesting solutions to improve your text effects.
In the following steps, you will learn how to create a bubble text design using a bubble letter font in Adobe Illustrator.
For starters, you will learn how to create the text using a cute bubble font. Next, using the Appearance panel along with Offset Path and Transform effects, you will create the starting style for your bubble text effect. Moving on, you will learn how to further stylize your bubble font using basic blending techniques, built-in patterns, and a Gaussian Blur effect. Using strokes and some Drop Shadow effects, you will learn how to add the final touches to your text design.
In the final steps, you will learn how to easily save and reuse the Appearance attributes of your bubble letter font and how to create a simple background for a text design.
For more inspiration on how to adjust or improve your final text design using cool bubble letter fonts, you can find plenty of resources at GraphicRiver.
What You Will Need
You will need the following font in order to complete this text design:
1. How to Create a New Document and Use a Bubble Font
Step 1
Hit Control-N to create a new document. Select Pixels from the Units drop-down menu, enter 850 in the width box and 600 in the height box, and then click that More Settings button. Select RGB for the Color Mode, set the Raster Effects to Screen (72 ppi), and then click Create Document.
You should also open the Info panel (Window > Info) for a live preview with the size and position of your shapes. Don’t forget to set the unit of measurement to pixels from Edit > Preferences > Units. All these options will significantly increase your work speed.
Step 2
Pick the Type Tool (T), click on your artboard, and open the Text panel (Window > Type > Character).
Select the Bomber Balloon font and set the size to 250 px. Type the „BUBBLE” text and make it black (R=0 G=0 B=0). Feel free to search for more cool bubble letter fonts and use them instead of this one.
2. How to Create Bubble Text Effects
Step 1
Make sure that your cute bubble font stays selected, open the Swatches panel (Window > Swatches), and click that [None] swatch to remove the existing text color. This should make your text invisible, but don’t worry—we’ll fix it immediately.
Open the Appearance panel (Window > Appearance) and add a new fill using the Add New Fill button from the bottom of the panel. Select the new fill and set its color to R=40 G=73 B=138.
Step 2
Make sure that your text design stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a second fill using that same Add New Fill button, and select it. Set the color to R=50 G=120 B=181 and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -4 px Offset and click OK.
Step 3
Make sure that your text design stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel. Select the top fill and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 4
Make sure that your text design stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a third fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Set the color to R=73 G=152 B=212 and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -8 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 5
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a fourth fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Set the color to R=71 G=188 B=235 and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -12 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 6
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a fifth fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Apply the linear gradient shown below (Window > Gradient), set its Angle to 90 degrees, and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -16 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 7
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a sixth fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Set the color to white (R=255 G=255 B=255) and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -22 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image, click OK, and go to Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Enter a 2 px Radius, click OK, and return to the Appearance panel. Expand your white fill and click on Opacity to open the Transparency fly-out panel. Lower the Opacity to 30% and change the Blending Mode to Overlay.
Step 8
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the white fill and duplicate it using the Duplicate Selected Item button from the bottom of the panel. Expand the newly added fill, select the existing Gaussian Blur effect, and remove it by clicking on Delete Selected Item from the bottom of the panel.
Step 9
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a new fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Change its Blending Mode to Overlay and apply the linear gradient shown below. The yellow zero from the gradient image stands for the Opacity percentage. This simply means that you must select that gradient slider and lower its Opacity to 0% from the Gradient panel.
Step 10
Open the fly-out menu from the Swatches panel and go to Open Swatch Library > Patterns > Basic Graphics > Basic Graphics_Texture. Make sure that your text design stays selected and focus on the Appearance panel.
Add a new fill using the Add New Fill button and select it. Apply the Mezzotint Dot pattern from Basic Graphics_Texture panel and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK. Be sure that you uncheck the Transform Objects box and check the Transform Patterns box. This will scale the applied pattern without affecting its boundaries.
Step 11
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the top fill, lower its Opacity to 50%, and change the Blending Mode to Color Dodge.
Step 12
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and focus on the Appearance panel.
Add a new fill using the Add New Fill button, and select it. Apply the USGS 22 Gravel Beach pattern from the Basic Graphics_Texture panel and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and click OK.
Step 13
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the top fill, lower its Opacity to 80%, and change the Blending Mode to Color Dodge.
Step 14
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the stroke, set the Weight to 8 px, and apply the linear gradient shown below (don’t forget to select the right gradient slider and lower its Opacity to 0%). Change its Blending Mode to Soft Light and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -4 px Offset and click OK.
Step 15
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Add a second stroke using the Add New Stroke button from the bottom of the panel, and select it. Set the Weight to 4 px and apply the linear gradient shown below (don’t forget to select the left gradient slider, lower its Opacity to 0%, and change the Location to 25%). Lower its Opacity to 70% and change the Blending Mode to Color Dodge, and then go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -6 px Offset and click OK.
Step 16
Make sure that your text design stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.
Select the bottom fill and go to Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow. Enter the attributes shown in the top left window (in the following image), click OK, and then apply the other four Drop Shadow effects shown below.
3. How to Save and Use a Graphic Style
Step 1
Make sure that your text design is still selected, and open the Graphic Styles panel (Window > Graphic Styles). Click the New Graphic Style button to save the appearance attributes of your selection.
Step 2
Pick the Ellipse Tool (L) and simply click on your artboard to open the Ellipse window. Create two 50 px circles and a 70 x 50 px ellipse. Place these new shapes roughly as shown in the following image.
Step 3
Select the three shapes added in the previous step and apply your graphic style from the Graphic Styles panel.
Step 4
Select the top circle and go to Effect > Warp > Arch. Check the Vertical box, drag the Bend slider to 15%, and click OK.
Select the other two shapes and again go to Effect > Warp > Arch. Check the Horizontal box, drag the Bend slider to 15%, and click OK.
4. How to Add a Simple Background for Text Effects
Pick the Rectangle Tool (M), click on your artboard to open the Rectangle window, and use it to create a 610 x 860 px shape. Make sure that this new shape covers your entire artboard and send it to the back (Shift-Control-[).
Fill it with the radial gradient shown below and use the Gradient Tool (G) to stretch your gradient as shown in the following image.
Congratulations! Your Text Design Is Complete!
Here is how your bubble letter font should look. I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial and can apply these techniques for your future text effects. Don’t hesitate to share your final result in the comments section.
Feel free to adjust the final text design and make it your own. You can find some great sources of inspiration at GraphicRiver, with interesting solutions to improve your text effects.
Passionate about a specific topic, have heaps of knowledge about a niche area? Podcasts are a great way to share your passion and knowledge and get others motivated as well. Of course, if you decide to start your podcast, apart from killer content, you’re going to need some eye-catching podcast cover art.
The best podcast covers are an enticing visual representation of your content and help you stand apart from the crowd when potential listeners scroll through podcasts looking for something new and fresh to listen to.
Happily, you don’t have to spend loads of your precious time trying to figure out how to create podcast covers. This podcast cover art maker from Placeit has you covered.
It offers a wide selection of best podcast covers, all of which you can customise in a matter of minutes to create amazing podcast cover art. Let’s take a look at how it works.
How to Make Podcast Covers Using the Podcast Cover Art Maker
Starting on the left side of the podcast cover art maker, you can add the title of your podcast, your name, and any additional text you care to. Here you can also change the font style and colour.
3. Customise the Graphics
When you’re done, move to the right side of the podcast cover art maker. Here you can change the colour of the background, choose a graphic for your podcast, change the colour of that graphic, and add a logo. You can also upload your own graphic or photo and logo.
4. Download Your New Podcast Cover
When you’re happy with your mockup, you can download it for a small fee. And just like that, you’ve got a terrific piece of podcast cover art ready to use.
Is your podcast all about supporting women in living their best lives? Then this is the perfect podcast cover art for you. The template features tons of female empowerment images, and you can customise it to reflect the exact tone you want to convey.
One of the great things about using a podcast cover art maker is that you don’t have to worry about figuring out your podcast cover art size or resolution. That’s because the cover maker does all the work for you, as you can see with all the covers here.
If your podcast is all about finance, this is a good podcast cover art design for you. Just add your title and subtitle and any other text you need, select your preferred colour scheme, and your design is done.
Stimulate those creative juices even before your listeners tune in to your podcast with this wonderful podcast cover art dedicated to podcasts dealing with creativity. The template has loads of gorgeous backgrounds to choose from, but you can always upload your own if you prefer.
Podcasters specialising in different aspects of the movie industry will love this podcast cover option. It offers loads of images, graphics, and icons that refer to the movie industry, so you can customise it to your heart’s content.
This podcast cover art is for music aficionados. Though this template specifically targets jazz specialists, it can actually be customised to be used in other music genres as well.
One of the things that’s great about this particular podcast cover is that it can be customised to work for any number of subjects. Use this fabulous image or take a look through the many different background images to find one that works for you, and then customise it as needed.
If you create a podcast that’s all about architecture, this is a good podcast cover art design for you. Just add your title text, author name, and select your colour scheme, and your template is ready to download.
How’s this for a cool podcast cover? It’s an excellent choice for podcasts dealing with maths, science, and technology. Add your colour scheme, select your fonts, add your text, and you’re done.
The best podcast covers reflect the subject of the podcast, so if you’re creating a podcast dedicated to music, this is a great template for you. There are loads of great images reflecting different music genres, as well as a whole array of cool music-related icons to choose from.
Whether your niche is everything to do with UFOs or the nocturnal habits of glow worms, this podcast cover is one you should consider. That’s because the minimalist cover design uses bold colours and text rather than graphics and images to grab attention. Take it for a spin and see what you think.
If travel is your thing, then you need a podcast cover that makes would-be travellers super excited to join you on your adventures—via your podcast, that is. This template uses gorgeous travel images as a backdrop and semi-transparent overlays which call potential listeners to your text without completely obscuring the images in the background.
This clean and simple podcast cover art is another great one for a wider range of topics. Use bold text to highlight your podcast title, add a subtitle and/or your name, and then select one of the many gorgeous rectangular graphics which will sit next to your text. All you have left is to decide on your colour scheme, and you’ve got a great podcast cover ready to go.
Is your podcast all about self-improvement? Then check out this podcast cover template specially designed for those in the self-help industry. Choose a background image that works for your specific style and taste, and then customise your cover using the podcast cover art maker.
Another terrific podcast cover for movie buffs. The template features loads of awesome graphics and illustrations associated with the movie industry. Find the one you like the most and create your own unique podcast cover in a manner of minutes.
Keeping with the movie theme, let’s take a look at another cinema-related template that uses a different style. This theme, which is billed as being designed for movie-related podcasts, can actually be used for any type of podcast. That’s because the graphics used are all audio related rather than movie related. So if your podcast is more of a magazine style, meaning that you deal with loads of different subjects, then this is a great theme for you.
Bring a touch of lightheartedness to your podcasts with this template, which features tons of great doodles. You will grab your audience’s attention and bring a smile to their faces. That’s a very good first step in building your audience.
For those podcasters dealing with issues of gender, this template is ideal. Take a look at the terrific background images and choose one that appeals, or simply upload your own image. All there is left to do then is enter your text, choose your font style and colour scheme, and your podcast cover is ready for use.
Here’s another template that can be used to create any type of podcast but is most suited for those podcasters dealing with feminist issues, as it offers loads of female-related icons. Of course, if you like the style of the template but your podcast covers another area, you can use the podcast cover art maker to create a podcast cover that reflects your area of expertise.
Calling all business podcasters. Here’s a podcast cover template designed to attract the eye of potential listeners. Use this photo or choose a business-themed photo you most relate to. After that, all you need to do is select your colour scheme, customise your text, and you’re done.
If your podcast is all about art, then you need an eye-catching podcast cover art design to reflect that. That’s where this gorgeous template comes in. It offers tons of really special backgrounds that will keep all eyes scrolling through reams of podcasts where you need them. On your podcast.
Why not go for a light-hearted theme for your podcast cover art? This template offers fun doodles and a playful font that could be adapted to a range of different topics. And the plain background gives your text a chance to stand out from the podcast crowd.
More and more people are turning to meditation to alleviate the effects of stress on the human psyche. If your podcast is all about meditation and other mindfulness practices, you need podcast cover art that reflects a sense of tranquility. And here it is. Follow the steps in our 'How to Make Podcast Covers Using the Podcast Cover Art Maker’ section, and your template will be ready in no time.
Use this podcast cover for a host of subject matter related to music. If you specialise in another subject but love the design, upload an image of your choice and use the podcast cover art maker to customise the template to suit your needs.
Another great template for the self-improvement market. This template gives a 'we’re all in it together’ vibe, but it can be modified to produce a totally different feel just by changing the background image, font, and colour palette. Go for it!
This podcast cover art is all about making a big splash with a strong image, bold colours and text, and eye-catching graphics. Upload your own photo, add your text, change your font style and colour scheme, and you’ve got one stunning podcast cover ready to go.
Make Your Own Podcast Cover Today
That’s it for your list of the best podcast covers available at Placeit. Now that you know how to make good podcast cover art online, why not use the Placeit podcast cover art maker to create your own unique podcast cover and share your design with us in the comments below. We’d love to see what you come up with.
And if you’re interested in other designs and cool mockups, check out these handy roundups of the best resources in different categories:
Passionate about a specific topic, have heaps of knowledge about a niche area? Podcasts are a great way to share your passion and knowledge and get others motivated as well. Of course, if you decide to start your podcast, apart from killer content, you’re going to need some eye-catching podcast cover art.
The best podcast covers are an enticing visual representation of your content and help you stand apart from the crowd when potential listeners scroll through podcasts looking for something new and fresh to listen to.
Happily, you don’t have to spend loads of your precious time trying to figure out how to create podcast covers. This podcast cover art maker from Placeit has you covered.
It offers a wide selection of best podcast covers, all of which you can customise in a matter of minutes to create amazing podcast cover art. Let’s take a look at how it works.
How to Make Podcast Covers Using the Podcast Cover Art Maker
Starting on the left side of the podcast cover art maker, you can add the title of your podcast, your name, and any additional text you care to. Here you can also change the font style and colour.
3. Customise the Graphics
When you’re done, move to the right side of the podcast cover art maker. Here you can change the colour of the background, choose a graphic for your podcast, change the colour of that graphic, and add a logo. You can also upload your own graphic or photo and logo.
4. Download Your New Podcast Cover
When you’re happy with your mockup, you can download it for a small fee. And just like that, you’ve got a terrific piece of podcast cover art ready to use.
Is your podcast all about supporting women in living their best lives? Then this is the perfect podcast cover art for you. The template features tons of female empowerment images, and you can customise it to reflect the exact tone you want to convey.
One of the great things about using a podcast cover art maker is that you don’t have to worry about figuring out your podcast cover art size or resolution. That’s because the cover maker does all the work for you, as you can see with all the covers here.
If your podcast is all about finance, this is a good podcast cover art design for you. Just add your title and subtitle and any other text you need, select your preferred colour scheme, and your design is done.
Stimulate those creative juices even before your listeners tune in to your podcast with this wonderful podcast cover art dedicated to podcasts dealing with creativity. The template has loads of gorgeous backgrounds to choose from, but you can always upload your own if you prefer.
Podcasters specialising in different aspects of the movie industry will love this podcast cover option. It offers loads of images, graphics, and icons that refer to the movie industry, so you can customise it to your heart’s content.
This podcast cover art is for music aficionados. Though this template specifically targets jazz specialists, it can actually be customised to be used in other music genres as well.
One of the things that’s great about this particular podcast cover is that it can be customised to work for any number of subjects. Use this fabulous image or take a look through the many different background images to find one that works for you, and then customise it as needed.
If you create a podcast that’s all about architecture, this is a good podcast cover art design for you. Just add your title text, author name, and select your colour scheme, and your template is ready to download.
How’s this for a cool podcast cover? It’s an excellent choice for podcasts dealing with maths, science, and technology. Add your colour scheme, select your fonts, add your text, and you’re done.
The best podcast covers reflect the subject of the podcast, so if you’re creating a podcast dedicated to music, this is a great template for you. There are loads of great images reflecting different music genres, as well as a whole array of cool music-related icons to choose from.
Whether your niche is everything to do with UFOs or the nocturnal habits of glow worms, this podcast cover is one you should consider. That’s because the minimalist cover design uses bold colours and text rather than graphics and images to grab attention. Take it for a spin and see what you think.
If travel is your thing, then you need a podcast cover that makes would-be travellers super excited to join you on your adventures—via your podcast, that is. This template uses gorgeous travel images as a backdrop and semi-transparent overlays which call potential listeners to your text without completely obscuring the images in the background.
This clean and simple podcast cover art is another great one for a wider range of topics. Use bold text to highlight your podcast title, add a subtitle and/or your name, and then select one of the many gorgeous rectangular graphics which will sit next to your text. All you have left is to decide on your colour scheme, and you’ve got a great podcast cover ready to go.
Is your podcast all about self-improvement? Then check out this podcast cover template specially designed for those in the self-help industry. Choose a background image that works for your specific style and taste, and then customise your cover using the podcast cover art maker.
Another terrific podcast cover for movie buffs. The template features loads of awesome graphics and illustrations associated with the movie industry. Find the one you like the most and create your own unique podcast cover in a manner of minutes.
Keeping with the movie theme, let’s take a look at another cinema-related template that uses a different style. This theme, which is billed as being designed for movie-related podcasts, can actually be used for any type of podcast. That’s because the graphics used are all audio related rather than movie related. So if your podcast is more of a magazine style, meaning that you deal with loads of different subjects, then this is a great theme for you.
Bring a touch of lightheartedness to your podcasts with this template, which features tons of great doodles. You will grab your audience’s attention and bring a smile to their faces. That’s a very good first step in building your audience.
For those podcasters dealing with issues of gender, this template is ideal. Take a look at the terrific background images and choose one that appeals, or simply upload your own image. All there is left to do then is enter your text, choose your font style and colour scheme, and your podcast cover is ready for use.
Here’s another template that can be used to create any type of podcast but is most suited for those podcasters dealing with feminist issues, as it offers loads of female-related icons. Of course, if you like the style of the template but your podcast covers another area, you can use the podcast cover art maker to create a podcast cover that reflects your area of expertise.
Calling all business podcasters. Here’s a podcast cover template designed to attract the eye of potential listeners. Use this photo or choose a business-themed photo you most relate to. After that, all you need to do is select your colour scheme, customise your text, and you’re done.
If your podcast is all about art, then you need an eye-catching podcast cover art design to reflect that. That’s where this gorgeous template comes in. It offers tons of really special backgrounds that will keep all eyes scrolling through reams of podcasts where you need them. On your podcast.
Why not go for a light-hearted theme for your podcast cover art? This template offers fun doodles and a playful font that could be adapted to a range of different topics. And the plain background gives your text a chance to stand out from the podcast crowd.
More and more people are turning to meditation to alleviate the effects of stress on the human psyche. If your podcast is all about meditation and other mindfulness practices, you need podcast cover art that reflects a sense of tranquility. And here it is. Follow the steps in our 'How to Make Podcast Covers Using the Podcast Cover Art Maker’ section, and your template will be ready in no time.
Use this podcast cover for a host of subject matter related to music. If you specialise in another subject but love the design, upload an image of your choice and use the podcast cover art maker to customise the template to suit your needs.
Another great template for the self-improvement market. This template gives a 'we’re all in it together’ vibe, but it can be modified to produce a totally different feel just by changing the background image, font, and colour palette. Go for it!
This podcast cover art is all about making a big splash with a strong image, bold colours and text, and eye-catching graphics. Upload your own photo, add your text, change your font style and colour scheme, and you’ve got one stunning podcast cover ready to go.
Make Your Own Podcast Cover Today
That’s it for your list of the best podcast covers available at Placeit. Now that you know how to make good podcast cover art online, why not use the Placeit podcast cover art maker to create your own unique podcast cover and share your design with us in the comments below. We’d love to see what you come up with.
And if you’re interested in other designs and cool mockups, check out these handy roundups of the best resources in different categories:
