Effective immediately, all new features that are web-exposed are to be restricted to secure contexts. Web-exposed means that the feature is observable from a web page or server, whether through JavaScript, CSS, HTTP, media formats, etc. A feature can be anything from an extension of an existing IDL-defined object, a new CSS property, a new HTTP response header, to bigger features such as WebVR. In contrast, a new CSS color keyword would likely not be restricted to secure contexts.
In other words, if your site isn’t HTTPS, you won’t get new web tech features. Holy jeepers. The reasoning is the web should be using HTTPS, so this is our way of beating you with a stick if you try to use fancy features without going HTTPS first.
It’ll be fascinating to watch the first major feature drop and if they stick to their word here. The web dev forums of the internet will overflow with WHY DOESN’T grid-gap WORK WITH MY FLEXBOX? (or some likely coming-soon feature) questions and the answer will be: talk to your server team. What if they drop container queries behind this? That would be a hilarious devastating tornado of developer fury.
We’re celebrating all things celebratory this week! And what sort of celebration could be more fun than a night out clubbing?
This flyer is an easy way of tapping into the pastel-neon gradient trend. In this tutorial suitable for beginners to InDesign, we’ll look at how to create gradient swatches and apply them to a simple layout that can be adapted for print or online.
Once you’ve installed the font files onto your computer, you’re ready to get started.
1. How to Set Up a Flyer Layout in InDesign
Step 1
Open InDesign and go to File > New > Document.
Set the Width of the page to 4 in and Height to 6 in, to create a standard size flyer.
Set the Margins to 0.4 in and add a Bleed of 0.25 in.
Then go ahead and click OK.
Step 2
Expand the Layers panel (Window > Layers) and double-click on the Layer 1 name. Rename it Background and click OK.
Choose New Layer from the panel’s drop-down menu (at top-right), and name this layer Pattern, before clicking OK.
Then add a further three new layers in this order: Type Behind, Circle and, at the top, Type in Front.
Lock all the layers except the bottom one, Background.
2. How to Create Gradient Swatches in InDesign
You can create the equivalent of Photoshop’s ‘gradient maps’ in InDesign by tweaking the settings of gradient swatches. First, you’ll need to create a base group of standard swatches, to use as building blocks for your gradient swatches.
Step 1
Expand the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches) and choose New Color Swatch from the panel’s drop-down menu.
Name this first swatch Neon Mint, and set the Type to Process. You can choose either RGB (for online) or CMYK (for print) depending on your intention to share the flyer in hard or soft copy. Here I’m going for RGB, as I’m planning to share the flyer on social media.
Set the values to R=140 G=249 B=208, and click Add and then OK.
Step 2
Repeat the process described in the previous step, to create a palette of nine more swatches, with the following names and values:
Blue: R=61 G=177 B=252
Pastel Pink: R=250 G=200 B=253
Rose: R=244 G=136 B=170
Neon Lime: R=145 G=255 B=142
Purple: R=110 G=89 B=190
Neon Pink: R=255 G=84 B=232
Pastel Lime: R=234 G=247 B=201
Neon Yellow: R=248 G=255 B=81
Deep Rose: R=240 G=88 B=171
Step 3
Now it’s time to create your first gradient swatch. Click on New Gradient Swatch in the Swatch panel’s menu.
Name the swatch Gradient Map 1, set the Type to Linear, and choose Swatches from the Stop Color menu.
Click on the left-hand stop on the Gradient Ramp below, and select Neon Lime from the swatch menu above.
Click on the right-hand stop, and choose Purple.
You can add more colors to your gradient by clicking anywhere on the Gradient Ramp and adding a new stop. From the left side, add a stop set in Neon Pink. Then one in Pastel Lime. And a third one in Neon Yellow.
Make sure the stops are spaced relatively evenly across the ramp, before clicking Add and then OK.
Step 4
Working on the Background layer, select the Rectangle Tool (M) from the Tools panel (docked to the left side of the workspace) and drag across the whole page, extending it up to the bleed on all sides.
Set the Fill of the shape to Purple from the Swatches panel.
Step 5
With the shape selected, go to Object on the main menu, and Effects > Transparency.
Pull the Opacity down to 10%.
Click on Inner Glow in the window’s left-hand menu. Increase the Choke to around 4% and Noise to 8%, to add texture across the whole shape. Then click OK.
Step 6
Create another shape using the Rectangle Tool (M) over the top of this first rectangle. From the Swatches panel, set the Fill to Gradient Map 1.
Go to Window > Color > Gradient and adjust the Angle of the gradient to 110, so that it extends diagonally from the bottom-right to the top-left corner of the page. You can also adjust the position of the stops to soften the gradient if you need to.
3. How to Build Up Shapes and Typography on Your Flyer
Step 1
Return to the Layers panel and choose New Gradient Swatch from the drop-down menu.
Call this swatch Gradient Map 2, and choose Blue and Neon Mint from the swatches list to create a two-color gradient. Click Add, and then OK.
Step 2
Lock the Background layer and unlock the Circle layer.
Select the Ellipse Tool (L), and, holding Shift, drag to create a perfect circle across the center of the page. Set the Fill to Gradient Map 2 and Stroke to [None].
Step 3
With the circle shape selected, go to Object > Effects > Drop Shadow.
Click on the colored square to the right of the Mode menu at the top, and change the Effect Color to Pastel Pink. Click OK, and add about 13% Noise to the shadow. Then click OK to exit the window.
Step 4
Lock the Circle layer and unlock the layer below, Type Behind.
Take the Type Tool (T) and drag to create a square text frame at the top-right corner of the circle shape.
Type in ‘C’ and, from either the top Controls panel or the Character panel (Window > Type & Tables > Character), set the Font to Charlevoix Pro ExtraBold, Size 130 pt.
Adjust the Font Color to [Paper] from the Swatches panel.
Step 5
Select the text frame and Edit > Copy, Edit > Paste. Move this second frame to the bottom-right corner of the circle, as shown below.
Select both the ‘C’ and ‘B’ text frames and head up to Object > Effects > Drop Shadow.
Switch the Effect Color to Neon Mint, pull the Opacity down to about 60%, and add 25% Noise. Then click OK.
Step 6
Take the Type Tool (T) again and create a smaller, longer text frame next to the ‘B’ frame.
Type in ‘NIGHT’ and set the Font to Charlevoix Pro Medium, Size 22 pt and increase the Tracking (letter-spacing) to 90. Change the Font Color to Pastel Lime.
Then Right-Click on the text frame and choose Transform > Rotate 90 Degrees CW.
Move the text frame to sit snugly against the left side of the ‘B’ letter.
Step 7
Use the Type Tool (T) to create another small text frame up in the right-hand corner of the page. Here you can add an introductory sentence such as ‘RIOT BLVD presents its opening’.
Set the Font to Charlevoix Pro, setting titles in Bold and other text in Medium. You can set most text in [Paper], but pull out key info in a contrasting color like Deep Rose.
Step 8
Add more text frames to the bottom-left corner of the page, setting text in Charlevoix Pro Bold, Medium and Regular to create hierarchy, and the Font Color to [Paper].
Step 9
Head back to the Layers panel and expand the Type Behind layer by clicking on the small arrow symbol to the left of the layer’s name.
Select the <B> element with your mouse and drag it down onto the Create New Layer button at the bottom of the panel to duplicate it.
Unlock the Type in Front layer at the top, before dragging the <B> copy upwards to sit on this layer. Then you can lock the Type Behind layer, and work on the Type in Front layer.
Step 10
Edit the ‘B’ letter on the Type in Front layer to read ‘L’ instead and move it to sit above the ‘B’.
Select the ‘L’ text frame and Edit > Copy, Edit > Paste, adjusting the letter of the copy to read ‘U’. Move so that it sits below the ‘C’, as shown below.
4. How to Add a Retro Pattern to Your Flyer
Step 1
Lock the Type in Front layer and unlock the Pattern layer.
Switch to the Pen Tool (P) and click onto the page or pasteboard three times to create a triangle shape, before uniting the shape at its first anchor point. Use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to select anchor points individually and move them to create a symmetrical triangle shape.
Step 2
Set the Fill of the triangle shape to Rose and Stroke Color to [None].
Move the triangle over to the top-left corner of the page, and scale it down and rotate it a little.
With the shape selected, go to Object > Effects > Drop Shadow. Switch the Effect Color to Neon Lime and add about 10% Noise, before clicking OK.
Step 3
Copy and Paste the triangle repeatedly, scattering shapes around the page and rotating them to different angles to create a jaunty, jumpy effect.
Your flyer’s finished! Awesome work!
All that’s left to do now is File > Save your hard work, and then File > Export to export it as either a print-ready PDF file (choose Adobe PDF [Print] from the Format menu) or online image file (choose JPEG or PNG).
Conclusion: Your Finished Flyer
Pastel-neon gradients are a big trend for this year, and this colorful flyer is a great way to tap into the style. It works perfectly for club or party flyers—but why not try using gradient swatches on different designs too?
In this tutorial, you’ve picked up some handy skills for applying to InDesign and other layout projects in the future. You now know how to:
Create gradient swatches (or ‘gradient maps’) in Adobe InDesign.
Layer color, shapes, patterns and type for a 3D look in your designs.
Format typography to a high standard.
Apply sophisticated effects to graphics, like glows, shadows, and transparencies.
This tutorial will show you how to use Photoshop’s 3D Tools, adjustment layers, and a couple of textures to create a dazzling, glittery, festive text effect. Let’s get started!
Then, create the text using the font HWT Artz. Set the Size to 600 pt and the Tracking to 150 pt.
Step 2
Rename the text layer to Text, and then right-click it and choose Convert to Shape.
2. How to Create Stroke Layers
Step 1
Duplicate the Text layer and rename the copy to Stroke 1.
Step 2
Pick the Direct Selection Tool (A) to get the shape options in the Options bar.
Change the Fill to None, the Stroke Color to Black, and its Size to 25, and then click the Set shape stroke type icon, and change the Align to Outside.
Step 3
Duplicate the Stroke 1 layer, rename the copy to Stroke 2, and change the Stroke Size to 35.
Step 4
Duplicate the Stroke 2 layer, rename the copy to Stroke 3, and change the Stroke Size to 50.
3. How to Create 3D Layers
Step 1
For each shape layer you have, select it, and then go to 3D > New 3D Extrusion from Selected Path.
Step 2
Select all 3D layers you have, and go to 3D > Merge 3D Layers.
4. How to Work With a 3D Scene
Step 1
To access the 3D mesh settings and properties, you’ll need to open two panels: the 3D panel and the Properties panel (both found under the Window menu).
The 3D panel has all the components of the 3D scene, and when you click the name of any of those, you’ll be able to access its settings in the Properties panel. So make sure to always select the tab of the element you want to modify in the 3D panel before you change its settings in the Properties panel.
Step 2
If you select the Move Tool, you’ll find a set of 3D Modes for it to the right of the Options bar.
When you choose one of those, you can then click and drag to perform changes (on the selected element in the 3D panel).
Use those modes to change the Current View into an angle you like.
5. How to Modify 3D Mesh Settings
Step 1
Select the Text mesh tab in the 3D panel, and then, in the Properties panel, change the Extrusion Depth to 200.
Step 2
Select all the Stroke mesh tabs, and change their Extrusion Depth to 35.
6. How to Modify 3D Cap Settings
Step 1
Select the Text tab again. Then click the Cap icon at the top of the Properties panel.
Set the Sides to Front and Back, and change the Bevel Width to 5%, the Contour to Half Round, and the Inflate Strength to 10%.
Step 2
Select the Stroke tabs, set the Sides to Front and Back, and then change the Bevel Width to 20% and the Contour to Ring.
7. How to Reposition 3D Meshes
Step 1
Select all the mesh tabs in the 3D panel, and then click the 3D panel menu icon, and choose Move Object to Ground Plane.
Step 2
Pick the Move Tool, and use the 3D Axis to move the Stroke meshes apart from each other, and spread them over the 3D text you have.
The arrows at the ends of the axis move the mesh, the part below them is used for rotation, and the cubes are used for scaling. The cube in the center is used to scale the object uniformly. All you need to do is click and drag the part you want.
You can also open the 3D Secondary View window (View > Show > 3D Secondary View), and then click the little arrow to the left and choose the Top view, to better see what you are doing.
Step 3
Make sure that the biggest stroke is at the back and the smallest is in the front.
8. How to Create a 3D Text Front Inflation Material
Step 1
Select the Text Front Inflation Material tab in the 3D panel, and then, in the Properties panel, click the Diffuse texture icon, and choose Edit Texture.
Step 2
Place the Silver Glitter Texture Stock image on top of the Text shape layer, and resize it to the text’s width.
Step 3
Press Command-U to get the Hue/Saturation window, check the Colorize box, and change the Hue value to 37.
Go to File > Save, and then File > Close to go back to the 3D Scene.
9. How to Adjust 3D Text Inflation and Bevel Material Settings
Step 1
Select the Text Front and Bevel Material tabs, and then use these material settings:
Specular: (221, 161, 32)
Shine: 50
Reflection: 20
Bump: 3
Refraction: 1.3
Step 2
Select the Text Front Inflation Material tab, click the Bump folder icon, click Load Texture, and then load the Metallic_Silver image.
Step 3
Click the Bump texture icon, and choose Edit UV Properties.
Step 4
Set both Tile values to 1.
Step 5
Select the rest of the Text Inflation and Bevel Material tabs, click the Bump folder icon, and choose the Metallic_Silver texture name from the list.
10. How to Create a 3D Text Extrusion Material
Step 1
Select the Text Extrusion Material tab, click the Diffuse texture icon, and choose Remove Texture.
Step 2
Change the rest of the values as below:
Diffuse: (232, 226, 211)
Specular: (153, 151, 137)
Shine: 20
Reflection: 20
Roughness: 31
Refraction: 1.2
11. How to Create 3D Stroke Materials
Step 1
Select all the Stroke Inflation and Bevel Material tabs, remove their Diffuse texture, and change the rest of the settings as below:
Diffuse: (92, 90, 83)
Specular: (170, 168, 152)
Shine: 50
Reflection: 20
Refraction: 1.2
Step 2
Select all the Stroke Extrusion Material tabs, remove their Diffuse texture, and change the rest of the settings as below:
Diffuse: (228, 183, 63)
Specular: (51, 51, 51)
Shine: 20
Reflection: 20
Refraction: 1.2
12. How to Adjust a 3D Scene’s Lighting
Step 1
Select the Infinite Light tab, and change the Intensity to 50% and the Shadow Softness to 30%.
Step 2
You can then use the Move Tool to move the light, or click the Coordinates icon at the top of the Properties panel to enter numerical values.
Step 3
Select the Environment tab, click the IBL texture icon, choose Replace Texture, and then load the Room image.
Step 4
Click the IBL texture icon again, choose Edit Texture, then press Command-U, and change the Saturation value to -65.
Save and close the file.
Step 5
Change the IBL light’s Intensity to 50%.
Step 6
You can use the Move Tool to move the texture until you get a result you like.
13. How to Modify a Rendered 3D Layer
Step 1
Once you’re done modifying the 3D scene, go to 3D > Render to render it. The rendering might take a while, but you can stop it any time by pressing the Esc key.
Step 2
Once the rendering is finished, right-click the 3D layer, and choose Convert to Smart Object.
Step 3
Go to Image > Image Size, and set the Width to 1500 px.
14. How to Use Adjustment Layers
Step 1
Click the Create new fill or adjustment layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel, and choose Selective Color.
Step 2
Clip the Selective Color layer to the 3D layer, and then modify these channels as below:
Yellows:
Cyan: 9
Magenta: 6
Yellow: 13
Black: 3
Greens:
Black: -80
Cyans:
Black: -50
Whites:
Cyan: -15
Magenta: 10
Yellow: 20
Black: -90
Neutrals:
Cyan: -2
Yellow: 5
Blacks:
Cyan: -5
Magenta: 5
Yellow: –20
Black: 5
This will enhance the coloring of the text.
Step 3
Add a Levels adjustment layer, clip it to the 3D layer, and then change the Highlights to 27, the Gamma to 1.03, and the Shadows to 231.
This will enhance the contrast.
15. How to Create a Background
Step 1
Add a Gradient Fill layer on top of the Background layer, and create the Gradient using the colors #8f8e8e to the right, #ebeaea in the center, and #8f8e8e to the left.
Change the Angle to 105, and the Scale to 250. You can then click-drag the gradient fill inside the document to position it behind the text.
Step 2
Place the Glitter Bokeh texture on top of the Gradient Fill layer, resize it as needed, rename its layer to Glitter BG, and change its Blend Mode to Soft Light.
Step 3
Add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer, clip it to the Glitter BG layer, check the Colorize box, and change the Hue to 40.
Step 4
Place the hybrid3 image from the Salomdi hybrid c4d pack on top of the Glitter BG layer, and rename its layer to BG Texture 01.
Change the BG Texture 01 layer’s Blend Mode to Screen, and resize it as needed.
Step 5
Add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer, clip it to the BG Texture 01 layer, check the Colorize box, and change the Hue to 38.
Step 6
Place the Platinafx4 image from the C4d Pack 12 By Platina set on top of the BG Texture 01 layer, and rename its layer to BG Texture 02.
Change the BG Texture 02 layer’s Blend Mode to Screen, and resize it as needed.
Step 7
Add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer, clip it to the BG Texture 02 layer, check the Colorize box, and change the Hue to 35.
16. How to Add Sparkles
Step 1
Pick the Brush Tool, and open the Brush panel (Window > Brush).
Choose a brush tip you like from the Stars and Flares Brush Set, and then, under the Shape Dynamics tab, change the Size Jitter to 50%, and the Angle Jitter to 100%.
Step 2
Set the Foreground Color to #d6d6d6, create a new layer on top of all layers, call it Sparkles, and change its Blend Mode to Overlay.
Decrease the brush tip Size to a value that you think looks good for the text, and start clicking over some bright areas of the text to add the sparkles.
17. How to Modify a Gradient Map
Step 1
Add a Gradient Map adjustment layer, and change its Blend Mode to Soft Light and its Opacity to 15%.
Check the Dither box, and then create the Gradient fill using the colors #5a5871 to the left, #b79787 in the center, and #fdcd90 to the right.
Step 2
You can try different colors and Opacity values to get different results if you like.
Congratulations! You’re Done
In this tutorial, we created a text layer, converted it into a shape layer, and created the stroke layers.
Then, we converted the shape layers into 3D layers, and modified their settings. After that, we created the 3D materials, worked on the lighting of the scene, and rendered it.
Finally, we worked on the coloring and the background, using adjustment layers and textures, as well as adding some sparkles to finish off the effect.
Please feel free to leave your comments, suggestions, and outcomes below.
This article assumes basic understanding of Vue.js framework and how to create components in it. If you are new to Vue, then this CSS-Tricks series is a good place to start.
I have been on a Vue.js project that required the ability to create components programmatically. By programmatically, I mean you create and insert the components completely from JavaScript, without writing anything in the template. This article aims to illustrate how different aspects of using components in a template, such as instantiation, props passing, slots, mounting, translate to JavaScript code.
Normally if you are working with the recommended Single File Component style, you would have a Button component like so:
In my case, I don’t know which component to insert in the template and also where to insert it. This information is only available at runtime. So I needed a way to dynamically create component instance for any passed component and insert it in the DOM, during runtime.
Creating the Instance
The very first idea I had to create a dynamic instance of a given component was to pass it to new and it would give me the actual instance. But if you notice carefully the script block in any of the above component code, they are all exporting a simple object, and not a class (constructor function). If I do this:
import Button from 'Button.vue'
var instance = new Button()
…it fails. We need a class. Or, in simple terms, a constructor function. The way to do that is to pass the component object to Vue.extend to create a subclass of the Vue constructor. Now we can create an instance out of it with the new keyword:
import Button from 'Button.vue'
import Vue from 'vue'
var ComponentClass = Vue.extend(Button)
var instance = new ComponentClass()
Hooray! Step 1 cleared! Now we need to insert it in the DOM.
Inserting in DOM
Every Vue instance has a method called $mount on it which mounts the component instance on the element you pass to it (i.e. it replaces the passed element with the component instance). This is not a behavior I wanted. I wanted to insert my component instances inside some DOM element. There is a way to do that too. From the official docs:
If elementOrSelector argument is not provided, the template will be rendered as an off-document element, and you will have to use native DOM API to insert it into the document yourself.
That’s what I did:
import Button from 'Button.vue'
import Vue from 'vue'
var ComponentClass = Vue.extend(Button)
var instance = new ComponentClass()
instance.$mount() // pass nothing
this.$refs.container.appendChild(instance.$el)
There are a couple of things to note in the code above.
First, $refs is the recommended way to get reference to a DOM element in Vue.js. You specify an attribute on the DOM element you want to reference (<div ref="container"></div> in this case) and then that element is available on the set key on component’s $refs property.
Second, to get the native DOM element reference from a Vue component instance, you can use the $el property.
Passing Props to the Instance
Next, I had to pass some props to my Button instance. Specifically, the type prop. The Vue constructor function accepts an options object that we can use to pass in and initialize related things. For passing props, there is a key called propsData which we can use, like so:
import Button from 'Button.vue'
import Vue from 'vue'
var ComponentClass = Vue.extend(Button)
var instance = new ComponentClass({
propsData: { type: 'primary' }
})
instance.$mount() // pass nothing
this.$refs.container.appendChild(instance.$el)
We are almost done, with one final remaining bit. With the normal template method, we used button like: <Button>Click me!</Button>;. We simply wrote the inner text between the tags and it rendered inside the final button tag with the help of slot. But now how do we pass it?
Setting the Slot
If you have used slots in Vue.js, you might be aware that the slots are accessible on any instance on the $slots property. And if named slots are not used, then slots are available on $slots.default as an array. That is the exact key we’ll modify on the instance to set our button’s inner text. Remember, this needs to be done before mounting the instance. Note that in our case we just put a simple string in the slot because that is all we required. But you can pass more complex DOM to it in form for Virtual nodes or VNode using the createElement function. You can read about creating Virtual nodes in the Vue.js documentation. Thanks to a Vue core team member, Rahul, for suggesting this technique.
import Button from 'Button.vue'
import Vue from 'vue'
var ComponentClass = Vue.extend(Button)
var instance = new ComponentClass({
propsData: { type: 'primary' }
})
instance.$slots.default = [ 'Click me!' ]
instance.$mount() // pass nothing
this.$refs.container.appendChild(instance.$el)
There are so many things that people
celebrate when feeling happy about their achievements. In this tutorial we’ll
be drawing a cheerful character celebrating a victory in a sports event. We’ll
be using various functions of Adobe Illustrator and modifying geometric shapes
in order to make the process easy and fun. Join the marathon, and let’s run
through this tutorial together!
If you want to take a look at the source
file or get this illustration in various color options for your own project, be
sure to check the Sporty Character Flat Set at Envato Elements! There
you will find everything you need, including various file formats.
Let’s get started!
1. How to Draw a Head
Step 1
Create a 600 x 800 px size document and let’s make a rectangle for the
background of the same size using the Rectangle
Tool (M).
Step 2
Let’s start making the head from a 65 x 95 px rectangle. Select it with
the Direct Selection Tool (A) and
pull the circle marker of the Live
Corners to make the corners fully rounded. We can also do this by entering
the exact value in the Corners field
in the control panel on top.
Step 3
Take the Ellipse Tool (L) and let’s draw the eyes. Make a 17 x 17 px circle with dark-blue Stroke. Open the Stroke panel (Window >
Stroke) and set the Weight to 3 pt, Cap to Round Cap.
Select the bottom anchor point with the Direct Selection tool (A) and hit the Delete key (Backspace on Mac) to delete it, creating an arc.
Hold Alt-Shift
and drag the arc to the right, creating a second eye.
Step 4
Now let’s make a nose using the Rectangle Tool (M). Create a 10 x 18 px shape of a slightly darker
color than the face. Use the Direct
Selection Tool (A) to make the corners of the shape rounded.
Let’s make sure that the nose is perfectly
aligned to the head. Select both the nose and the head and click the head one
more time to make it a Key Object.
Open the Align panel (Window > Align) and click Horizontal Align Center. There we have
it!
Use the nose shape to create the ears. Hold Alt-Shift and drag the nose copy to the edge of the head. Place the ears beneath
the head shape by Sending to Back
(Shift-Control-[).
Tip: We can also align groups of elements to the Key Object. For example, we can Group (Control-G) the eyes and the ears and align them to the head
as well.
Step 5
Let’s make a mouth from a rectangle. Make
a 30 x 12 px dark-red shape and
selects its bottom left and right anchor points with the Direct Selection Tool (A). Make the bottom corners fully rounded.
Step 6
Now let’s add the inner elements. Make a white
stripe for the teeth and draw a squashed pink ellipse for the tongue.
Select all three shapes—teeth, tongue, and
mouth—and grab the Shape Builder Tool
(Shift-M). Hold down Alt and
click the pieces outside the mouth shape to delete them.
Step 7
Let’s move on to the hair. Select the head
shape and go to Object > Path >
Offset Path. Set the Offset
value to 5 px and click OK.
Fill the created shape with dark-blue
color.
Step 8
Keeping the new shape selected, take the Eraser Tool (Shift-E), hold down Alt and make a selection over the
bottom part of the shape to make a haircut.
Step 9
Now we’ll add a fringe. Copy (Control-C) the hair shape, Paste in Front (Control-F) and Bring to Front (Shift-Control-]).
Use the
Eraser Tool (Shift-E) while holding down Alt to shorten the fringe.
Step 10
Now we have a bob haircut and a nice
straight fringe!
Make the bottom hair shape slightly darker
to add contrast.
Step 11
Select the bottom hair shape and go to Effect > Warp > Shell Lower. Set
the Bend value to 8% and click OK.
Go to Object
> Expand Appearance to apply the effect. Now the hair looks more
interesting!
Step 12
Let’s finish off the head by adding a
neck. Use the Rectangle Tool (M) to
create a 17 x 40 px shape of a
slightly darker color. We can use the Eyedropper
Tool (I) to pick the desired color from the ears or nose.
2. How to Draw the Character’s Body
Step 1
Let’s start making the body from a 54 x 108 px pink rectangle. Center it
to the neck horizontally using the Align
panel.
Copy
(Control-C) the shape and Paste in Back (Control-B). Extend the bottom shape down and fill
it with the same dark-blue color as the hair.
Step 2
Now let’s make the legs. Grab the Pen Tool (P) or the Line Segment Tool (\) and draw a
diagonal line. Make its Stroke color dark-blue and set its Weight to 15 pt and Cap to Round Cap in the Stroke panel.
Take the Curvature Tool (Shift-`) and bend the leg down, making a smooth
arc.
Step 3
Add a second leg and go to Object > Expand to turn the strokes
into curves.
Step 4
Let’s add some details here. Copy (Control-C) the legs and Paste in Back (Control-B). Fill the
bottom copies with the same skin-tone color as we have for the face.
Select the top dark-blue copies, grab the Eraser Tool (Shift-E) and erase the
bottom half of the legs, depicting sports pants.
Repeat the same for the bottom parts of the
legs, adding short white socks.
Step 5
Now let’s draw the sneakers. Create a 40 x 20 px dark-blue rectangle. Use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to select
three corners and pull them to make the corners rounded.
Duplicate
(Control-C > Control-F) the shape and use the Eraser Tool (Shift-E) to make the sole
of the shoe.
Step 6
Rotate the created shoes and attach them to
the legs. Send to Back (Shift-Control-[),
placing the shoes under the legs.
Step 7
Create the arms, using the same techniques
as we used for the legs. Object >
Expand the created strokes and fill them with skin-tone color.
Step 8
Duplicate the arms and fill the top copy with the same pink color as we have
for the t-shirt. Use the Eraser Tool
(Shift-E) to create short sleeves by deleting the rest of the arm shape.
3. How to Draw the Medal and Trophy
Step 1
Let’s start making a medal from a 20 x 20 px yellow circle. Place it in
the center of the character’s chest.
Step 2
Keeping the circle selected, go to Object > Path > Offset Path and
set the Offset value to 5 px. Make the new shape slightly
darker.
Step 3
Make a 6
x 35 px white rectangle, rotate it 45
degrees, and place it across the medal to make a reflection.
Select the larger circle and the rectangle
and delete the unneeded white pieces using the Shape Builder Tool (Shift-M) while holding down Alt.
Make the white shape less opaque by
lowering the Opacity to 20% in the Transparency panel.
Step 4
Now let’s make a red ribbon for the medal.
Create a 10 x 52 px rectangle and
place it as shown in the image below.
Select its bottom corners with the Direct Selection Tool (A), hold Shift and drag them to the left, making
the shape skewed. Place the ribbon beneath the medal by pressing Control-[ a few times.
Step 5
Keeping the ribbon selected, double-click
the Reflect Tool (O). Set the Axis to Vertical and press Copy
to create the second half of the ribbon, flipped to the other side. Move it to
the opposite shoulder.
Step 6
Now let’s make a golden trophy cup. Start by
creating a 42 x 54 px yellow
rectangle. Use the Direct Selection Tool
(A) to make its bottom corners fully rounded.
Create two more rectangles for the bottom
part of the cup, making them slightly darker.
Step 7
Create a 24 x 27 px rectangle for the handle. Selects its top and bottom
left anchor points with the Direct
Selection Tool (A) and make the corners fully rounded. Send the shape to Back
(Shift-Control-[), beneath the cup.
Apply Offset
Path with -5 px Offset value to
create a smaller shape inside of it.
Select both shapes and apply Minus Front function of the Pathfinder panel to cut the top shape
out.
Step 8
Use the Reflect Tool (O) to flip the handle over the Vertical Axis, creating a mirrored copy for the opposite side.
Use the Star Tool to add a large star to the cup. You can find this tool in
the same drop-down menu as the Rectangle
Tool (M).
Step 9
Place the cup in the girl’s hand. Add two 28 x 28 px circles to the tips of the
arms, depicting stylized fists.
Great! Looks like our character is ready.
Let’s make some background details.
4. How to Design a Festive Background
Step 1
Let’s start by drawing a balloon from an 80 x 80 px circle.
Go to Effect
> Warp > Arc Lower and set the Bend
value to 60%.
Click OK
and Object > Expand Appearance to
apply the effect.
Step 2
Add a tiny 10 x 8 px rectangle to the bottom of the balloon and apply Effect > Warp > Shell Lower with 20% Bend value.
Object
> Expand Appearance to apply the effect.
Step 3
Let’s use the Pen Tool (P) to draw a vertical line for the string. Go to Effect > Distort & Transform >
Zig Zag.
Set the:
Size value to 5 px
Ridges per segment to 3
Points to Smooth
Click OK
and go to Object > Expand Appearance
to apply the effect.
Step 4
Use the Pen Tool (P) and the Curvature
Tool (Shift-`) to add a stroke for the highlight on top of the balloon.
We can make the balloons colorful if we
want to make the whole image more festive. Or we can fill the silhouette with a
slightly darker color than the background in order to emphasize the character,
so that no other elements distract the viewer’s attention.
Step 5
Let’s copy the balloon a few times and
arrange the elements around the character. Vary the size and brightness of the
balloons to create a feeling of perspective.
Add some strokes in the bottom of the
composition to place our character on the ground.
Yay! Our Celebration Sporty Character
Illustration Is Finished!
Congratulations! And thank you
for running this marathon up to the end together with me. Let’s add a final
touch to our illustration and speckle some colorful confetti. Now you’ve got
the first prize!
I hope you’ve enjoyed following this simple
tutorial and learned some new tips and trips that will help you design flat
characters.
