Creating Graphics and Illustrations
Structure your artwork
Strong vector work depends on understanding objects, paths, anchor points, and stacking order. Know the difference between fills and strokes, open and closed paths, and how grouping and layers control selection and organisation. Understand appearance attributes and how they can be applied without altering underlying geometry.
Precision and reuse
Master alignment, distribution, transform origins, and snapping. Know the purpose of guides, grids, and rulers for precise placement. Understand reusable elements: symbols or linked instances that update globally, and styles that apply consistent attributes across many objects. Recognise path operations such as combining, subtracting, and intersecting shapes, and when a live effect is preferable to a destructive edit.
Colour and type in artwork
Know how to build and apply swatches, global colour edits, and gradients. For type, understand point vs. area text, converting type to outlines (and that it removes editability), and why outlining before delivery to a printer without fonts is common practice.
Traps to watch
- Destructive vs. live: rasterising or expanding an effect removes the ability to tweak it later.
- Selection confusion: isolation mode and grouping change what a click selects.
- Stroke alignment: centred, inside, and outside strokes change apparent size and can clip at edges.
- Outlining type is irreversible in terms of text editing; keep an editable copy.
Rule of thumb
Build with the fewest, cleanest objects: combine shapes rather than stacking many near-duplicates, use global swatches for brand colours, and keep a layered, editable master file alongside any flattened delivery copy.