It’s been quite awhile since I have put together a tutorial using Adobe Illustrator. I’ve been working with Illustrator a lot more recently and decided to share an easy tutorial that will give your text some depth and make it pop off the page/screen a little more. I’ve used a few of these techniques before in my tutorial “Feature Post Logo” that I wrote last Spring. In that tutorial the finishing touches showed how to use the pen tool to add some shading to the text. This tutorial shows you another technique to achieve a shadow on your text.
STEP ONE – Open Illustrator, Create a New Document and Set your Text
I started out by creating a new document. Most of the time I use graphics for the web; however, there are times when my clients require the artwork for business cards, letterhead or other print collateral. So, you might want to create the new document profile for “print”, so that you don’t have to recreate the artwork if the client needs it for print.
After you have setup your new document, grab your text tool and set your type. For this tutorial, I used one of the great script fonts from House Industries…Sign Painter (House Script). This font isn’t free, but if you look around free font sites like DaFont.com; you should find something that works for you. One thing to note, is that you can use any style of font…I just chose a script font for fun.
I set the font size to 100 point, so that I could shrink it down later on for use on the web. If you use a script font you may need to bring in your tracking a little bit so that the letters flow together a little better. If your layers palette isn’t open go to: Window > Layers and get it opened. Once it’s open click the arrow on the left of the layer name “Layer 1″ and make sure you see the text. You’ll need to see these items as we go along. Once you’re happy with the type…it’s time to move onto step number two. Read the rest of this entry »
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I usally don’t watch too much MTV anymore (except for Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory), but today my co-worker tipped me off about a new show that I’m going to have to put high on my “watch” list. The show is called “Bully Beatdown” and is hosted by Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller a mixed martial arts fighter. The idea of the show is simple:
Ever been picked on by a bully?
Let ‘Mayhem’ Miller know.
He confronts the bully and gives the bully a chance to prove himself in the ring.
One catch…he’s gotta go up against a professional fighter.
If he can beat the professional fighter…the bully wins $10,000.
Check out this trailer of the show…I can’t wait to see these tools get smacked around the cage. The show airs on Sunday March 22nd @ 9:30pm ET/PT.
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With the way the current economy has been going more and more people are looking for creative “out of the box” business ideas to make more money. Whether you are looking to subsidize your monthly income or are trying to get back on your feet after being laid off from your 9 to 5 job, many of us are learning that there are creative ways to make money on the Internet and becoming an Internet Entrepreneur.
Throughout the next few weeks, I will be contacting a number of internet entrepreneurs that are making a move in this economy and setting themselves up with successful internet businesses. I will conduct a brief interview and ask them what tools their using to promote their businesses, what their business is about, how they came up with the idea and what was the motivating factor to start up their own business.
My first interview/case study is with Jason from IWearYourShirt.com. Jason is making a living off of promoting businesses by, you guessed it…wearing their shirts.
Jason, thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions. First off, can you tell me a little bit about your background?
I’m a 26 year old business-creative currently living in Jacksonvile, FL. I’ve used the internet and design for business pursuits for the last 10 years, both professionally and personally. After working a few design focused jobs, it became clear that the marketing and business end of things were much more interesting and rewarding.
I started out by creating a new document. Most of the time I use graphics for the web; however, there are times when my clients require the artwork for business cards, letterhead or other print collateral. So, you might want to create the new document profile for “print”, so that you don’t have to recreate the artwork if the client needs it for print.
