Creating a Logo in Illustrator

CreativePro Magazine issue 9 coverThis article appeared in Issue 9 of CreativePro Magazine.

Sooner or later, most InDesign users will have to leave the comfort of its text frames and its Pages panel and venture into the world of Adobe Illustrator, with its point type, area type, and artboards—most likely, when creating a logo.

Of course, when it comes to handling paragraphs of text, InDesign is second to none, but when we’re talking about designing just a word—or initials or a tagline—then Illustrator gives you a lot more options.

And if the logo you’re creating also includes a custom shape or symbol, then Illustrator’s vector tools offer greater sophistication than the basic vector shapes available in InDesign or Photoshop.

Simplicity in logo design is something to aspire to, but you don’t want to limit your options. Illustrator allows a faster route to a simple treatment than InDesign would, and if you need bells and whistles, they are readily available.

Why Illustrator and not Photoshop? A logo will be used at a variety of sizes, so it’s essential that the artwork be scalable—not something you can do to pixels without limits. You can enlarge Illustrator’s vector art to your heart’s content, from a business card to a billboard. That is not the case with vectors in Photoshop, which will be rasterized in most cases.

So, here are some techniques for working with logos that even Illustrator novices can use with confidence.

. . . .

This article is for members only. To continue reading, please sign in, or sign up for a membership today. Thanks for supporting CreativePro!

BECOME A MEMBER

CreativePro membership keeps you up-to-date with the technology, solutions, and resources to strengthen your professional development.

For just $6.50/month (billed annually), you’ll get access to valuable benefits, including:

  • 12 monthly issues of CreativePro Magazine, filled with practical, real-world tutorials written by experts
  • Downloadable resources including templates, fonts, scripts, design assets, cheat sheets, and more
  • Hundreds of members-only tutorial and tip articles
  • Top Tips for InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator ebook collection
  • Discounts on events and books
  • and more...

Sign up now!


More Resources To Master Adobe Illustrator

CreativePro Week is the essential HOW-TO conference for creative professionals who design, create, or edit in Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, and Microsoft PowerPoint.

Featuring over 30 expert speakers and 75 sessions, CreativePro Week offers five days of in-depth training and inspiration, all in one place. No matter your skill level, you’ll learn techniques and best practices you can start using immediately to improve your productivity.

LEARN MORE

Members get a special discount on registration! Sign up today.

Nigel French is a graphic designer, photographer, and design teacher, based in Lewes, UK. He is author of InDesign Type (now in its 4th Edition), The Type Project Book (with Hugh D’Andrade) and the Photoshop Visual Quickstart Guide (with Mike Rankin) from Peachpit Press. He has recorded more than fifty titles in the LinkedIn Learning online training library.

Links

Website
LinkedIn
Instagram
X (Formerly Twitter)
Facebook
>