Adobe Illustrator CC For Dummies

Chapter 4

Drawing Lines and Shapes

IN THIS CHAPTER

Designing graphics with basic shapes

Building complex shapes

Creating compound paths

Drawing shapes with perspective

Applying isometric effects to shapes

Compelling graphic designs can be put together by artfully arranging simple shapes. In fact, the very simplicity of shapes makes them so widely applicable and effective.

My mission here is not to unleash a shapes-appreciation movement. I’ll leave that to Picasso and his acolytes. Seriously, take some time to explore and appreciate Picasso’s use of shapes (see, for example, the concise discussion of Cubism at www.pablopicasso.org/ ).

Okay, let’s get here-and-now practical. Contemporary print and digital designers use shapes as the foundation for the following:

• Icons
• Logos
• Symbols
• Print design elements
• Navigation buttons and other elements of app interfaces
• And much more

What do the items in the preceding list have in common? Lots of things, of course, including the fact that every ...