Creating Custom Arrowheads for Styling Linear Vector Graphics in Adobe Illustrator

Unlock the full potential of strokes in Adobe Illustrator by creating & using your own custom arrowheads to add exciting elements to linear graphics in a few clicks*!

Arrowheads in Adobe Illustrator are a fantastic tool which makes it extremely easy to transform the look of your graphics and turn simple stroked lines into exciting decorative or even illustrative elements in just a few clicks! But let’s be honest, the default arrowheads available in Illustrator suck! But guess what?! You can create your own custom arrowheads, which by the way don’t even need to look like arrows!

I am Evgeniya Righini-Brand, and as a graphic designer I am always looking for ways of making technical or repetitive tasks less laborious and more fun. So creating my own custom arrowheads has been a game changer for me and my design workflow, and I’m super excited to share this hidden opportunity with you so you too can unlock the full potential of the Stroke options in Illustrator!

Creating and using custom arrowheads opens up a lot of new possibilities for quick styling of any kind of linear designs including lettering, monoline illustrations, graphic frames and dividers and even logos and patterns — basically any vector artwork which contains open paths can be customised using arrowheads!

In this class you will learn everything you need to know to be able to:

• create your own properly functioning arrowheads;
• get the most out of them when applying them to your work;
• manage your arrowheads and arrowhead sets so you don't clutter your Stroke Panel.

This class is for graphic designers, illustrators, pattern designers and anyone else who likes to experiment with linear graphics in their work and who has some basic knowledge of Adobe Illustrator (mainly about using the Pen & Shape tools — if you need to learn the basics of using Adobe Illustrator, don't hesitate to check out our class Creating Trendy Abstract Patterns in Illustrator).

Using arrowheads is a super fun, quick and easy way to add an extra touch to your graphics, and I cannot wait see your custom arrowheads and how you use them in your work!

Join me in this class, and let’s make something awesome!

* As with any presets, making your own arrowheads will take as much time as you want to spend designing them, but once you have created them, you’ll be able to quickly and easily change the appearance of any strokes in your designs! 

Custom arrowheads are extremely useful when you need to add unique graphics at the ends of the lines and make them follow the direction of the paths, without needing to manually position and align them every single time. It’s not something you would do when you need to style just one line, but if you have multiple lines in one design, or if you need to be able to quickly repeat the styling on multiple lines and be able to quickly and easily check out a number of different alternatives, that’s when using arrowheads is super useful!

CONTEST

As you might know, we love running student contests, so we are excited to invite you to enter the contest in this class for a chance to win a 1 Year Skillshare Premium Membership or 1 out 3 of our very special Festive Arrowhead sets right in time to create something fun for the holidays!

To participate:

• Post your project in this class before Wednesday, 5 December 2018 12:00 (noon) EST;
• Leave a review for this class;
• Follow us on Skillshare.

Cannot wait to see your submissions! Good luck!

• Class Introduction + Contest Details!
• Locating & Loading the Arrowhead Presets FIle
• Understanding Arrowhead Symbols & Their Structure
• Ideas for Creating Custom Arrowheads
• Creating Your Own Custom Arrowheads
• Connecting Your Arrowhead to the Stroke
• Arrowhead Placement Setup
• Finalising Arrowhead Symbols
• Loading Your Custom Arrowheads
• Setting up Arrowheads to Style Strokes
• Creating Graphics Styles for Easy Arrowhead Application
• Managing Your Custom Arrowhead Sets
• Additional Tips for Using Arrowheads & Quick Re cap
• Final Thoughts & Conclusion