Making Motifs in Adobe Illustrator®: find your unique vector style

This class is geared towards people starting out with vector-based design who want to learn about Adobe Illustrator software and develop their vector style. The latter lessons could also be interesting for illustrators and surface pattern designers who want to explore motif development and style options.

Making Motifs will show you several ways to turn sketches and design ideas into motifs using Illustrator. After covering the fundamentals of vector-based design, I’ll take you through the key tools in the software with lots of tips and examples. By the end of the class you'll be able to create vector motifs that can be used to decorate a greeting card, journal cover, screen background or indeed any surface.

You'll need basic sketching materials (paper, pencil and pen), a way to transfer sketches to the computer (smartphone, camera or scanner), and access to Adobe Illustrator software.

• Welcome
• Two Types of Graphics
• Ways to Create Vectors
• Motif Choice & Research
• Sketching & Scanning Considerations
• Illustrator Quick Tour
• Colour Palettes
• Image Tracing Sketches
• Deconstructed Sketches
• Geometric Shapes & Effects
• Graphics Tablets (as an optional tool)
• Drawing Digitally & Clipping Masks
• Brushes & Combining Techniques
• Creating & Adding Textures
• Re-Colouring Motifs
• Project & Resources
• Thank you