Make Creative Assets In Adobe Illustrator Masterclass

Develop graphic design skills making assets for scrapbooking, design projects, social media, printables, & social media

What you'll learn
Make a range of creative assets in Illustrator including photo overlays, scrapbook papers, text objects and more
Create a scrapbook collection including papers, text objects and digital illustration
Create marketing materials for a digital collection
Package a collection for delivery including copyright and licence information
Work more confidently in Illustrator
Know handy shortcut keys and techniques
Draw shapes, use Illustrator tools and effects
Create designs suitable for print on demand products, digi-scrapping, and stock sites
Reinforce everything you learn with practical exercises
Requirements
You should be able to use your PC or Mac at a competent beginner level.
You should have Adobe Illustrator installed on your computer - almost any version is ok although CC is recommended.
The process for creating every design is fully explained and practical exercises are included.
Where specific fonts and backgrounds are useful you will get links to free downloadable resources.
Where hand drawings are required for practice, these are provided for you to use.
Description
Are you ready to make digital items you can sell online or give away as collateral to readers,  subscribers and followers? Are you ready to learn Illustrator in a practical way - actually making things?Great! Welcome! This course is for you. It's a fun and a practical way to learn Illustrator and start building collections of assets you can monetize. These can be sold online to digital scrapbookers (digiscrapping), to designers for use in their design projects, for social media use and printables. In this course, you "learn by doing" as you make a range of creative assets suitable for scrapbooking, digital projects and social media marketing purposes.  You will learn to make scrapbook papers, seamless repeating patterns, type elements, graphic photo overlays for social media, digital art, and much more. These designs can be sold on Etsy or other online market places, they can be uploaded to Spoonflower to make fabric and wallpaper, they can be used at print on demand sites as book covers and mugs, and can be sold as vector or bitmap stock images. There are so many ways to monetize the designs you'll make in this course.Who is your trainer?I'm Helen Bradley and I've taught thousands of students to use Illustrator and Photoshop. I don't fluff about and I'm focused on helping you learn to use Illustrator in a practical and smart way. My workflows are carefully structured for maximum success and I explain everything so you know the 'why' as well as the 'how' of any process. I have a huge commitment to my students' learning - I answer all student questions and I often add extra videos to a course to help students with questions that others might also benefit from learning from.What will you learn?When you complete this course, you'll:   be able to create scrapbook papers, type elements and ancillary graphics in Illustratorbe able to color coordinate a collection of itemsknow how to package a product line for salehave extended your knowledge of Illustrator toolshave learned new tips and techniques that you can use every daybe able to confidently create graphic assets for a range of design and commercial useshave developed new graphic design skills and workflowsDo I hear you say "…but I don't know how to use Illustrator (and frankly, I'm scared of it)"?I understand!    I've been there.Illustrator can be really scary to use when you first start out.    … but I've created a better way to learn Illustrator. One that makes it a lot less scary and a lot more fun.    You see, you'll learn to make items you can sell, give away on your blog, and use yourself. So you'll be making designs that you can do something with at the same time that you are learning Illustrator. There's no waiting! There's no hours of learning before you can get started doing something. In fact you can start today. Complete the first few lessons and you'll have your first scrapbook paper made!     Do I hear you say "… but I hate the Pen tool!"?I understand! Most people hate the pen tool. You are not alone!… I believe that Illustrator is so much more than its (dreaded) Pen tool – so we'll use the pen tool only when we have to (which is practically never) and you'll see just how much you can achieve without it.     Do I hear you say "… but I can't draw"?No problem! If you can use a mouse you can complete this course. Quite simply, you don't need to be able to draw. In fact many designers can't draw and yet they make fantastic designs and great products. If you can draw – great! If you can't draw – don't worry, you'll be able to do succeed in this course even if drawing isn't a skill you have mastered.  In those sections of the course where you learn to digitize hand drawn sketches I will give you some of my sketches you can work with so you can master the skills even if you don't  yet have drawings you can use.Are you ready to extend your Illustrator skills?If you already know the basics of using Illustrator, taking this class will elevate your skills to a new level. You'll learn to use tools and techniques in a practical situation. No laboriously making shapes just to learn what the pathfinder tool does. No! In this class you'll learn the pathfinder because you need it, you'll draw shapes intrinsic to the design you are making - you'll be putting your skills to practical use from the first lecture. You'll reinforce your existing knowledge as you apply it to real world designs. And if we use tools you've never used before - great! You'll learn to use them fast and easily so you understand how you can put them to work in your daily workflow.     Do I hear you say "Please don't waste my time"?If there is one thing I hate it’s wasting time and you probably do too. So, I don't say "um", I don't fluff about, I don't make mistakes, I know my stuff and I show you how to do things efficiently and effectively. I speed up the videos where appropriate so you don't get bored or distracted. I'm 100% focused on helping you learn.    In short, I'll get straight to the point and I’ll maximize what you learn in every class.    Do I hear you say "… but I can't afford the latest Illustrator version"?Again, I understand. I teach thousands of students who can't afford the monthly Creative Cloud payment. If you're using practically any version of Illustrator you should be able to complete most of this course.  That said, a small number of the designs we'll make require the use of the Pattern Make tool which was introduced in Illustrator CS6 (and which is in Illustrator CC). So, if you are using Illustrator CS5, or earlier you may want to skip those sections.Will I just learn to make things?Well Yes, and No! Yes, you'll learn to make all sorts of creative assets, but you'll also learn to use tools such as the Transform tools and Type tools and you'll learn techniques and tips for working everyday in Illustrator.You'll get plenty of practice using Illustrator and you'll grow in confidence with every lecture.How will I learn?This course is made up 100% of video content. You'll watch my screen as I show you how each design is made. I'll explain what I am doing and why so you can learn as you watch. At the end of each section is an optional assignment you can do to test and reinforce your learning.Join me… I hope you will join me in this Illustrator class. I look forward to meeting you and I invite you to contact me if you have any questions as you work through the lectures.  cheers!Helen

Overview

Section 1: Introduction

Lecture 1 Welcome

Lecture 2 How to study this course

Section 2: Getting Started

Lecture 3 Create a New Illustrator File

Lecture 4 Save your work as an Illustrator (.ai) File

Lecture 5 Open an Illustrator File

Lecture 6 A Quick 5 minute tour of Illustrator

Section 3: Create a Patterned Scrapbook Paper

Lecture 7 Set up the Scrapbook Paper Document

Lecture 8 Create the Scrapbook Paper Background

Lecture 9 Create the Uneven Dots Pattern

Lecture 10 Outline the Dots and Make a Gradient

Lecture 11 Save as a Jpeg

Section 4: Basic Pattern Making Skills

Lecture 12 Create a Repeating Pattern

Lecture 13 Move, Scale, and Rotate a Pattern

Lecture 14 Save a Pattern as an .ai File

Section 5: More Advanced Patterns

Lecture 15 Create a Geometric Pattern using the Pattern Make Tool

Lecture 16 Create a large pattern with many objects

Lecture 17 Wainscot Effect

Lecture 18 Make a pattern using Repeat Transform

Lecture 19 Overlapping Pattern

Section 6: Journalling Text Boxes and Labels

Lecture 20 Text Box

Lecture 21 Scallop Edge Text Box

Lecture 22 Curly Shape Text Box

Section 7: Type Effects

Lecture 23 Watercolor Text Effect

Lecture 24 Overlapped Text Effect

Lecture 25 Stitched Font

Section 8: Photo Overlays

Lecture 26 Circles Pattern Photo Overlay

Lecture 27 Diamond Shape Overlay

Lecture 28 Hexagonal Grid Photo Overlay

Lecture 29 Quote Photo Overlay

Section 9: Digitize Hand Drawings

Lecture 30 Trace a Hand Drawn Sketch

Lecture 31 Live Paint and Brushed Lines

Lecture 32 Alternate Trace Option with Live Paint

Lecture 33 Trace an Image by Hand

Section 10: Additional Advanced Skills and Effects

Lecture 34 Save as a PDF

Lecture 35 Texture an Illustrator Image in Photoshop

Lecture 36 Make Shapes for Photoshop in Illustrator

Section 11: Make a Scrapbook Collection

Lecture 37 Create a Themed Collection

Lecture 38 Create Marketing Materials

Lecture 39 Preparing a collection for Distribution

Section 12: Bonus Lectures and Answers to Student Questions

Lecture 40 Another solution for fracture lines in patterns and extracting pattern swatches

Lecture 41 A Possible bug in Illustrator CC 2018, 2019 & 2020

Anyone wanting to make digital assets for scrapbooking and social media use,Anyone wanting to create saleable assets and asset collections for sites like Etsy and Spoonflower,Anyone who wants to gain insight into the process and requirements for creating saleable digital designs,Beginner Illustrator users who want to learn Illustrator in a fun and practical way,Anyone who knows a bit about Illustrator and who wants to advance their knowledge, and learn to design using a smart workflow,Self taught Illustrator users will gain value by extending their knowledge of tools and techniques