Week 3: New ABC Set

Last week's set

New set of letters

Concept: The assignment for this week was to transform the previous letter- set into an entirely new style. This required the use of different tools found in Adobe Illustrator, such as the Delete Anchor Point Tool and the Curvature Tool.

Craft: The letters were made using Adobe Illustrator. I first made a copy of the previous set of letters made last week. After that, I began playing with different angles that the letters could have using the Direct Selection tool to change the direction of the anchor points. After trying to remember what tool was suggested for the project, I stumbled upon the Curvature Tool which made my letters more organic and playful. I decided to use it on the focal angles unique to the particular letter I was working on. For example, the anchor points on the letter A only had to be modified at the bottom or (legs as I call them) to create a bubbly effect. Once I finished bubbling-out the letters, they reminded me of a font that I would find from the 60's. I decided to choose colors that could possibly represent this, using a teal blue for the letter fill and an orange for the stroke. The complements also work to give off a glowing sense.

Composition: It was very important that the letters looked uniform so it would look like all the letters belonged to one font and not multiple different ones. Using a combination of guidelines and eyeballing, I resized each letter to match the height and with of each other, also taking into account how much space they used on the page. Using the same two colors also helped to achieve this goal.

Week 2: Letter Set

Craft: To make each letter, I used the pen tool. I divided the method into two categories based on how the letters looked. Drawing letters with hard edges first, I used the pen tool to draw each vector, making a point each time the angle in the letter changed directions. Hard-edged letters that are more symmetrical such as the letters E, M, and W were easier to make using the ruler tool, smart guides, and guidelines. I then tackled letters that involved curves. These were more challenging as I had to experiment with which direction to angle the line to make a curve in the appropriate direction with  the pen tool. Fortunately, I could correct sloppy curves with the white selection tool to correct the anchor points. This tool also helped my to stylize the look of the letters, creating a jagged look. I then experimented with the pattern in the letters which I found in the color fill menu and styles. To differentiate from each letter, I adjusted the stroke to a heavier point.

Week 1: Intro Post

Hello!

My name is Kyeara Aikens. I am a junior at Saint Xavier University majoring in Studio Art and most recently minoring in Graphic Design.Some of my interests include fashion design, culinary, interior design, and playing flute.