Adobe Illustrator – Retro & Distressed Text

I have decided to spend more of my free time working on building up digital artworking skills. When it comes to using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, I’m but still a tyro. I spent a short time manipulating text in Illustrator, to create a weathered, retro graphic, following a tutorial found on Spoongraphics. The tutorial was very accessible; both convenient and reassuring.

I’m recording the process and outcome here to log my personal progress.

The finished graphic.

While Abobe Illustrator can appear daunting at first, especially as it uses vectors (mathematic equations) it’s easy enough to rectify errors. I have used Illustrator to render graphics from scratch in the past, and patience (a lot of it) is needed to get illustrative art to flow as naturally as analogue drawings. And while I had at first perceived Illustrator as a “stiff” program with a lack of “freedom”, the benefit of vectors is that it allows for work to scale to large sizes without degrading the quality of the image.

The text and font before tweaking the kerning (the space between each character).

I downloaded a thick, script-type of font to use. DaFont is a good, free resource. Of course, Google Fonts‘ live text allows one to see if a font will serve – before downloading – saving one time. There are other free font resources around the internet, too. (N.B. Nothing in life is truly for free.)

I typed out a word, and I found the characters a little cluttered. It was no big deal, and was easily rectified.

After I had tinkered with the kerning.

I don’t claim to be an ace at typography, so I tentatively adjusted the kerning to aid legibility. Here, I also had the opportunity to manipulate each character to personal preference; for example, to sharpen or to soften them, but I left them alone.

Hey, it’s starting to look like something!!

I sheered the text to add dynamism. (Object > Transform > Shear.) I then applied colour to the text and added a nice, thick outline via Object > Path > Offset Path (offset by 10px).

A cool colour palette.

Now, making a copy of the blue outline and pasting it (behind and) offset, I created depth. After blending the blue layers together, I duplicated the action, adding other colours (behind). It’s a somewhat repetitive and tedious process.

Rinse and repeat until complete!

After copying the top layer (the text) and pasting it behind the original, recoloured green, the most tedious (copy and pasting) tasks are done. …now we’re talkin’! Here’s where the image finally becomes solid. Very clean and sharp-looking.

Upon reflection, I’m seeing aspects of the text that I’d change if I took another shot at this. I feel it’s a little clumsy. I undoubtedly will try this method again – repetition being the most successful way that I learn.

Kiss my afterburners!

The fun yet easy process of adding a worn texture to the image is as simple as applying a Mask (through the Transparency panel). The tutorial came with (free) access to appropriate textures, so I tried out a number of them. The textures really add bite and finish to the graphic, with such little effort.

Even though this 1970s retro feel is quite specific, the core skills used here can be applied to modify text to reflect other aesthetics. I already want to adapt the technique to use on other fonts. I encourage other newbie graphic design students to seek out free tutorials and experiment. It’s rewarding.

Online tutorials – Spoon Graphics

I have always believed that information and techniques are to be shared among fellow peers. If one doesn’t share one’s knowledge, then the skills one posses alone will in time become lost; so there’s really nothing to gain from hoarding things to oneself.

I have a lot to learn about creating digital illustrations and graphic design through using both Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, and Spoon Graphics is a great resource to start creating core skills and study very practical techniques that can be applied to any number of projects. There’s a plethora of written tutorials, complete with all the visual aids one could need. There’s even video tutorials to run though – if that’s a preferred method of learning.

Text with applied effects from a shading tutorial.

That there are established designers out there who realise the importance of sharing their knowledge, and making said knowledge as accessible as possible, is a boon that is not to go ignored. As I come across more online and free resources, I will be sure to log and share them on this blog, in the hopes that they’ll be as of much use to any readers as they are to myself.