optical illusion

Rad Pattern in Illustrator that Makes you Dizzy

abduzeedo — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:44:30 +0000

Yesterday I was checking a book I have about skateboard decks design called New Skateboard Graphics. It's a super cool book and we have even given a copy away here on Abduzeedo. So while I was flipping through the pages I found this beautiful design that was a crazy pattern. It was a deck from Element, and I decided to try to do that in Illustrator.

So in this tutorial I will show you how to create a rad pattern in Illustrator that will definitely make you dizzy. We will use basic tools such as Rectangle Tool, Ellipse Tool and the Blend Tool.

Step 1

Open Illustrator and with the Ellipse Tool (L) create a circle. Use black for the Stroke.

Step 2

With the Direct Selection Tool (A) select and delete 3 segments of the circle, leave just the bottom right one.

Step 3

Duplicate the segment and the rotate it. Use the image below for reference. With the Direct Selection Tool (A) select the 2 vertices and then click on Connect Selected End Points. Choose Corner for the the Join Points option.

Step 4

Duplicate the object and bring it down a little bit. With the Direct Selection Tool (A) connect the points to create an object. Use the image below for reference.

Step 5

Again with the Direct Selection Tool (A) move the points in the middle of the object. The idea is to make the area of the object a bit thicker.

Step 6

Fill the object with black and remove the stroke. After that duplicate and flip the object horizontally. Position them like in the image below.

Step 7

Duplicate a few times and group them. Then duplicate the group and move it down at the bottom of the page. With the Blend Tool (B) select the first group and then click on the group at the bottom. Double click on the Blend Tool (B) icon to open the Blend Options. Change the Spacing to Specified Steps to 55. You will have the texture done.

Step 8

Create a new document, use 1920x1200 pixels. With the Rectangle Tool (M) create a rectangle and fill it with #394A5F.

Step 9

Copy the Blend objects from the other document and paste in this one. Duplicate it untill you feel the whole screen with the texture. Also fill them with white.

Step 10

Select the Blend objects and go to Objects>Expand. Then with the Direct Selection Tool (A) select some elements and delete them. Use the image below for reference

Step 11

Select all objects except the blue background and to to Effect>Stylize>Drop Shadow... Use Color Burn for the Mode, 40% Opacity, 0 for X Offset, 1px for the Y Offset, 2px for the Blur and Black for the Color.

Step 12

Place an old paper texture in your document. The one used is courtesy of Shutterstock and you can download it here. After that change the Transparency to Multiply.

Conclusion

Using basic tools in Illustrator and an old paper texture we can create very nice patterns with that vintage feel, in this case we have even created a crazy optical illusion. This tutorial as I said was inspired by skateboard deck design from the Element team and It's great to practice with Illustrator.

Click on the image for Full Preview

Download the AI file

Click here to download the Illustrator file used for this tutorial

About the author

Abduzeedo is a blog about design. There are all sorts of articles for those who want to look for inspiration. Also you will find very useful tutorials for the most used applications out there, with a special selection of Photoshop Tutorials and Illustrator Tutorials. You can get in follow us via Twitter at @abduzeedo

Even More Amazing 3D Chalk Art

Daan — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:39:36 +0000

A while ago Paulo made This post on 3d chalk art, when reading a magazine, I found some examples which were worth posting as well.
So here's part 2!
Enjoy!

Edgar Müller and Manfred Stader

Here are the first few, made by Edgar Müller and Manfred Stader, a duo which work together to make the most fabulous street paintings:

Julian Beever

After having a look at the previous artists, you can look at the amazing work of Julian Beever (also shown in the previous entry by Paulo):

Kurt Wenner

The following paintings were made by Kurt Wenner

This Was Made At Waterloo Station, London

Eduardo Ruiz Relero

Last but not least, the next paintings were made by Eduardo Ruiz Relero

I hope you enjoyed this post,
Daan.

About the author

Hey There! I´m Daan Weijers, I come from Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
I enjoy design and drawing very much, also, I play guitar, play soccer and hang out with friends.
Please don't be mad if you miss my posts, but it's mainly due to a personal project, called iPaperr

Amazing 3D Chalk Art

PauloGabriel — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:25:36 +0000

I've already seen some of these sometimes before, and it's really amazing who these dudes manage to make such realistic 3D paintings, messing with nothing but our perception.

And I just wonder whether or not this is just a hobbie for them, or is it their actual income source. Anyways, Julian Beever and Kurt Wenner are trully talented artists.

Julian Beever

Kurt Wenner

Julian Beever

Kurt Wenner

Julian Beever

About the author

Hello, everyone! I'm Paulo Gabriel, designer from Porto Alegre, Brazil, born in 1984. I have worked as a webdesigner since 2006, but websites and blogs have been a hobby for me since 1999. Here in Abduzeedo, I try to bring only the hot stuff for you... and hope that all of you enjoy my posts! For more cool stuff, you may also follow me on Twitter.

optical illusion

Rad Pattern in Illustrator that Makes you Dizzy

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Step 8

Step 9

Step 10

Step 11

Step 12

Conclusion

Download the AI file

About the author

Sponsored Links:

Even More Amazing 3D Chalk Art

A while ago Paulo made This post on 3d chalk art, when reading a magazine, I found some examples which were worth posting as well.
So here's part 2!
Enjoy!

Edgar Müller and Manfred Stader

Julian Beever

Kurt Wenner

Eduardo Ruiz Relero

I hope you enjoyed this post,
Daan.

About the author

Sponsored Links:

Amazing 3D Chalk Art

I've already seen some of these sometimes before, and it's really amazing who these dudes manage to make such realistic 3D paintings, messing with nothing but our perception.

About the author

Sponsored Links:

optical illusion

Rad Pattern in Illustrator that Makes you Dizzy

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Step 8

Step 9

Step 10

Step 11

Step 12

Conclusion

Download the AI file

About the author

Sponsored Links:

Even More Amazing 3D Chalk Art

A while ago Paulo made This post on 3d chalk art, when reading a magazine, I found some examples which were worth posting as well. So here's part 2! Enjoy!

Edgar Müller and Manfred Stader

Julian Beever

Kurt Wenner

Eduardo Ruiz Relero

I hope you enjoyed this post, Daan.

About the author

Sponsored Links:

Amazing 3D Chalk Art

I've already seen some of these sometimes before, and it's really amazing who these dudes manage to make such realistic 3D paintings, messing with nothing but our perception.

About the author

Sponsored Links:

A while ago Paulo made This post on 3d chalk art, when reading a magazine, I found some examples which were worth posting as well.
So here's part 2!
Enjoy!

I hope you enjoyed this post,
Daan.