Adobe Illustrator is one of the most powerful design tools available for both Mac and PC users. However, it can be pretty intimidating for first time users. There are many places to find tutorials on how to use Illustrator, but one of the most helpful places I’ve found is the popular web video sharing site, YouTube. If you are new to Illustrator and want to learn through tutorial videos, try out the following smattering of educational YouTube tutorials below!
One of the most important parts of Adobe Illustrator is the Pen tool. Tutvid, on YouTube, has an excellent video describing how to use this powerful Illustrator function. Be sure to watch it when you start learning how to use Illustrator, as it very important for good designs.
After the pen tool, tackle this intro tutorial video to the text effects in Illustrator. It’s a swell intro to the many options available in Illustrator for text usage by graphic designers.
If you want to create vector art illustrations, as used in many graphic designs then check out this YouTube tutorial on this process in Illustrator. It’s lengthy, at around 9 minutes, but it is very helpful. I’ve used vectors designed in Illustrator in a wide variety of projects and it is important to be able to create your own. Also, everyone’s seen the awesome ‘swirls’ and ‘swishes’ vectors used in teeshirts, cards, web templates and more. Want to create your own? Go for it with this and this tutorial on YouTube, both perfect for this type of work.
One of the most useful parts of Adobe Illustrator is using it to design logos. There are literally loads of Adobe Illustrator Logo design tutorials on YouTube, but one of the best ones is available from user mlwebco. It’s 7 minutes and 38 seconds long, but it is a very informative and useful tutorial on logo design. The uploader, mlwebco, has been very helpful in replying to other users comments and questions posted on the video. Make sure to try the intro to Adobe Illustrator video tutorials first before tackling this one as it is a little more in-depth.
Finally, if you have exhausted all of the above tutorials, than sit back, grab some snacks and watch the Illustrator Tutorials YouTube playlist. It is an absolutely fantastic selection of YouTube clips all about Adobe Illustrator, with tutorials, how-to’s, helpful explanations and more, perfect for budding graphic designers! With 57 videos linked through this playlist, you will need a lot of free time to get through them all, but you’ll learn a lot in the process! Have fun and happy designing!
