
Smashing Magazine we smash you with the information that will make your life easier. really.
50 Excellent Adobe Illustrator Video Tutorials
By Jacob Gube, January 4th, 2009 in Tutorials | 77 Comments | Forum
Adobe Illustrator is the industry-standard when it comes to the creation of vector graphics. Though a very robust tool - the learning curve involved in mastering it can be high. Thankfully, there are abundant resources on the web that allows you to “learn by doing”.
Video tutorials (in general) enable the learner to witness – step-by-step – how a particular technique works. We often learn best by seeing how things are done and following along with the instructor (much like in a classroom environment).
In this article, we present to you 50 excellent Adobe Illustrator video tutorials. We’ve broken down the video tutorials into several categories that include creating objects, effects, and general tips and techniques.
So fire up Illustrator, watch a few of these videos, and hopefully you will have learned a tip or two by the end of your adventures into these Illustrator video tutorials!
General Tips and Techniques
Patterns and Shapes in Adobe Illustrator
This tutorial is based on an advertisement that uses patterns and shapes to create a unique design effect.
Importing and Manipulating Images in Illustrator
Learn the concepts of importing and manipulating external images in Illustrator.
Creative Masking Techniques
See a method for using complex masking techniques in Illustrator.
Making a Custom Art Brush
Create your own custom Art Brush that you can re-use in multiple projects via this Illustrator video tutorial.
Using Kuler with Illustrator
This tutorial walks you through the process of interfacing with kuler (a community website for sharing color themes) via Illustrator so that you can easily select your color pallete.
Live Color in Illustrator CS3
Learn about the Live Color option in Illustrator.
Complete Guide to the Pen Tool
Master the Pen tool (one of the most used and complex features in Illustrator) in this video tutorial.
All about Masking
Learn the concepts of masking in Illustrator in this video tutorial.
Adobe Illustrator Masking Tutorial
This short and sweet tutorial will cover the basics of masking in Adobe Illustrator.
Opacity Mask
You’ll learn about a technique for performing opacity masking (usually done in Photoshop) in Adobe Illustrator creative selecting with the Marquee tool.
Clipping Masks
Learn about clipping masks to streamline the creation of complex objects in this excellent Illustrator video tutorial.
Vespa Speed Trace
In this video, you’ll see a method for speed tracing a stock image (in this particular case, a Vespa scooter is used as the reference image).
Offset Path tool
Master the Offset Path tool by following along this video tutorial.
Using the Paintbrush Tool
You’ll discover the powers of the Paintbrush tool in Illustrator in this excellent video tutorial.
Working with Layers and Groups
Understanding layers and groups in Illustrator (which is slightly different in Photoshop) can be a daunting task – but not so if you watch this video tutorial.
Working with Gradients and Blends
Learn the concepts and techniques behind utilizing gradients and blends to add graduated colors onto your Illustrator objects.
Select Objects Faster and More Efficiently
Maximize your workflow by learning how to select different objects on your Illustrator document in this video tutorial.
Creating Objects
Creating an iPod
In this video tutorial, you’ll see the process involved in rendering an iPod Nano from scratch using the 3D Effect tool (among other tools and techniques) in Illustrator.
Creating 3D Shapes in Illustrator
Utilize the Revolve tool in Illustrator to create a great-looking 3-dimensional shape.
Draw Fluffy Clouds
Create an illustrated cloud using the Pencil tool in Adobe Illustrator via this video tutorial.
How to Draw an Eye
In this video tutorial, you’ll learn the process of drawing an eye in Illustrator.
Drawing Face
Witness a process for creating a vectorized face using a reference photo.
Create a Gear
You’ll witness the creation of a complex gear object in this Illustrator video tutorial that involves a variety of techniques and tools like the Pathfinder tool.
Drawing a Gel Progress Bar
Learn how to create a stylish progress bar (inspired by the iPod progress bar) using a combination of techniques including the use of gradients and masking techniques.
Create Swirling Rainbows with Ease
Create the popular swirling rainbows graphic in Adobe Illustrator by following along this video tutorial.
Make a Fully Vector Metal Help Icon/Button
Make a metallic, shiny vector (and thus flexible in scale) icon via this Illustrator video tutorial.
3D Brochure
Add a bit of flare onto your print design mock-ups by making them 3-dimensional. This video tutorial shows you how to do it with a brochure, but it can easily be adapted to CD labels, software boxes, and other print design objects.
Watermelon
Learn how to render a watermelon in Adobe Illustrator via this excellent video tutorial.
Vector Drawing: “Dog”
In this fast-paced video, you’ll witness the steps involved in drawing a dog in Illustrator.
Creating Vector Swirls and Swooshes
This tutorial shows you how to create trendy swirls and swooshes using the Pen tool.
Roundtrip Logo from Illustrator to Photoshop
Find out the methods of an effective workflow that utilizes the power of Illustrator and Photoshop to create a grungy logo design.
Batman Logo
Create the Batman logo via this tutorial that shows you the true powers of the Illustrator’s Pathfinder tool.
Feynman Diagrams
Create a Feynman diagram in Illustrator for presentations and reports.
Create 3D Pyramid
This Illustrator video tutorial will walk you through the creation of a 3-dimensional pyramid.
Drawing a Nice Vector Golden Badge Award
In this video tutorial, you’ll be using a variety of Illustrator techniques including masking and working with the Pen tool to create a gold badge.
Vectoring an EyeBall
Learn to vectorize a human eye using a reference photo.
Creating Seamless Pattern
You’ll be creating a seamless floral pattern in this Illustrator video tutorial.
Tribal Sun Vector
Create a tribal Sun illustration by following along this excellent video tutorial.
Effects
Simple Silhouettes in Illustrator CS4
Apply silhouettes onto objects by utilizing the Gradient Mesh tool.
Create Wood Effect Using Gradients
Create a wood texture in Illustrator by using the Gradients tool.
Creating a “Firebrush” Logo
Make a fiery, fierce abstract logo design in Adobe Illustrator video tutorial.
Brushed Metal Effect
Give objects scalable “brushed metal” (also known as “brushed aluminum”) texture by following along this Illustrator video tutorial.
Vector Grunge Patterns and Distressed Text
Give text a distressed/worn effect via this Illustrator video tutorial.
Creating Glass, Shining, Reflective, and Vector Text
Go Web 2.0 in Illustrator by creating this sleek, shiny, glossy text effect.
Creating Comic Book Style Text
Give your text a comic book look-and-feel by following along this video tutorial.
Creative Background Effects
In this video tutorial, you’ll learn how to create abstract backgrounds/textures in Illustrator.
Abstract Vector Background
Create a stylish vector background by viewing this excellent Illustrator video tutorial.
Adding Texture
You’ll learn how to give your vector objects some texture in this video tutorial.
Create Intricate Patterns
Learn to create complex patterns in Illustrator via this detailed and highly-involved video tutorial.
Creating Vectorized Shining and Sparkling Heart Artwork and Icons
Make a vector heart piece by following along this wonderful Illustrator video tutorial.
Related content
- Adobe Illustrator Tutorials - Best Of
- Adobe Illustrator Tutorials - Best Of: Part 2
- Designing Websites In Illustrator?
About the Author
Jacob Gube is a Web developer/designer and author of Six Revisions, a blog on Web development and design. If you want to connect with the author, you can follow him on Twitter.
Leave a Reply
Sponsors
- Advertise with us!
Smashing Links
Stay in touch
Popular Posts
- 100 Wordpress Themes
- 83 Wordpress Themes
- 80 AJAX Solutions
- 75 JavaScript Techniques
- 70 Best Photoshop Tutorials
- 70 Best Illustrator Tutorials
- 53 CSS Techniques
- 50 Blog Designs
- 50 Graffiti Artworks
- 50 Brilliant Photos
- 50 Movie Posters
- 40 Free Fonts
- 40 Creative Layouts
- 35 Beautiful Icon Sets
- Beautiful Desktop Wallpapers
- Beautiful Macro Photos
- Beautiful Underwater Photos
- Free Design Templates
- Free CSS Layouts
All Posts
- 35 Designers × 5 Questions
- 50 Designers × 6 Questions
- 404 Error Pages
- AJAX Libraries
- AJAX Solutions
- AJAX Tutorials
- Badges and Pins
- Batch Image Processing
- Black & White Photography
- Block Quotes
- Blog Designs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
- Blog Headers
- Book Covers
- Brochures and Booklets
- Browsers Round-Up
- Browser Test Suites
- Buzz-Monitoring
- Calendar Designs
- Charts and Diagrams: Tools
- Cheat Sheets
- Code Beautifier
- Copyright Explained
- CSS Coding Techniques
- CSS Designs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
- CSS Clean Code
- CSS Editors
- CSS Expert Ideas
- CSS Float Theory
- CSS Frameworks
- CSS Free Templates
- CSS Footers
- CSS Forms 1, 2
- CSS Frameworks
- CSS Galleries
- CSS Ideas
- CSS Layouts
- CSS Menus
- CSS Print-Layouts
- CSS Specificity
- CSS Styleguides
- CSS Tables
- CSS Tutorials
- CSS-Techniques
- CSS Tools
- Data Grids and Tables
- Data Visualization 1, 2
- Date Stamps
- Design Books 1, 2
- Design Magazines
- Designer's Checkpoints
- Divine Proportion
- Domain Tools
- Dreamweaver Tutorials
- Drupal
- E-Mail Delivery
- Favicons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
- Firefox Themes
- Fireworks Tutorials
- Flash Designs
- Flash Slideshows
- Flash Tutorials
- Fonts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
- Font Management
- Form Design Patterns
- Forums
- Fractals
- Gadgets 1, 2, 3
- Google AdSense
- Google PageRank
- Graffiti
- Graphics Design
- Grid-Based Design 1, 2
- Grunge Design 1, 2
- Hand-Drawing Style 1, 2
- Handwriting and Lettering
- Hotkeys
- HDR Pictures
- HTML Template Systems
- Icon Sets 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
- Icons, Templates 1, 2, 3
- Illustrator Tutorials 1, 2
- JavaScript Techniques
- jQuery
- Laptop Sleeves
- Laptop Designs
- Link Building
- Links in New Windows?
- Macro Photography
- Mascots
- Moleskine Art
- Motion Graphics
- Motion Blur Photos
- Movie Posters
- Music Videos
- Navigation Menus
- Newspaper Designs
- Online Converters
- Online Generators
- Packaging Design
- Pagination
- PDF Magazines
- Photoshop Actions
- Photoshop Tutorials 1, 2
- Pixel Art
- Podcasts
- PNG Transparency
- Portfolios
- Pricing Tables
- Product Designs
- Rain Photography
- RSS Best Design Practices
- RSS Feed Icons
- Screencasting
- Screensavers
- SEO Tools
- Shopping Carts
- Short Movies
- Slideshows & Lightboxes
- Smoke Photography
- Source Code Editors
- Splash Pages
- Start Pages
- Stock Icons
- Space, Nebula wallpapers
- Tab-Based Interfaces
- Tag Clouds
- Textures
- Textures & Backgrounds
- Texture Design
- Tooltips Scripts
- Tutorials
- Typefaces 1, 2
- Type Setting Principles
- Typographic Posters
- Typography In Motion
- Typography Showcase 1 2, 3
- Underwater Photography
- Usability Books
- Usability Glossary
- Usability Nightmares
- Usability Principles
- User Interfaces
- Version Control Systems
- Vintage & Retro Posters
- Vintage & Retro Designs
- Vintage & Retro Tutorials
- Wallpapers 1, 2, 3, 4
- Web 2.0 Tutorials
- Weblog Engines
- Whitespace & Simplicity
- Wordpress Plugins
- Wordpress Themes 1, 2, 3, 4
- Wordpress Toolbox
- WYSIWYG Editors
Fresh Bookmarks
2009 Web Design Trends with How-To’s
A step further is this list of tutorials.
36 Beautiful Wallpapers for Minimalist Lovers
Related to photography from multiple Flickr pools.
100 Login Forms
An inspirational Gallery.
@font-face: The Potential of Web Typography
Take advantage of the @font-face CSS rule.
22 Free Seamless Vector Pattern Resources Perfect For Web Design
A collection of resources and articles related to vector patterns.
10 New PHP Content Management Systems
All based on PHP.
25 Beautiful Logos with Sequential Concept
Sequential logos maybe is a new trend among logo designers.
Designing a blog with HTML5
Much of HTML 5’s feature set involves JavaScript APIs that make it easier to develop interactive web pages.
20+ CSS Data Visualization Techniques
Get inspired.
CSS3 – a big storm is coming
With CSS3 media queries and multi-column layouts it will be a whole new ballgame.
Blogroll
- Bittbox
- CatsWhoCode
- Colorburned
- Design Disease
- Designm.ag
- Deziner Folio
- Dr. Web Magazin (.de)
- Dr. Web Shop (.de)
- Freshome Blog
- FudgeGraphics
- I Love Typography
- MakeUseOf.com
- Naldzgraphics
- Noupe.com
- Pro Blog Design
- Search-This
- Six Revisions
- SmileyCat
- Spoon Graphics
- Typesites
- Usability Post
- Walyou
- Webdesigner Depot
- Weburbanist
- Wellmedicated

























































amahony (January 4th, 2009, 1:57 pm)
Great start of 2009, thanks SM!
Culvi (January 4th, 2009, 2:03 pm)
Nice…Illustrator is my sweet spot! Without it I would perish!
Eddy Munn (January 4th, 2009, 2:17 pm)
Thank you SmashingMagazine, at a quick glance these will surely help!
Andy Gongea (January 4th, 2009, 3:00 pm)
I really appreciate the effort. This post is really helpful
DKumar M. (January 4th, 2009, 3:04 pm)
Nice Collection Jacob, one of the really helpful post around.
Thank you,
DKumar M.
Niels (January 4th, 2009, 3:18 pm)
Yessss! Exactly what I needed! I suck at Illustrator…
Thanks a lot!
woitekk (January 4th, 2009, 3:29 pm)
Great stuff. Let me say, I don’t have to search around for Illustrator tuts now. Almost everything I need I’ve just found in here.
Thanks a lot…
ihsanrama (January 4th, 2009, 6:11 pm)
Thanks dude …
That’s really what I’m looking for.
Great to you for that.. ^_^
lapillus (January 4th, 2009, 8:59 pm)
Oh, just what I’ve been wanting!
Justin Razmus (January 4th, 2009, 9:33 pm)
I’ve used Illustrator quite a bit, and the more I use it, the more I realize I have barely scratched the surface! Thanks for the tips. Great site!
Rakesh.S (January 5th, 2009, 12:16 am)
Expected a more wonderful beginning for Year 2009. :-( .. Thanks for this listing
tom (January 5th, 2009, 12:33 am)
I found this one really useful too Link [vimeo.com]
Void Guru (January 5th, 2009, 12:55 am)
Excellent post…
sigh (January 5th, 2009, 6:03 am)
great post! very usefull
Ops! (January 5th, 2009, 7:28 am)
Thank for good video collection.
Ricardo (January 5th, 2009, 4:34 pm)
Very good post.
I also suck at illustrator and certainly this will help me a lot.
Thank you SM.
bz00 (January 5th, 2009, 7:51 pm)
wow…i like this post..tnx SM!
miladoGeek.com (January 7th, 2009, 4:12 am)
Thanks, Illustrator is very great.
I´ll try with some tutorials now.
Thendenze (January 8th, 2009, 6:23 am)
Great work… thanks
nosferatuz (January 8th, 2009, 11:40 am)
Thanks for the post but considering this is for the great Smashing Magazine you could select just the best examples. There are no more than 10 that are interesting tutorials…
blog.gonzalollorens.com (January 9th, 2009, 2:50 pm)
Gracias, personalmente me viene mu bien para empezar a utilizar el illustrator (llevo un año intenando ponerme a aprender a utilizarlo) y dejar de lado el freehand que ya toca!
Gracias por compartir la información.
Un saludo
speedcu (January 12th, 2009, 1:14 am)
very useful, thanks!
Ron Evans (January 17th, 2009, 1:21 pm)
Sorry guys. The pen tutorial (the one with the guitar…) totally sucks! It doesn’t play and they want you to buy it first. I love SM, so please find a better one. Thanks.
krishna (February 20th, 2009, 9:00 pm)
very nice
Anja (February 21st, 2009, 4:06 am)
@Ron Evans: The guitar tutorial *does* play and it doesn’t ask me to pay. Make sure you have Quicktime installed.
Thanks for the list of tutorials! Some of them are pretty good, especially the last one with the hearts. :)