Illustrator

In this week's video, I show you how to create professional-quality movie poster credits in Adobe Illustrator. Now in case you're thinking, "Hmm, gosh, I don't give a crap about making movie credits," well, that's not really the point. And now, in case you're thinking, "No really, Deke, when I say I don't give a crap, I mean, literally, I would not give you an ounce of my own crap to learn how to make movie poster credits," yes, you've made yourself clear. (And crudely so. You're normally so nice. What is with you today?) But here's the thing. Read more » 

Welcome to Halloween! And today's scary technique, in which I show you how to make that vector-based craft that's sweeping the nation: Scareflakes! Here's a detail:

They're like snowflakes, in that every one is beautiful and unique. But they scare the poop out of you! (Just look at the image above. Admit it, you're pooping in fear!)

Here's the official poop-free description from lynda.com: Read more » 

This week marks my favorite Deke's Techniques so far, in which I show you how to create an ambigram, which is a word that reads the same whether the page is right-side up or upside-down. Here's what we're about to make:

Don't you just love animated GIFs that play forever and ever? Me neither, but I figured it was important to employ one in this case. Because the first time you see it, it's like what? The second time, it makes sense. And then after that, it gets very annoying. Consider it a test of your ability to concentrate. From now on, IGNORE THE SPINNING THING!

Meanwhile, a word of warning: Even at nearly 12 minutes long, this video goes by fast. If I had it to do over again, I would have slowed a few steps. But that's the nature of blog videos. Once they're out there, they're out there. Still, it's cool. And you can always pause, back up, and replay.

(Ye gads, my favorite Deke's Techniques so far requires a lot of apologies. I'm so sorry. Ope, there I go again!)

Here's the official description from my video publisher lynda.com, which comes to you entirely without my (come to think of it) idiotic qualifiers: Read more » 

In this week's free installment of Deke's Techniques, I show you how to create the perfect Command key symbol in Adobe Illustrator. (For those who may not know, the Command key is the cloverleaf character in the bottom-left corner of a Macintosh keyboard.) Which may prompt you to ask, why? After all, the character is available from many Symbol fonts available for both the Mac and Windows. Two reasons: First, this is an altogether intriguing exercise---for experienced users and novices alike---and it may help you navigate your way around all sorts of symmetrical symbols in the future. Second, you can use this technique to make a symbol that matches other characters in a given font. In other words, drawing the symbol yourself provides you with a designer's degree of control.

Here's the official description from my video publisher lynda.com: Read more »