Adobe Illustrator Evaluation

Adobe Illustrator Evaluation

After experimenting on Adobe Illustrator, I created two designs and a figure which I feel show how I have learnt how to create clipping masks, designs from templates and how to use the gradient tool, pen tool, fill tool, drawing tool, layering tool. I feel that I have become proficient in using these on Adobe Illustrator and think it will be helpful when I begin designing garments in future projects. 

I first experimented with the pen tool on Adobe Illustrator when I used a Barbie doll as a template to create a figure. I think that the figure was successful as it has all the sections of the body which are proportional to the Barbie and neat. I was also able to do each body part separately. However, I found it difficult to switch between the straight pen tool and the curved pen tool while in the middle of a line. This meant that some curved areas look a bit rough and not as smooth as I would have liked, so next time I would make sure I fully understood how to use this tool. I think this technique could be applied in the creative industry as it makes it a lot easier and quicker to digitally design clothing because you don't need to always make sure the proportions and shapes are correct. It also means that the template can easily be deleted, where as drawing the template will leave marks behind the design. 

My next two designs were inspired by tropical patterns. I designed a shoe and a T-shirt to showcase different techniques I had learned on Adobe Illustrator. After practicing with the pen tool, I was able to alternate between the curved and straight pen tool which is the technique I used to create my shoe design. 

I designed the shoe first, by placing an image of a shoe into Adobe Illustrator the going round each individual section using the pen tool, to allow each section to be filled in its own way. The main section of the shoe I filled in with this green and yellow pattern as I felt it looked quite tropical, possibly due to the colours, and I liked how large and bold the pattern was. For thew rest of the shoe i used the gradient tool. For the sole of the shoe, i did a circular gradient which was white in the center and black on the outside to give the shoe a 3D effect, as in the sole was curved and sections were further in the distance. For the laces, i used the normal drawing tool and drew each lace in the gradient again to give the 3D effect. Overall, I think my shoe design was my most successful of all my designs as it had perspective, a 3D effect, smooth curved lines and a bold pattern. I think if I was to improve this shoe design, I would try to develop the gradient of the sole so that the fade from black to white was larger. I think this technique would be good to use in industry as now I have the rough shape and each part of the shoe is and individual shape, I can now experiment with the patterns and colours and styling of the shoe without having to redraw it, which saves time and effort and therefore money. 

For my next design, I wanted to link the T-Shirt to the shoes and therefore decided to do a clipping mask of a tropical print (taken from the internet) in the word 'Tropical'. I then placed this onto a photograph of a plain white T-Shirt. I placed the text large across the chest of the shirt so that the pattern was visible and bold. I think this design was less successful than my shoe because the pattern was too small and had too many fine details which meant I had to make the writing bigger to make it visible. I also think the font could have been more interesting, however the design links with my shoes and clearly conveys the tropical influence. I think this technique could be applied in industry as T-Shirts nowadays often are simple with a small logo or text across it, so this technique is perfect for designing a shirt quickly and be able to change it quickly and easily which in turn saves money. 

I also created this top design on Photoshop. I did this by opening an A4 page on Photoshop, then using the pen tool to create my design. I played around with colour, sizing, spacing and transparency of the tools. I then opened another A4 page where I pasted the T-Shirt template. Because it was only a simple template with a clear white area to fill, I used the magic wand to select the area to fill by holding the shift key down and clicking in the centre of the T-Shirt. I then went back to my original design and held alt A, which selected it all, and then alt C, which copied it onto my clipboard. I then went back to my template and pasted the design into it. By doing this technique, I had automatically created a mask which can be reused, so I therefore was able to easily paste into the back of the T-Shirt as well. I think this technique would be good to use in Industry as it enables me to easily paste my design into a simple template, making it quicker and therefore a cheaper technique, however this also means that the template must be simple solid areas for me to fill, and some designs may not be this simple.