Adobe Illustrator - Day 2

In the next few days, I will be totally busy with testing the standard tools and finding out how to work with them correctly. It is already obvious to me that there is not "one single solution" to achieve something. In this case, Illustrator and Photoshop do not differ at all. But of course I try to use the most efficient way from the beginning, so I don't have to deal with questions like these in the long term. It is easier to adjust contours and repair mistakes than in Photoshop. - Even if you don't back up layers after some editing, which seems to make Illustrator much more suitable for projects where regular and numerous concept changes are normal. 

Compared to Day 1, it was a little more tricky to create abstract and geometric shapes like rectangles with rounded corners, linked circles or spirals. Nevertheless I was already able to find out much more efficient and accurate ways to work with shapes like these compared to Photoshop. 

Adobe Illustrator - Day 1

Since years I mostly work with Adobe Photoshop for graphic design purposes. - But I had to recognize a long time ago that there are even better programs with which I might be able to achieve much better results. To improve my skills, to perfect the personal work flow, and to qualify for new divisions, one of the applications I want to get used to in 2018 will be Adobe Illustrator.

I quick-drew the fictional character Amy Rose by Sega, scanned it, opened it in Illustrator, and tried to trace the face as good as possible. Since the interface and tools of Illustrator and Photoshop differ, it was more difficult than expected. - But not impossible after all.

To have some help I currently practice with a manual "Adobe Illustrator CC - Das umfassende Handbuch" by the author and designer Monika Gause. Up to now, I can totally recommend this book since all descriptions are easy to understand and underlined with hundreds of screenshots. ISBN: 978-3-8362-4505-0

New Year, New Goals!

2018! Another new year, and therefore a new opportunity to freshly set up some New Year's resolutions. Besides doing more sport, living healthier and trying to pull less all-nighters (simply the classics), my primary goals are to focus much more on popular and professional editing and design applications. - Programs I already worked with, but also programs I never ever used before. This includes graphic and web design applications, film and special effects editing software, and also, for my very first time, 2D- and 3D animation programs.

2018 will be a big year. It is going to be exhausting, nerve-wracking, challenging and desperate with sleepless nights snapping patience. But it is also going to be much more interesting, professional, diversified and creative since the last couple of years. I am positive that this year will set up a big step forward. - Reason enough to start documenting successes and projects with this blog, hoping that some posts might also be helpful for some of you, too.

Sincerely yours, and a Happy New Year,

Armin Kunz.