Getting Spooky with Illustrator
Today I decided to change my focus from Adobe XD to Illustrator. The design challenge was Halloween focused. I learned about the zigzag effect as well as the mesh warp tool. Let’s see what spooky things can be created in illustrator.
The goal here was to create text effects that are creepy and fit in with the Halloween vibe. The first level was to use the zigzag effect alone to see how it affects things. With a text layer selected, adding the effect opens an options menu. From the menu, you can set how many waves and how high they are between each point on the text layer. This can be applied with a smooth or jagged look depending on the mood you are going for.
The second round, applying the zigzag effect to a line creates a perfect waveform. Building shapes out of these waveforms can be applied to the text layer via envelope distort. This allows you to create some very unique shape changes applied to specific areas instead of the entire piece at once.
The final round I learned how to use the mesh warp on a text layer to create some really wild shapes. With the text layer selected again, inside the envelope distort options, the mesh warp can be applied. A grid appears over your text that you can shift each point with independently to distort the text as a whole. The great thing about this is, you can go back and edit the text directly and the distortion will still apply to the changes.
This was a fun exercise. I look forward to seeing how I can apply these techniques to logos and other elements in the future.