Basic Shapes & Colors
We will watch these as a class- Practice as we watch the videos
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Non-Representational Design Project
After watching the videos, watch this video to see the instructions for the assignment:

assignment shapes |

Create a non-representational (shouldn't look like anything recognizable) design using all four of the basic shape tools. Follow the instructions below.
Checklist for credit:
Checklist for credit:
- Fill with a wide variety of different colors (solid colors, not gradients yet).
- Demonstrate a wide variety of stroke colors and thicknesses.
- Demonstrate a variety of polygon and star options (# of sides, fat, skinny).
- Demonstrate plenty of overlapping.
Drawing an Animal with Shapes
You have been hired as a graphic designer by Image Designs, Inc. They want you to draw and recreate some logos as vectors for the business.
Complete a minimum of 2 of the animal shapes from the files below - Make an animal out of shapes, and learn to draw a bat. These recreation projects will teach you how to use the basics of Illustrator. You will use only basic shapes to create these images. Create each recreation all on one 8.5 x 11 standard size paper layout.
Save your completed graphic as an AI (Illustrator file) and then export as a PDF file. Label it as last name + first initial + shape (ex. turnermshape.pdf) and save.
Complete a minimum of 2 of the animal shapes from the files below - Make an animal out of shapes, and learn to draw a bat. These recreation projects will teach you how to use the basics of Illustrator. You will use only basic shapes to create these images. Create each recreation all on one 8.5 x 11 standard size paper layout.
Save your completed graphic as an AI (Illustrator file) and then export as a PDF file. Label it as last name + first initial + shape (ex. turnermshape.pdf) and save.
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Tracing Objects
You have been hired as a graphic designer by Big Time Logo, Inc. They want you to replicate 3 logos as they are for the business.
Complete the 3 tutorials - Canadian Flag, Houston Texans, and BP Logo. These recreation projects will teach you how to use the basics of Illustrator and prepare you for your logo design project. I have given you the item to trace for each logo recreation. Save them to your folder and open them in Illustrator to begin the project.
Save your completed graphic as an AI (Illustrator file) and then export as a JPEG file. Label it as last name + first initial + flag (ex. pettywflag.jpg), last name + first initial + texans (ex. pettywtexans.jpg), and last name + first initial + bp (ex. turnerbp.jpg) and save.
Complete the 3 tutorials - Canadian Flag, Houston Texans, and BP Logo. These recreation projects will teach you how to use the basics of Illustrator and prepare you for your logo design project. I have given you the item to trace for each logo recreation. Save them to your folder and open them in Illustrator to begin the project.
Save your completed graphic as an AI (Illustrator file) and then export as a JPEG file. Label it as last name + first initial + flag (ex. pettywflag.jpg), last name + first initial + texans (ex. pettywtexans.jpg), and last name + first initial + bp (ex. turnerbp.jpg) and save.
Files & Links for Project
Canadian Flag![]()
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Create Custom Shapes Project
Start with a new document. Make it a standard 8.5” by 11” size.
All these shapes will fit comfortably on the page. Adobe Illustrator provides several drawing tools to create various shapes and custom geometry. This activity helps you explore the ways different objects are created in Illustrator. Pay attention to the details of the various objects — specific sizes, spatial relationships, tool setting, etc. |
DIRECTIONS
Draw the following shapes to the specified dimensions and position them in approximately the same order, but fill out the space on the letter-sized page
SAVE and SUBMIT
Before saving the file, you need to finish the project by performing the following steps:
Draw the following shapes to the specified dimensions and position them in approximately the same order, but fill out the space on the letter-sized page
- Rectangle — W: 1.75", H: 1.75", fill: black, stroke: none
- Three Stars — Radius 1: 0.75", Radius 2: 0.25", fill: black, stroke: none
- Rounded Rectangle — W: 1.75", H: 1.75", Corner radius: 0.25", fill: white, stroke: black 3 pt
- Small Circles — diameter: 0.25", spacing: .5" apart, fill: black, stroke: none
- Dancing Star — Alt-drag to copy one of the previously-drawn stars and use the Twirl tool. (TIP: Click the tool on the top point of star, then move the tool to the lower right point of star and click/drag to deform as desired)
- Concentric Circles — smallest circle is 0.25", largest is 1.0", fill: none, stroke: black 1 pt (TIP: If you draw this manually, use the Align palette after all the circles are drawn. But also consider using the Oblect Blend tool instead.)
- Polygon -- sides: 5, radius: 1.0", fill: black, stroke: none
- Star inside — points: 5, Radius 1: 1.0", Radius 2: 0.35", fill: white, stroke: none
- Wavy Line — draw rectangle first (W: 4.0", H: 0.2", fill: black, stroke: none), then apply the Twirl tool
- Spirals — try to imitate what you see (the Spiral tool located within the Ellipse tool)
- Checkerboard — draw a rectangle (W: 0.5", H: 0.5", fill: black, stroke: none), spaced 0.5" apart
SAVE and SUBMIT
Before saving the file, you need to finish the project by performing the following steps:
- Select Object>Path>Cleanup. This deletes any stray points or unpainted objects.
- Select the template layer, unlock it, and delete the layer.
- Zoom out to around 25% view. Delete any objects left on the artboard.
- Save your document