by Tony Soh -

Adobe Illustrator is becoming a very popular program in the design world. Why is it so popular? The flexibility of this tool and ability to export high resolutions artwork has made it a killer program for graphics designers. Let’s find out what designers are using this program for their daily work.

1) Drawing Icons

Why draw icons in Illustrator? Illustrator has a powerful grid system that makes it so easy to draw precise icon graphics. The snapping feature and align tools make it so easy to draw icons.

2) Drawing Maps

The line tool and pen tool makes it so easy to draw lines and shapes in Adobe Illustrator. Once you have mastered Illustrator, you will find how easy it is to draw and edit maps.

3) Drawing Info Graphics

Newspaper and magazines often makes use of info graphics to show statistics and figures. Most of the drawings are done in Adobe Illustrator as it contains some useful tools to draw graphs and pie charts automatically by simple entering the data figures.

4) Drawing Realistic Objects

Photo realistic product drawings can be achieved in Adobe Illustrator. The gradient tool and mesh tool are the most common tools to create realistic and smooth shadings. The final output is a realistic object drawing.

5) Drawing Cartoons

The flat colors look has make it a popular style to create cute cartoons. The pen tool makes drawing shapes and coloring so easy in Adobe Illustrator. Besides the pen tool, the gradient tool makes shading and illustrator so easy. Even if the clients reject your color palette, you can easily swap the colors.

6) Logos

Most of the professional logos are done in vector programs. The EPS file makes it easy to print sharp and good looking logo heads for company profiles and advertising materials. The isolated background makes it so easy to place the logo over your advertising materials.

Recommended Vector Resources
Adobe Illustrator Tutorials – This site contains lots of good vector tutorials and a free 30 days illustrator crash course for beginners.
Free Vector Art – Download lots of great vector graphics for free!