Illustrator: Diamonds! The Polar Grid Tool

To create the diamond symbol I used the Polar Grid tool, coupled with the rectangle and line segment tools.

To create the logo, I set the diamond on a black rectangle and used the type tool with modified tracking. I used the star tool to create the bursting star in place of the "o" in "Diamond".

Illustrator: Clipping Mask: Happy Easter!

To create the "Happy Easter" image I used a gradient to fill the background and created a sun with the star shape tool (with a gaussian blur) and a circle shape above it. I created the bunny using various shape tools and extracting methods while the jelly beans were created with ellipse shapes that were blended together with a white-to-black gradient ellipse shape on top of them that was set to the screen blending mode. I duplicate the jelly beans to fill the bottom of the image and created a text layer with a drop shadow. To finish, I created an oval on a new layer and used it as a clipping mask.

To create the cat I took the bunny I created for the "Happy Easter" image and modified it slightly to resemble the cat. I added feet and a tail, which I created with the ellipse tool and warp filter.

Illustrator: Sketching with the Pencil Tool and Blending

To create the "Pet Rescue Logo" I used the pencil tool to draw the puppy's facial features. I used the smooth tool to make the curves more beautiful and used double ellipses to create the eyeballs. I also used the ellipse tool to create the circular border and typed along a circular path with the path type tool.

To create the "Caladium" I used the pen (rather than the pencil) tool to create a nicely curved caladium leaf. I copied the original leave and created two duplicates, each smaller than the previous and inside of each other, changed their colors and blended them together. I created a dot with the ellipse tool and duplicated it many times before placing it on top of the caladium leaf. I used the pen tool to create the stem and then duplicated the entire leaf (after grouping it together) and changed the colors to make the second leaf a little more unique. I warped the top type and applied an outerglow to it, while I applied a white drop shadow to the bottom type.

Illustrator: Chapter 19: Create Type

To create the "Type" image I utilized the different type tools (such as: type on path, type in area, type on vertical path, etc.) and applied various effects to the text layers (drop-shadow, outer-glow).

To create the "Tickets" images I started with a rectangle and then cut away from it with ellipse shapes. I used the star shape tool to add and distribute some stars on the tickets and gave some of my text layers a stroke. I used different styles of artistic brush strokes to give a textured look to the top two ticket designs.

To create the "Recycled Logo" image I created two ellipse shapes, one inside of the other, and applied a 3 pixel green stroke to each. I used the Type on Path tool to create the text, which was modified with tracking and around the base-line shift. I used the symbols panel to insert the pre-made tree.

Illustrator: Industrial Object

To create the "Industrial Object" image I created a rectangle that I filled with a custom metallic gradient, which I then duplicated and rotated to make a cross ( + ). I then created three circles, each one smaller than the previous, laid them inside of each other, and applied custom radial gradients to each of them to achieve a 3D effect. Lastly, I aligned everything together to create the complete industrial object.

Illustrator: Hearts & Shamrocks: Using Shape Objects to Create Other Shapes

To create the "Happy Valentines Day!" image I used the ellipse & rectangle shape tools to create the shape of a heart. I filled the heart with a radial gradient to give it a 3D effect and then used the filters to add a drop-shadow. I duplicated the heart, changing the opacity and gradient color each time, and scattered each replicate heart across the document. I used the type tool to add the "Happy Valentines Day!" text layer and gave it both a drop-shadow and outer glow.

To create the "Luck of the Irish" image I took the heart template I created earlier and then added the stem by combining the ellipse and rectangle shape tools. I duplicated the object multiple times adding different gradient effects, inner glows, and strokes to give the object a 3D appearance. I used the pencil tool with a brushed stroke to create the texture behind the shamrock and used the same stroke style to create the border.

To create the "Card Suits" image I imported the heart and shamrock objects I created earlier. I used the heart and shamrock to create the spade object and the rectangle shape tool to create the diamond.

Illustrator: Chapter 6: Geometric Objects

To create the shapes image I used various shape tools to draw shapes on the artboard, then I applied various fills and strokes to the shapes to make them each unique. I used the type tool to create the "SHAPES!" text layer, applied a black stroke to it, and added a drop-shadow through the filters menu.

To create the Oedipus Rex image I used the spiral / line / rectangle shape tools to create the column. I horizontally distributed the vertical column lines and grouped the entire column together to move it as one object. I used the type tool for all text layers and applied a drop-shadow to "Oedipus Rex".

To create the Annual Spring Luncheon image I created two rectangles with strokes to fill the background. I used the pencil tool to draw the leaf, using the smooth tool to smooth the edges. I duplicated the original leave to create the left column of leaves and used the spiral tool with the "Pucker and Bloat" filter applied to create the flower. I applied a drop-shadow to the flower and leaves beneath it.