Abstracting Fonts

Objectives: Learn how to explore the font as an element of design to be creative with the line, shape, and space of the letter. Also learn how to use basic Adobe Illustrator as a tool for creating design.

Instructions:
Part 1 - Abstracting a letter in Illustrator

1. Set up an 8.5 x 8.5 document using Adobe Illustrator.
2. Select two letters from the alphabet (could be your first initial).
3. Then choose a bold Sans Serif Font.
4. Using the "T' tool, type the letters on the page. Draw the box for the letter covering the whole page before you begin. 
5. Select the letter with the "T" and adjust the font size to fit the whole page.
6. Use the "direct selection tool to select the letter box.
7. Try the "scale" tool to expand the letters- keep the proportions equal, but make the letter really big.
8. If you use two letters, set the tracking so that they touch, but not overlap.
9. Make the letter so large that you cannot recognize it anymore, but not too big that it still holds the essence of the letter.
10. You can use the rotate tool also.
11. As you move the letter on the page, consider the new shape an expressive line. Be particular about how it looks.
12. Save it to your file and export it "save for web and devices" as a jpg- upload it to your blog (make a blog).

Part 2 - Invert it and flip it

1. Make the black parts white and the white parts black- hint you may have to make the background black.
2. Draw a box behind the letter and fill it with black.
3. Use the "T" tool to select the letter and then change the color from black to white.
4. The select the letter with the direct selection tool.
5. Spin/flip the letter corner to corner- you can transform and flip horizontally, or the reflect tool.
6. Make sure it is an exact mirroring of the previous letter.
7. Repeat step 10 in Part 1

Part 3-  Make a nine + part mosaic of your letters in Photoshop

1. Start a new document in Photoshop.

Selection, Direct Selection, Group Selection Tools

Scale Tool

Rotate Tool