Crafted Paper Letters in Illustrator CS5
Type embellishment is what sets the stage for a good design project. Remember, typography gets most of the attention when it comes to design. So, if you are interested in brushing up your type embellishment skills, here is another tutorial that will show you step-by-step how to generate crafted paper letters.
If you’re ever in the market for some great Windows web hosting, try Server Intellect. We have been very pleased with their services and most importantly, technical support.
STEP ONE:
Open Illustrator CS5 and create a New Document (File > New). Give it a size of 600px by 200px.
Select the Type Tool (T) and type any word or letters that you would like to convert into crafted paper. I typed, A B C D E.
Make sure to choose a thick font; I used Berlin Sans FB Demi Bold with a size of 130pt.
At the LAYERS palette (Window > Layers) rename “Layer 1” as, “Template” and Lock it.
These letters will serve us as guides to draw our own letters with the Pen Tool (P). Another useful guide that we have is called Smart Guides to turn it on go to View > Smart Guides.
STEP TWO:
Create a New Layer for each letter.
STEP THREE:
Let’s begin with the letter A. Select the Pen Tool (P) and trace its form. The letter A is formed with 3 blocks; draw each block separately like shown below:
Select the following two blocks and apply a blue color value of (R= 90, G= 139, B= 200).
Select the remaining block and apply a darker blue color value of (R= 72, G= 112, B= 161).
Now, we are going to apply drop shadows. Select the blocks shown below and go to Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow and apply the following settings:
NOTE: Make sure to Bring to Front the selected blocks (Object > Arrange > Bring to Front).
For its shadow color I chose a dark blue color value of (R= 22, G= 49, B= 88).
Original size preview:
STEP FOUR:
Time to add style to the letter B. Because they are paper letters, we cannot add curves to it. So, the letter B is going to be as polygonal as possible.
With the Pen Tool (P) I drew the following shapes to make the letter B:
I chose a green color value of (R= 89, G= 160, B= 68).
Select the blocks shown below and go to Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow and apply the following settings:
NOTE: Make sure to Bring to Front the selected blocks (Object > Arrange > Bring to Front).
For its shadow color I chose a dark green color value of (R= 12, G= 68, B= 22).
Original size preview:
STEP FIVE:
Yes, we are going to stylize the letter C. Again, draw its shape without any curves.
Here is how I drew and colored its shape:
Purple color value of (R= 67, G= 29, B= 93).
Dark purple color value of (R= 41, G= 0, B= 62).
Select the blocks shown below and go to Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow and apply the following settings:
NOTE: Make sure to Bring to Front the selected blocks (Object > Arrange > Bring to Front).
For its shadow color I chose a dark purple color value of (R= 29, G= 22, B= 48).
Original size preview:
We stand behind Server Intellect and their support team. They offer dedicated servers, and they are now offering cloud hosting!
STEP SIX:
The letter D shapes are going to be similar to the letter C. Therefore, Copy (Mac: Command + C / PC: Control + C) and Paste (Mac: Command + V / PC: Control + V) the letter C to make the letter D and fix the following shape:
With the Direct Selection Tool (A) I moved the points of one of the shapes and then at the PATHFINDER palette (Window > Pathfinder) I clicked the Unite option.
Change its purple color to the color of your choice.
I chose a yellowish color value of (R= 196, G= 150, B= 33) and a dark yellowish color value of (R= 159, G= 122, B= 23).
Its drop shadow looks good, let’s leave it like that.
STEP SEVEN:
E, our last letter for this tutorial. Draw the following 4 shapes:
I applied a pink color value of (R= 224, G= 135, B= 184).
Select the block shown below and go to Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow and apply the following settings:
NOTE: Make sure to Bring to Front the selected block (Object > Arrange > Bring to Front).
For its shadow color I chose a dark pink color value of (R= 147, G= 74, B= 138).
Original size preview:
STEP EIGHT:
Hide or Delete the “Template” layer and that’s all, we finished!
Here is my final result:
Practice this effect by creating more letters or shapes. Remember, “Practice is the best of all instructors.” – Publilius Syrus.
I just signed up at Server Intellect and couldn’t be more pleased with my fully scalable & redundant cloud hosting! Check it out and see for yourself.
