Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Illustrator
TUTORIALS
09 SEPTEMBER 2013
14 COMMENTS
I recently shared some tips with a subscriber about how to create a nautical star design
in Illustrator, which then prompted me to research traditional nautical star and compass
rose layouts and construct an ornate design of my own. The process makes use of lots
of simple but really useful techniques in Illustrator to build up layers of detail. Follow this
step by step guide to create a detailed black and white compass rose illustration with
with the symmetrical layout creates a really eye pleasing piece of artwork. Well use
those classic nautical compass designs as inspiration for a vector illustration of our own
points while dragging out the shape with the star tool. Also alter the angle of the points
by holding the CMD key while keeping the shape square with the Shift key.
Turn on Smart Guides (CMD+U) to allow the cursor to snap to anchor points then use
the Line tool to draw intersections between each inner and outer point of the star.
Draw a selection around all the objects and click the Divide option from the Pathfinder
palette. Right click and Ungroup the elements until every shape is individually
selectable.
Select and fill each segment of the star with either white or black to create an alternating
colour scheme. Give every shape a black stroke but align it to the inside to retain the
new star is marginally smaller than the previous so the north, east, south & west points
dont overlap. Repeat the process of drawing intersecting lines and dividing up the
shortcut CMD+Shift+[ or use the right click Arrange menu to send the 16 point star to
duplicate to decorate each point of the star. The Smart Guides will help easily snap the
(CMD+C) and Paste in Front (CMD+F) a duplicate, change the fill colour to white then
scale the new circle down in size slightly while holding the Alt key.
Elsewhere on the artboard draw a small vertical line with a 1pt stroke. Hold Alt & Shift
and drag a duplicate off to the site. Repeatedly press the shortcut CMD+D to Transform
Again to form a series of evenly spaced lines. Remove the stroke from the last line to
brush as a stroke effect to see the series of lines repeat around the circumference of the
whole circle.
Begin drawing another shape with the star tool elsewhere on the artboard. Reduce the
number of points to 3 then hold the Alt key to reset the angles to produce a tiny triangle.
Drag the topmost point vertically with the Direct Selection tool while holding Shift to
the top and right points of the last triangle and delete them before creating a new
Pattern brush. Leaving this empty point allows the brush pattern to repeat with even
spacing.
Create another circle in the centre of the design and add this newly created triangle
appearance. Remember to alter the stacking order of filled shapes using the Arrange
menu or the shortcut CMD+[ so they dont hide the other elements.
Hold Alt and draw a larger circle with a 1pt stroke and no fill from the centre of the
design. Hit CMD+Shift+[ to send this shape to the back, then go to Object > Transform >
Scale and enter 105%. Click Copy to create a slightly larger duplicate.
Continue pressing the CMD+D shortcut to repeat this transformation to create a series
of concentric circles. Simple effects like this create intricate detail when the design is
design adding various effects using fills, strokes and patterns. The easiest way to keep
the elements stacked correctly is to send each new item to the back (CMD+Shift+[) or
the Colorization Method to Tints to allow the stroke colour to alter the patterns colour.
This will allow you to overlap white patterns over black circles to add more variations in
details.
To create evenly spaced elements around the design select the Rotate tool, hold Alt and
align the pivot point to the centre of the design. In the options box calculate the angle by
dividing the number of elements by 360, so 16 elements = 22.5. Hit copy to create the
pattern but as theyre combined and built upon they together form an intricate
decorative pattern.
Use these simple techniques to create a symmetrical compass rose design with ornate
detailing. Theres no rules or order to the elements, simply build up the design with
various circular shapes and effects until youre happy with its final appearance.