Locked lesson.

Upgrade

About this lesson

Show examples of how to distort shapes using the Bloat and Pinch Tools.

Quick reference

Distorting Shapes

Show examples of how to distort shapes using the Bloat and Pinch Tools.

When to use

If you want to create organic shapes from the basic geometric shape tools found in Illustrator you can use these tools.

Instructions

  • Begin by opening the Distorting Shapes - Exercise.ai file
  • In the exercise file you will notice that there are several plain, black circles.
  • Click and hold on the Width Tool in the toolbar to reveal the distort tools that are available.
  • You can dock or undock this panel to move it around freely just as you would with many of the other tools in Illustrator.
  • Begin with the Warp Tool and click and drag on and around the first circle to see how it works.
  • Repeat this with each of the other distort tools on a different circle to get a feel for each one and how they work.

Hints

  • The Twirl Tool can be very useful for creating flourishes and ornate shapes in Illustrator, especially when combined with the Width Tool.
  • These distortion tools can be used not only for shapes, but also on outlined text.

 

Login to download
  • 00:04 So now that we've talked about the envelope distort and
  • 00:07 I've shown you guys some of the ways that you can distort type and shapes,
  • 00:10 I want to give you guys some other options here as well.
  • 00:13 So if I create a circle here on my canvas and come over to the Width Tool,
  • 00:17 I can click and hold on it to reveal these other options.
  • 00:20 So really quick, I'm just going to undock this panel.
  • 00:23 And you'll see that we have some other stuff here called the Warp Tool,
  • 00:26 the Twirl Tool, the Pucker Tool, Bloat Tool, Scallop, Crystallize, and
  • 00:31 Wrinkle Tool.
  • 00:32 So each of these things allow you to distort your shapes even further and
  • 00:38 just kind of a more free flowing way.
  • 00:40 So unlike the envelope distort where you're just kind of bending and
  • 00:45 pulling out certain parts, this allows you even more control over the shape.
  • 00:50 And each one of these kind of does a different thing.
  • 00:52 So if you just grab the regular Warp Tool, you'll just be able to kind of mold this
  • 00:56 however you want, kind of like working with clay or puddy or something like that.
  • 01:01 If I go ahead and create another circle and then I try my next tool,
  • 01:05 the Twirl Tool, you'll see just by clicking and holding on it what that does.
  • 01:12 Now, some of these tools, if I hold down the Alt option + Shift key,
  • 01:16 it will allow me to create a larger or a smaller area that this effect will modify.
  • 01:24 Okay, so if I grab my Twirl Tool again, hold down Alt + Shift,
  • 01:28 I can make it pretty small so that it's just doing a really tiny twirl.
  • 01:33 But if I hold Alt + Shift and make it larger,
  • 01:35 you're gonna get something much bigger like that.
  • 01:40 Just by creating a basic shape like this,
  • 01:43 you can kind of see what each of these things does.
  • 01:46 I'll try my next one, the Pucker Tool.
  • 01:49 You can kinda see how this just puckers it and
  • 01:51 brings it into a fine point on any of the ends here.
  • 01:55 So this will work on text but it also just works on any shapes or
  • 01:58 anything like that that you have.
  • 02:01 So it can be a pretty good way to get even more variety and
  • 02:03 create some cool looking shapes.
  • 02:06 Okay, this one, I believe, is the Bloat Tool, so
  • 02:08 this is just going to kind of do what it sounds like.
  • 02:11 It's just gonna make your shapes bloated and expand them.
  • 02:15 All right and the ones that I tend to use the most are probably the Twirl Tool and
  • 02:19 maybe the regular Warp Tool.
  • 02:22 But that's not to say that some of these others don't look pretty cool too.
  • 02:26 This one, for example, the Scallop Tool is really good for just creating these sharp
  • 02:31 abstract looking points or creating sharp abstract looking shapes.
  • 02:36 And we've also got
  • 02:39 the Crystallize Tool here which can create these elongated kind of points.
  • 02:46 And the last one here that we'll check out is called the Wrinkle Tool.
  • 02:49 Now, the Wrinkle Tool is just kinda makes all the edges really wrinkly and
  • 02:54 wavy all the way around, okay?
  • 02:56 And it kinda creates this abstract, wavy looking shape.
  • 03:02 These can be pretty fun.
  • 03:02 These are another good way that you guys can modify not only text but
  • 03:07 just shapes as well to create some more interesting looking stuff and
  • 03:11 more organic looking shapes, all right?
  • 03:14 So play around with these a little bit to get some different effects.
  • 03:17 You can use these for a variety of things but it's really good especially if you
  • 03:21 just take a basic shape to see what you can create from it.
  • 03:25 So play around with these and see what you can come up with.

Lesson notes are only available for subscribers.

Gift this course