Usually custom type pieces like this would be drawn by hand, but today I'll share the
secret of how you can still create trendy lettering by customising ready-made fonts.
Begin by opening up Adobe Illustrator and create a new document.
I'm using a generic A4 layout but with the document rulers set to pixels and the RGB
colour mode so we have the brightest colours available.
Since we're going to use a ready-made font rather than scan and vectorise some hand lettered
art, we need to find a suitable typeface to work with.
Now you're going to have to spend some money here because the majority of free fonts available
on the web just don't come packed with the OpenType features we're looking for.
What premium fonts have over the typical free font is a range of OpenType features.
These are alternative characters for each letter that often include variations with
ligatures or swashes.
They allow you to build unique type designs digitally that disguise the fact that it's
made using a font, rather than being a handmade piece.
You can find the font named Fountain that I'm using in this tutorial linked in the description.
It's one of my favourite script fonts that has plenty of cool swashes, ligatures and
stylistic alternates.
Use the Type tool to set out your chosen wording in the Fountain typeface.
You can see it also comes in a Rough variant, which would work really well for more vintage
style designs.
If you select a letter, you'll see the alternative glyphs that are available for that particular
letter, so for the capital S you have one with a large swooping swash, or a completely
different cursive style.
Likewise for the letter L, there are flamboyant options, or a simpler letter shape.
Those swooshes and swashes don't work well for this particular word, but it shows how
the same font can produce endless variations.
One alternate character I do like for this word is the letter K with an extended leg.
Then to do any necessary kerning adjustments, place the cursor between the letters and use
the ALT and left or right keyboard keys to adjust the spacing.
Go to Object > Envelope Distort > Make With Warp.
Choose the Rise option with just a 10% amount to give the text more of a dynamic angled
layout.
Permanently apply this effect by going to Object > Expand, which will convert the original
text into outlines.
Click the Unite button in the Pathfinder panel to blend all the individual letter shapes
into one continuous outline with no overlaps.
Go to Object > Path > Offset Path and enter 10px.
Use the Unite button again to merge all the new shapes into one outline.
Offset paths are grouped with the original shape, but at the moment only the offset path
is selected since it has just been made.
Go to Edit > Cut, followed by Edit > Paste in Back to separate it and place it behind
the original text.
Select the original, inner text outline and give it a white fill.
Go to Edit > Paste in Back again to place another copy of the outer path, then hold
the Shift key and nudge it down and right to create an offset shadow effect.
Hold Shift to add the original outer shape to the selection, then go to Object > Blend
> Make.
Head straight back to Object > Blend > Blend Options.
Change the spacing to Specified Steps and use a high number like 100 so the blend effectively
looks like a smooth line.
Go to Object > Expand to permanently apply this blend effect, which will convert it into
100 individual shapes.
Merge then all into one much simpler outline using the Unite button in the Pathfinder panel.
Any leftover gaps can be deleted by selecting the path with the Direct Selection tool.
Select the white filled shape and give it a gradient fill instead.
Set it up with some nice vibrant colours like a hot pink to orangy-yellow.
I'm using RGB values of 255, 195, 0 and 255, 0, 125.
Adjust the gradient angle with the gradient tool.
Click and drag across the text.
Change the fill colour of the offset shadow shape too.
I'm using a darker purple colour of 35, 0, 55.
Copy and Paste in Front a duplicate of the main text, then change the fill to a nice
light purple of 105, 59, 143
If you accidentally replace just a portion of the gradient like me, you can click the
little swatch icons to replace the gradient with a solid fill.
Nudge this purple shape down and right.
I counted 8 times.
Select the gradient filled text and go to Object > Path > Offset path.
Enter 8px.
Once again, cut this shape to separate it from the original text, then paste in front,
Unite it with the Patfinder to merge all the shapes into one.
We're going to use this shape as a tool to punch out its outline from the purple shape,
but if you try doing it without first completing an important step, it doesn't quite work right.
That important step is to first convert each component into a Compound Path by selecting
each one individually and going to Object > Compound Path > Make.
Then if you select both shapes and use the Minus Front button in the pathfinder panel,
the temporary offset path shape will remove the area of the purple shape wherever the
two overlapped.
Any tiny parts can be cleaned up by deleting them with the Direct Selection tool.
Next we're going to create a custom brush, which we'll use to draw some highlights.
Draw a small circle on the artboard, then use the Direct Selection tool and extend the
two side points to make a tapered shape.
Click the New brush icon in the Brushes panel and choose New Art Brush.
Under the Method dropdown, choose Tints, which will allow the colour of the brush stoke to
be changed.
Delete that temporary brush shape, then grab the Pen tool and click and drag two points
to create a curve that follows the outline of one of the letters.
Make sure the path has no fill, but has a white stroke applied.
Click the custom brush we created to see the tapered line effect.
You can alter the size of this tapered shape by adjusting the stroke weight.
Continue drawing other short, curved lines elsewhere within the letter shapes to act
as small highlights.
Follow a simple pattern, like placing them all towards the upper left of the shape, since
the shadow is falling to the bottom right.
Once you've dragged out a path, hold the CMD key and click some empty artboard space to
deselect to be able to start a new, separate path.
After drawing your last highlight, go to Select > Same > Stroke Color to be able to apply
the tapered brush stroke.
Under the Transparency tab, change the blend mode to Hard Light and set the opacity to
70%.
This same technique can be used to draw shadows too.
Add a series of short, curved paths, but this time towards the bottom right of the letter
shapes.
Give these paths the dark purple colour for their stroke by sampling it with the eyedropper
tool.
Hold Shift to sample just the colour, not replicate that shape's appearance with the
purple as a fill.
Set these shapes to Hard Light too, but at 50% opacity so the colour interacts with the
pink to yellow of the gradient.
Draw a rectangle that covers the entire artboard, then right click and choose Arrange > Send
to Back.
Eyedrop a new fill colour by sampling a hue from the type design.
To avoid accidentally moving this large background shape, go to Object > Lock > Selection.
There's one more simple little technique that can really enhance your vector artwork.
That's to just add some little details here and there.
It could be paint drips, stars, or even something as basic as a few small circles.
Hold the Alt key and drag copies of your shapes to quick add little decorative touches around
your type artwork.
You can even replicate the white fill with Hard Light blend mode to add some highlight
shapes inside the text outline.
So I hope these tips and tricks help you create some cool custom type art of your own.
It just goes to show that you don't need to be a hand lettering master to be able to create
nice typographic designs.
If you are a whizz at illustrating your own script text, the same vector shading techniques
can be applied to your artwork once it has been traced to give it more impact with vibrant
colours.