Creating artwork in Illustrator

When you’re designing graphics such as logos and corporate identities, it’s an absolute must that your design be scalable, because the graphic will be used in a wide range of applications, from web pages at screen resolution to high-resolution printed matter or even monumental signage. For designing graphics that need to be resolution independent, Adobe Illustrator is the world’s leading vector-based application. Today, other applications in the Creative Suite such as InDesign and Photoshop also let you create vector graphics using the Pen tool (amongst others); however, your best choice is still Illustrator, because it includes the most comprehensive set of drawing tools.

Bitmap versus vector graphics

Pixel- or raster-based applications such as Photoshop are unbeatable when it comes to producing photographic or continuous-tone images. However, these images are composed of a fixed number of pixels, resulting in a jagged—or pixelated—look when they are enlarged. The illustration below clearly shows the difference between a resolution-independent vector graphic (left) and a pixel-based graphic (right).