GISer wanting to learn Illustrator - suggestions

twowlz

I bought an adobe illustrator tutorial book and have been doing some you tube tutorials. I also got the new esri book about maps for adobe. I know practice makes perfect and I am practicing, I promise! But, can anyone suggest a particular illustrator lesson plan or set of tutorials that really speaks to what I should focus on to make better maps after I export from pro? I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed.  

mphaterpekar

Hi @twowlz 

Thank you for asking this question. First, I 100% agree that this can be overwhelming! I went through a similar thing when I was transition to learn about ArcGIS & graphic design workflows a few years ago. I found help through a few resources and many conversation with colleagues and friends. There is a plethora of learning content about using Illustrator. I leverage those along with ArcGIS Pro AIX workflow or the extension directly to try out different map design aesthetics. Below is a list of resources I've found helpful during my research. 

https://www.youtube.com/c/SarahBell
https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/author/sarahbell
You are already reading Sarah's book, which is awesome! I spent quite a bit of time in the cartography corner 🙂 I also frequently refer to her blogs & youtube channel for inspirational cartography, tips and tricks in Illustrator, readily implementable design ideas in mapping. Readily implementable is a win - because you can  immediately enjoy the design 🙂

https://somethingaboutmaps.wordpress.com/tutorials/
Daniel Huffman's cartography tutorials are extensive in their coverage for cartographic concepts. In my opinion, they nicely intertwine with graphics workflows. I find the tutorials in-depth & well paced, great for learning doing cartography in Illustrator.

 

https://www.youtube.com/c/JohnNelsonMaps

If you are in GIS you might already know about John Nelson & his collection of map artistry, it covers a breadth of content for making beautiful maps with ArcGIS. He generously shares his knowledge in step by step tutorials on his youtube. I typically search by keywords like 'graphics' or 'Illustrator' to drill down to something specific, grab a cup of tea and enjoy. If you are interested there is also a Cartography MOOC, starting in 2 days!!

 

https://www.linkedin.com/learning/instructors/tony-harmer

I have recommended Tony's lessons to a few folks and received positive feedback so recommending here. Tony is very thorough and offers nicely paced tutorials for beginner & experts graphic design. I love that he keeps his tutorials current to updates in Adobe. He covers a range of topics from graphic design, infographic creation to map design.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVRqNQqSq39p1dlZTRiqLOw

I watch Paul Trani's masterclass sessions and videos for tips and trick. Although not related to maps or map design, I find the content inspirational for design thinking. A fair warning some videos and live sessions can be long so definitely plan accordingly.

 

Other resource I frequently research & explore for inspiration include
https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/author/heat8324-2/ 

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23GISChat

https://www.youtube.com/creativepro

https://www.adobe.com/max.html

 

When I was getting started, I'd plan about 6 - 8 hours a week for self-paced Illustrator learning + a lot of tinkering. Its amazing how there's always something new to learn 🙂 I'm sure there's other material out there too, these were just a few that I found most helpful. I hope this helps you too.