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.
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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.
Hi there @twowlz,
I recommend checking out our resources page if haven't already done so. We have blogs, videos, training classes, etc. linked here to help you get a better understanding of the product.
Additionally here are two links to Learn Lessons that I think would be useful to you:
One for Maps for Adobe in general here, and one that focuses on the Pro to Illustrator workflow here
Hopefully this helps!
Best,
Anna
Thank you for the reply. I've gone through some of what you suggested--and it's been helpful. I'm also looking for illustrator specific lessons. Like, are there any GISers out there who have really benefited from a particular illustrator tutorial? I know this question is probably more geared for an adobe post, but I thought I'd try 🙂
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.
I think this is exactly what I am looking for! Thank you guys so much for your input.