Published - 16th June 2025
As a leading B2B construction marketing agency, design is a key element of our marketing toolbox and allows us to offer our clients innovative and eye-catching solutions. Our designer Daniella Atherton recently attended the first ever virtual Adobe Illustrator Summit, and in this blog she discusses her key takeaways from the event.
Over four days, a group of 19 world-class Adobe Illustrator experts ran 32 classes which were all free to attend. The instructors taught practical, real-world techniques that you can use every single day to take your artwork to the next level; transferrable techniques that can be applied to your artwork whether you create logos, infographics, illustrations, or posters. As the experts were teaching their core topic, each shared their favourite and very useful tips, techniques and personal stories.
The Adobe Illustrator Summit was run by Dave Cross, who is known for his Photoshop summits. I learnt about the summit from logo designer James Barnard, who I follow on TikTok for his Adobe Illustrator tips and insider stories about the creative industry. He is a professional logo and visual identity designer with more than 15 years of experience. He crafts strategic visual identities that reflect his client brand’s true value and help them stand out in a crowded market.
He taught the class “Turbocharge Your Logo Designs”, demonstrating workflow and techniques that were designed to help you question your current workflow, help optimise your output and increase efficiency. Part of his class was on how to set up your hardware, customise your workspaces and keyboard shortcuts, plus additional software and hardware tricks to be able to work efficiently inside the program. With these tips, he showed how to take simple line drawings and work them up in vector in no time, to either rule out that concept, or refine it to perfection.
Another class out of the many I attended was “Delightful Details” with Kirk Wallace, where he challenged the preconception that Illustrator only created boring and stiff artwork. His class focused on how keep vector artwork simple while making it feel elevated with overlapping shapes, contrasting shadows, unique linework, and overall depth and interest. The course was all about pushing your vectors to feel premium and not like stock imagery. Some of the topics he covered was leveraging the pathfinder and shape builder to create depth and how simple colour palettes can be effective at telling a cohesive story. The workshop also covered creating visual motifs that can tie an illustration together from head to toe with linework that goes beyond the straight boring lines.
The class I was the most eager to watch was “From Static to Stunning with Motion Graphics” with Brian Wood. In his class he helped bridge the gap between Adobe Illustrator and After Effects and showed how to infuse motion into my designs. The class emphasised that whether you’re crafting eye-catching animated ads, adding movement to brand elements, or simply exploring a new creative frontier, motion graphics can unlock a whole new dimension of storytelling. He guided the class through the essential steps of bringing Illustrator designs into After Effects and animating them. By leveraging what I already knew, I was able gain the tools to make my artwork move, breathe, and engage like never before. The class has been valuable in understanding how to further transform my static artwork into dynamic, animated visuals that captivate audiences, elevate brands, and open new creative possibilities.
After an intensive four days of classes I felt overwhelmed with the amount of know and insight that was so kindly provided by so many world-renowned designers, in the best possible way! All 32 classes were completely free and I am grateful I was able to receive so much knowledge, not only about Adobe Illustrator but the creative industry as a whole.
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