Adobe Illustrator is like a magical toolbox for creating amazing designs. It’s like becoming a digital Picasso. However, even experienced artists can make silly mistakes that ruin their artwork. But how do you overcome this?

In this guide, we’ll be telling you the common mistakes designers make. So that you can make the best illustrator design possible. So, let’s dig in!

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

1. Ignoring the Grid and Guidelines

Firstly, let’s list the very common mistakes made by every beginner. Ignoring the grid and guidelines! These lines are like a GPS map for designers. They pinpoint where to go, where to go, and what not to cross.

Using these tools keeps your designs from looking like a messy playroom. It’s like the difference between a carefully planned garden and a wild patch of weeds.

How To Avoid:

Always start with a grid. It’s like creating a roadmap for your artwork. Illustrators offer you this feature where you can snap things to the grid, like magnets! So this way, everything will line up perfectly. Your future self will be so happy you did this when you make the best illustration design.

2. Overcomplicating the Design

Have you ever heard the term “More is always better”? Don’t ever try to go by this phrase with your illustration process. Seriously, this is the dumbest of all. You might think that your design will be appealing because of the loads of elements and different designs. However, you’re wrong. People need to see something that’s comprehendible and pleasing to the eye. Not a messy jungle.

Tips To Avoid It:

Less is more. Stick to minimal and simple designs. Take inspiration from Nike and Apple. Moreover, keep a consistent approach. For instance, if used black and red for most parts, then keep it that way. No need to make your design a clown.

3. Poor Use of Typography

Thirdly, keep your eyes wide open and your attention sheerly focused when typing. Believe it or not, typography greatly influences whether your art is going to be the best illustration design or not. Usually, to make things attractive, designers go with heavy fonts. This ends up in incorrect spacing or improper alignment, which can turn a great design into a hot mess.

Avoiding the Mistake:

Picking the right font is like choosing the perfect outfit. It should look good and feel comfortable. So, ensure your fonts match your design’s style and are easy on the eyes. Pay close attention to the spacing between letters and lines. And remember, messy text is like a crooked picture frame. So, always line up your words neatly!

4. Ignoring Resolution and Size

Now, you might be thinking, this is basic; everyone knows it. Bad news: this is a very common mistake. Working on a design without considering the final output size? Not a smart thing to do. This can end up in badly pixelated images. Or worse, blurry and incomprehensible designs. And who likes ad mages? Nobody!

Tips To Avoid the Mistake:

As Stephen. R. Covey said, always begin with the end in mind. For printing, you want it sharp. So, use CMYK colors and set the detail level to 300 dots per inch (DPI).

For screens, we don’t need as much detail. So, RGB colors and 72 DPI are usually fine. It’s like looking at a picture from farther away.

5. Forgetting to Save and Backup

Imagine you’ve been glued to your screen for ages, crafting the best illustration design. You’re in the zone. Everything’s clicking. But suddenly, Illustrator crashes. And there go hours of artwork and creativity down the drain.

It’s not an ideal situation, especially not after the age of design. It’s a designer’s worst fear, and believe it or not, it happens way too often.

Avoiding the Mistake:

Illustrator has a built-in lifesaver called ‘autosave,’ but don’t rely on it completely. To be extra safe, make copies of your work. You can store these copies in the cloud using services like Adobe Creative Cloud, Google Drive, or Dropbox.

Additional Advice for Making The Best Illustration Designs

Seek Constructive Criticism

First tries are not supposed to always be perfect. So, don’t feel discouraged or bad about it. Instead, the key is to keep yourself open to constructive criticism. This can help you see where you went wrong. And this can also point to your strengths. Sounds Great!

Moreover, in the long run, you’ll be able to shape your skills and create the best illustration design ever to exist.

Pro Tip:

Don’t just stick with your designer buddies for feedback! It’s important to get opinions from people who aren’t designers, too. They can spot things we might miss. They’ll tell you straight up if something’s confusing or doesn’t look right. Win-Win!

Go Over Again and Again

Building the best illustration design is not an easy process. You can’t be done with it in a single stroke. So, go over it again and again. Each time, you find something that is not quite right. Fix it. This way, you’ll shine it to become the best version of itself.

The key is to check, reflect, and perfect!

Pro Tip:

Keep your earlier versions. Sometimes, you might find that an element you discarded works better than the one you replaced it with.

Conclusion

Crafting the best Illustrator designs is like baking a delicious cake. It’s all about the right mix of ingredients!  With creativity, planning, and skill, with this trio, you’re all set to become the next biggest sensation.

To make your design truly shine, avoid some common pitfalls. First, don’t ignore those invisible lines called grids. Secondly, less is often more. Overloading your design is like cramming too much. Also, pay attention to your fonts.

And remember, blurry designs are like soggy cake; nobody likes that! Lastly, save your work often. You wouldn’t want to lose your masterpiece. So, keep practicing, have fun, and create something amazing!