Creating Maps, Charts, and Infographics with Adobe Illustrator

Alberto Cairo is the author of The Functional Art: An Introduction to Information Graphics and Visualization (New Riders). He teaches infographics and data visualization at the School of Communication of the University of Miami. He has been director of infographics at El Mundo (Spain), and at Época magazine (Brazil), and a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His website is www.thefunctionalart.com

1. Introduction to Illustrator for Infographics 

Get a foundational overview of Adobe Illustrator’s key tools, palettes, and panels.

2. Basic Illustrator Techniques 

Learn how to create, transform, and style text as well as several types of shapes.

3. Layout and Composition 

Use grids and Illustrator’s alignment tools to create a solid structure for your compositions. Learn to mask objects and photos and arrange a layout in which to place images and text for your infographics.

4. Graphs and Data Maps 

Use Illustrator’s Graph tool to design data maps and make your graphs look professional.

5. The Pen Tool 

Learn how to effectively use the Pen tool, arguably the most important tool in Adobe Illustrator when it comes to drawing anything.

6. Tracing Maps 

Combine different shapes into one with advanced tracing techniques using Illustrator’s Pathfinder tools and learn how to design a locator map based on copyright-free sources.

7. Explanatory Vector Illustrations 

Design a step-by-step explanatory graphic based on complex vector illustrations of hands, arms, and objects.

8. Advanced Coloring Techniques 

Learn how to create realistic shadows on objects using a broad variety of tools and techniques and how to create and store color palettes and apply them to complex illustrations.

9. Perspective Infographics 

Simulate three-dimensional (3D) effects in Illustrator and learn to draw infographics in isometric perspective.