We have another great Vector Plus tutorial available exclusively for Plus members today. If you want to learn how to use simple shapes, gradients and other Illustrator tools to create a big money illustration, then we have an awesome tutorial for you. Learn more about this tutorial at the jump!
Create a Big Money Illustration Using Simple Shapes – Vector Plus Tutorial
Sep 9th in News by Jonathan
This Vector Plus Tutorial is Filled with Creative Techniques
Learn to create stylized stacks of money in Adobe Illustrator. We'll cover every detail from start to finish. You'll learn how to use gradients and shading to create simple and effective art.
Tutorial Details
- Program: Adobe Illustrator CS4
- Difficulty: Intermediate
- Estimated Completion Time: 1.5 hours
Plus members can Log in and Download! If you're not a member, you can of course join today! You can view the final illustration below.
This is a Detailed and Professional Tutorial
Plus members can Log in and Download! Otherwise, Join Now! Below are some sample images, which show some of the development of this tutorial.
Vector Plus Membership
As you know, we run a premium membership system here called Plus that costs $9 a month (or $22 for 3 months!) which gives members access to the Source files for tutorials as well as periodic extra tutorials, like this one! If you're a Plus member you can log in and download the tutorial. If you're not a member, you can of course join today!
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User Comments
( ADD YOURS )Tony September 9th
are you kidding me? this is crap
( )Sean Hodge September 9th
Constructive criticism would benefit the community. The word “crap” isn’t very explanatory, but rather solely communicates general negativity, which isn’t helpful to anyone. Thx.
( )Dan September 9th
So glad I don’t pay for a Plus membership.
( )Majo September 9th
1.5 hour to make this picture? And difficulty is marked as intermediate? I’m beginner in AI and i think this is really basic drawing. Who makes decisions about marking tutorials as Plus?
( )Sean Hodge September 9th
Hi Majo, I make the decision as to what qualifies as a Plus tutorial.
Also, this is marked as Intermediate because there a some steps that are more advanced than a beginner tutorial. However, this tutorial is more targeted at novice illustrators, than advanced users. It’s kind of at the border between a Beginner and Intermediate level tutorial. Maybe I should mark this as Beginner/Intermediate. Currently we’re just using 3 levels of classification though.
The tutorial is very detailed. While quite a few basic shapes are used to construct the designs, there are some interesting techniques with things like shading and using warp tools to manipulate the money that make this tutorial a bit more complex than it may appear on first glance. There are over 40 detailed steps in this tutorial.
Jonathan has written many tutorials for us and covers professional processes in creating graphics. Whether this tutorial is your favorite is up to you, but it’s a professional design that covers a solid workflow. Thx.
( )Denny September 9th
GO Sean! Tell them whats up!
Joey September 9th
What’s so plus about this tut?
( )Roald September 9th
Ditto! This could be more of a quick-tip, but Plus?? No thanks!
( )Simon September 9th
I dunno, I’d wait to hear from plus members before I made this judgement. I’m sure there’s quite some techniques covered that you wouldn’t think of.
I doubt the editors of tutsplus would publish a plus tutorial that wasn’t top notch.
( )Jonathan September 9th
Thanks Simon for the support! You’re on point with your assumption. While the result may look simple there are different ways of achieving certain styles.
Roald September 10th
Not complaining about Jonathan’s wokrk, he is great! Thou at first glance this would not seem like a typical plus tutorial, thou I ment no offence. Keep up the good work
( )Buzz September 10th
I agree, this IS WHY I dont sign up to the plus memership. Its simply not worth it. I did this tutorial and it is not very complicated, expounds on simple techniques that are monotonous and not complicated. I believe that this website is luring people into something that isn’t up to date in our graphic design world.
( )araceli September 11th
Wait – you did this PLUS tutorial but you are not a plus member? Ok…
Theo Hodkin September 9th
Looks very simple and easy. Glad I’m not paying for this!
( )Jonathan September 9th
Before everyone gets bent out of shape, let me remind you that 1: you’re judging the tut without having read it. 2: A tutorial is not solely about the end result, it’s about the process too. PLUS tuts are not reserved for difficult tuts, but for people who want to raise their skill level too.
( )devDsine September 10th
Jonathan, you said that!!
( )I’m sure there are many useful techniques in this tut.
“don’t judge a girl by her ass”
Simona September 10th
well said Jonathan!
People, don’t judge a book by its cover.
Jonathan has proven over and over again what a talented person he is and how well he explains the process in details. It seems to me that many of the negative comments come from people that would love to have a program that does it all. Including thinking! Just stop for a moment and be thankful for contributors like Jonathan.
( )No one forces you to get the Plus membership.
Melody September 10th
I beg to differ a little…
If someone wanted to learn how to make spaghetti, but the end result of the spaghetti tasted disgusting, whoever has to eat the spaghetti does not care what professional “chef” techniques were used, all they care about is the “tasty” outcome. That seems to be the best way to describe these tutorials to me.
( )However, in art–like in art class, there are times when you need to doodle or practice a certain technique to develop it. Now you’re not going to submit that work (doodle) as a professional piece or for a grade, but the experience is necessary to grow your skill set.
I think all the tut.com (psd/vector/etc) readers need to understand that these tutorials are meant to help you practice different techniques to build your skill set so that when you finally do professional work, you know varied techniques to produce beautiful work for your client–whether simple or complex.
I think I live in analogies lol…Use these sites as your means of doodling and understanding the adobe series until you get to a point where you’re ready to produce professional work…that’s how I think of it at least.
Diego SA September 9th
Simple is the right word for this illustration. The money is pure shape, there’s no texture or some kind of effect which shows there’s a lot of money. Looks like a simple block! But it’s very cool!
( )Niek September 9th
Glad i’m NOT a tuts + member! What a waste of money, a baby could do this.
( )Alex Yang September 9th
great article! thank you very much this actually helped me a lot
( )Gary September 9th
I am a plus member and I just read all of the comments and I have to say that I am pretty surprised to see so many people talk bad about this tutorial. Maybe we should make it a requirement that if you want to comment then you should try and write your own tutorials. I have found so many of the techniques that are taught on this site that the 9 dollars a month is well worth it. I hope to see tutorials up very soon from all of you that all of you that say this tutorial is just so “easy”!
( )Niek September 10th
It is easy… I would suggest to make a category for the beginners, filled up with tutorials like these. And maybe a ‘vector tutspro’ for everyone who thinks it’s to easy? That would be better. This ‘tutorial’ is so easy, it’s just a little bit of the pen tool in combination with some color and gradients.. no special techniques if you ask me.
( )Melody September 9th
I could use a couple stacks like this lol..
( )Me September 9th
Well, he makes a good use of his brain and create a tutorial for out of a ’simple piece’.
Not like most of people here, that seems, would pay to others to think for them.
What I’m trying to say is that the goal of a tutorial is to teach you a technique, then you execute it on your own piece and in this part is where you can judge the tutorial. But no, people follow a tutorial to copy others work… so unless it looks complex, they won’t rate it high.
Shame on you, people.
( )Tony September 9th
What is so advanced about making gradients, using he warp tool and a glow? I thought plus tutorials were suppose to be advanced techniques, not beginner or intermediate, this could of been a regular tutorial.
( )senpai September 9th
95% of the people complaining about this tutorial did nt even read it.. sad.
Thanks for the effort for this tutorial. Good tutorials are about learning techniques. why do people cry only for “extremely good looking” stuff? they just recreate and call it “their design” in the end, to show off friends or other people. thats it. nothing creative about it.
please keep those tuts up and don’t listen to some fools..
( )Buzz September 10th
and you’re one of those 95% that didn’t read it but you’re judging others who might not have read it. Look at yourself in the mirror, you really have no idea what you’re talking about, “extremely good looking” stuff? Thats a ridiculous thing to say. And probably 95% of the people that do tuts on here dont even call it their own design. I dont, i just learn the techniques. I bet you’re one of those people who rip off of these tuts and call it your own after changing the color or hue.
Stop being a fool senpal
( )senpai September 11th
i read it. iam a plus member. and i liked it to improve my illustrator knowledge. i dont know how you come to the conclusion that “i” rip off things and i dont even get why you answer to my post. if you are not one of the people that i blamed here.. then.. shut up ? i really seems you feel offended by my comment, iam sorry for that but i dont get why? if you know that you are different then the people i talked about.. well – whats the matter then? seriously.
asdf September 9th
because 95% of the people complaining about this tutorial know how to make shapes and add gradients to em
( )Andrea Austoni September 10th
As a Plus tutorial author I can say I really tried to create a challenging piece that also looked great for my submission:
How to Create a Yellow Submarine Icon with Gradient Meshes
I’d really like to hear some criticism on my piece by Plus members.
I think people get excited about creating artwork that looks great, so that’s important. But the goal of a tutorial is to teach techniques. If it helps you grow as an artist then it did its job.
Let’s have more people submitting tuts and less people complaining.
( )Buzz September 10th
Your yellow submarine wasn’t that great man, It is not really focused on real world projects which these tuts should be. I think it was quite simple to be frank.
( )Andrea Austoni September 10th
Buzz,
I’m sorry you didn’t like my submarine.
I won’t discuss personal taste of course but when you say it wasn’t focused on real world projects you are wrong. There are many clients out there who need icons for desktop apps, web apps, iPhone apps as well as website mascots. And don’t forget good old illustrations.
I have used those techniques countless times while designing packaging, illustrating brochures, creating icons.
As for it being simple I thank you, for I love simplicity.
I said it earlier: let’s have more people creating tuts to help the community become better artists
bang September 10th
actually i like ur submarine a lot, im not an illustrator expert (yet) but some of ur techniques were new to me, and its always nice to see how people achieve some work.
didnt had time yet to check this “money” tut yet.
people whine too much, its not like tuts+ cost hundreds
( )and tuts do not supposed to surprise u every time, i mean, some of them can interest you while others not.
Rand0mH3ro September 10th
I was looking for some tutorial today in connection with money and here it is! Everyone is only complaining about how easy it seems -tho I am not a plus member yet- I can see on the picture that this tutorial can show some new stuff about warping. Also why should everything be photorealistic?
Anyway thanks Jonathan for your works they help a lot at least to me and don’t care ’bout the comments of the “pros”!
( )Niels September 10th
I dind’t know that money came in the variaty of blocks.
How about putting a black stroke blend between the top and bottom of the piles, it would give it less of a uniform shape.
( )Martin September 10th
How about you only let Plus members comment on Plus tutorials? Or at least only members of the site.
Most of the comments here are useless and it hurts my eyes reading it.
Make a rating system for the masses instead and leave the option to comment to the members. If people want to give constructive feedback i’m sure they’ll make a user, just like i’m about to.
Looking forward to trying this out Jonathan!
( )Martin September 10th
Well duh, it seems that you can only make Plus memberships or?
( )Buzz September 10th
get a larger monitor. they sell them pretty cheap nowdays.
( )Jonathan September 10th
Shout out to Sean, Denny, Roald, Simon, devDsine, Simona, Diego SA, Melody, Alex Yang, Gary, Me, senpai, Buzz, Andrea Austoni, Rand0mH3ro, Martin!
Your support is much appreciated!
( )Kat September 10th
I usually try to stay out of pointless arguments – but I’m really upset at the lack of respect people have on this site!
It’s hard to write a tut that will please everyone. The biggest challenge is to teach people techniques rather than how to be a copycat.
Writing a tut takes allot of effort and planning – no matter how simple the outcome appears to be.
I’ve been in the “vector community” for very-very long time and I’ve seen trends come and go… I’ve also seen that the people who reproduce these trends over and over may have some success (mostly online – very rarely in the real world) as soon as the trend changes they’re no longer popular.
What I’m trying to say is – Yes, we may not want to draw a block of money or a yellow submarine BUT use your imagination people! Learn the techniques and adapt them to your own projects –
Do you go to class to copy? No. You go to class to LEARN…
Actually, I would challenge anyone who’s having a sook about this tut (and other + tuts) to dazzle me with their expert knowledge of Illustrator.
( )Ferenc September 11th
Good points Kat:), fully agree
( )Roald September 10th
Well have to spank my own ass here, the progress is maybe more that what the outcome is.
You could allways make this a non-plus tutorial so that everybody would see what this is really about? xD Høhøhø *free plus tut*
I lack money at the moment, so if you for free would show me how to make them, it would be really nice! xD
( )Robert Donnell September 10th
Wow! seems alot to do about nothing… $9 a month is a great value. If you disagree – don’t buy. That said, pointless rambling about your 30 cents a day just gets in the way of useful conversation that contributes to a positive outcome..
( )Nick September 11th
Sorry to read so many negative and unjustified comments. I don’t think many realise how much effort it takes to produce a tutorial. Please – for those who think they can do better, have a go. You even get paid if it’s successful and posted on here!
Learning new techniques is the primary role in following such tutorials, not so much to have the final artwork to copy and paste on all your documents
Don’t be discouraged Jonathan – keep up the good work.
( )koji @ ebook cover software September 15th
nice tutorial! really love it!
( )Jeroen Boumans October 6th
I never worked with the warp tool so for me this is a small but usable tutorial. Only Pro tutorials wouldn’t give the beginners a chance to advince, right?
( )