Amp up artwork with bright colors and creative effects in Adobe Illustrator. Then add a favorite quote or haiku and format it with beautiful typography to create a memorable quote.

Instagram post shows illustration of flowers next to a lake and mountains. Text reads, “The earth laughs in flowers”.

Transform flat colors into smooth, colorful gradients. Choose Window > Gradient. Select an object, click Freeform Gradient in the Gradient panel and select Points. Double-click a point to change its color in the pop-up Swatches panel. Add as many points as you want to create diffused blended color.

Drag the widget on the dotted circle to change the spread of a color point and reduce opacity to control color blending.

Gradient tool is used to change flower petals from blue to a multi-colored blend of pink, orange, and yellow.

You can save and reuse a gradient. Choose Window > Graphic Styles. Select your gradient-filled object and click New Graphic Style to save it. Then simply select other objects in your illustration and click the saved style to apply it.

Gradients may be saved by clicking Window > Graphic Styles > New. Saved gradients can be applied to other objects.

Add a backdrop to make your quote stand out against your colorful art. Draw any shape, fill it with a color, and reduce its opacity in the Properties panel.

You’re ready to add your quote and format it. Explore new typefaces and try changing some typographic attributes like size, leading (space between lines of text), and tracking (space between letters) to create the look you’re after.

A square with reduced opacity is added to the flower illustration. “The earth laughs in flowers” is added to the square.

See how we turned our illustration into a cheerful, attention-getting post.

Before: Illustration with blue flowers and butterflies. After: Gradient added to flowers and butterflies, text added.

Now you can turn your favorite sayings into winning posts to inspire your followers.

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