Alex Trochut on pushing yourself and trusting the process.

What interdisciplinary designer Alex Trochut has learned about creativity and the importance of experimentation.

  1. Start with an image.

    Select the rainbow stripe artwork and drag it to the Brushes panel (Window > Brushes). Or, create your own diagonal brush pattern from scratch using a unique color palette.
    Two rainbow-striped squares next to a Brushes panel on a black background.

  2. Fit the image to your brush.

    In the New Brush window, choose Art Brush and click OK. Then name the brush, choose Stretch to Fit Stroke Length, and click OK.

  3. Follow the path.

    Choose the Selection tool and Shift-click to select both paths. Then click the new rainbow brush in the Brushes panel to apply the artwork.

    Rainbow pattern is blended into a gradient with tapered lines. Blend Options has Spacing set to 5.

  4. Play with Blend Options.

    With both paths selected, choose Object > Blend > Make. Then double-click the Blend tool to set the Blend Options to match the settings shown in the image to create a ribbon-like design.

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