How to Make a Cartoon Game Title in Illustrator

Illustrator Graphic Styles

In Illustrator there is a powerful panel called "Appearance" that can be used for many different types of graphic and text effects. Using this panel is a much faster and easier way to make changes to your designs and see live results as you adjust the settings. Today, I will show you how quick and easy it is to make a Game Title in Illustrator using only the Appearance Panel, and also how to save and use a style effect you create later on, without having to recreate it from scratch.

But before we begin, and if you want to follow this tutorial exactly as described, please download the "Turtles" font from DaFont: Download

Step 1

Open Illustrator and make a new file at any size you want. In this case i will make mine at 1800 x 1200 px.

Step 2

Select the Rectangle Tool (M) and draw a rectangle covering the whole artboard using any color you want. In this case I will setup the color to #132164 with no stroke.

Step 3

Select the Ellipse Tool (L) and draw an ellipse of approximately 1500 x 650 px.

Step 4

Select the Type on a Path Tool. Click once over the bottom anchor point and type any text you want. In this case, I will simply write "ZOMBIES" using the Turtles font at 400pt.

Step 5

Set the Fill and Stroke of the text to "none" in the toolbar.

Step 6

With the text selected, go to Window > Appearance.

Step 7

Click the "Add New Effect" icon and from the dropdown menu select Stylize > Drop Shadow. Apply the following values and click OK. Note: the effect will not be visible yet.

Step 8

Click the "Add New Fill" icon on the Appearance Panel and set the fill color to #528e33.

Step 9

Click the "Add New Effect" icon and from the dropdown menu select Path > Offset Path. Apply the following values and click OK.

Step 10

Click the "Add New Effect" icon again and from the dropdown menu select Stylize > Drop Shadow. Apply the following values and click OK.

Step 11

Again, click the "Add New Effect" icon and from the dropdown menu select Distort & Transform > Transform. Apply the following values and click OK.

Step 12

Select the Stroke in the Appearance Panel, and set the color to White and the Weight to 2.

Step 13

Click on "Opacity" and set the Blend Mode to "Screen" and the Opacity to 70%.

Step 14

Click the "Add New Effect" icon and from the dropdown menu select Distort & Transform > Transform. Apply the following values and click OK.

Step 15

Click the "Add New Fill" icon on the Appearance Panel and set the fill color to any solid color or gradient that you want. In this case, I will use a simple gradient from #86aa08 to #3c9003.

Step 16

Click the "Add New Effect" icon and from the dropdown menu select Stylize > Drop Shadow. Apply the following values and click OK.

Step 17

Again, click the "Add New Effect" icon and from the dropdown menu select Distort & Transform > Transform. Apply the following values and click OK.

Step 18

With the effect already made, a good idea is to save it for a future use. To do that, go to Window > Graphic Styles and (with your graphic or text still selected) click on the "New Graphic Style" icon.

Step 19

To test the new graphic style, select the Type Tool (T) and type anything you want. In this case, I will simply write the number 2.

Step 20

With the Text selected, simply click on the new style in the Graphic Style window.

Step 21

If you want to change the color of the new text, simply open the Appearance window, and change the colors to your liking.