Arek Dvornechuck
Branding Expert
Yesterday at Adobe MAX, Adobe announced several exciting new tools and features for Adobe Illustrator 2024.
In this article, we'll take a deep dive into the top three most noteworthy updates that will make every designer and illustrator's life easier.
One of the most groundbreaking additions in Illustrator 2024 is the new "Text to Vector" feature.
This tool allows you to simply type a text prompt and Illustrator will automatically generate a vector image based on your description.
To use Text to Vector, open Illustrator and draw a rectangle on your artboard.
Then click on the "Text to Vector" tab and input your prompt such as "lion head, minimalist style".
Hit "Generate" and Illustrator will instantly create a vector based on your text.
You can choose from four different modes for Text to Vector:
As you can see in the example, Text to Vector created a minimalist lion head vector simply from the text description.
The tool provides several options to choose from for each prompt so you can pick the one you like best.
You can also use the "Recolor" feature to easily apply different color schemes to the generated vector.
This saves huge amounts of time compared to manually illustrating images from scratch.
Another fantastic upgrade in Illustrator 2024 is the addition of a built-in mockup tool.
In previous versions, designers had to find or purchase mockup templates to showcase their designs.
The new mockup feature allows you to instantly turn any vector into a mockup by going to Window > Mockup Beta.
You can choose from several premade mockup templates like app screenshots, billboards, t-shirt designs, and more.
Illustrator will automatically apply your vector onto the mockup template, saving you hours of work. But it gets even better...
You can also use any image from the web as a custom mockup template. Just select your vector and the image, then generate mockup.
This gives you unlimited possibilities for stunning, photorealistic mockups in seconds.
As you edit your vector, the mockup will update live.
The vector will conform to the contours and perspective of the mockup template for a very realistic effect.
The third major upgrade in Illustrator 2024 is the new "Retype" feature for identifying fonts.
This solves one of the most tedious tasks for designers - finding the exact font used in a logo or design.
To use Retype, simply copy and paste a logo or text sample into Illustrator.
Go to Window > Retype Beta and click "Identify".
Retype will automatically match the font and provide you with suggestions of similar alternatives.
With one click, you can instantly load that font into your document without having to purchase or install it.
For example, say you want to recreate a logo using the same font as an existing design.
Paste the logo into Illustrator, run Retype, select the matched font, and you're ready to design.
This makes mocking up designs, recreating logos, and font matching incredibly simple.
No more wasted hours hunting down obscure fonts from images!
These are just three of the many improvements in Illustrator 2024 that will dramatically enhance and speed up workflows for designers.
This will enable faster ideation and iteration compared to manual methods.
The new generative vector tools allow you to instantly turn text descriptions into illustrations, mockups, logos, and more.
BTW—Check out my YouTube video where i give you an overview of these updates.
Powerful new features like Retype and built-in mockups remove tedious steps from the design process.
Designers can now accomplish in minutes what used to take hours.
Adobe is leveraging AI and machine learning to augment the creativity of human designers.
By automating repetitive tasks, Illustrator 2024 lets you focus on big picture creative direction rather than grunt work.
These updates solve significant pain points that designers have grappled with for decades.
They represent a major leap forward for the future of digital graphic design tools.
As a graphic designer and branding expert, I find these new capabilities tremendously empowering.
Designers can conceptualize and iterate faster than ever before.
The work of learning technical skills like illustration and 3D only to mockup concepts can be offloaded to the software.
This enables designers to deeply explore ideas in a fraction of the time.
These tools don't replace human creativity and vision.
But they do remove barriers like busywork that have constrained designers in the past.
I believe Illustrator 2024 represents the beginning of a new era in design.
One where designers are truly free to focus entirely on creative problems and solutions.
For any graphic designer, these new times are incredibly exciting.
Let me know your thoughts on these new Illustrator features in the comments!
I'm eager to hear your feedback as a designer.
How will they impact your workflow?
Which updates are you most excited about?
