Using The Pathfinder Tool (Illustrator)

One thing I have learned to love in illustrator is the 'Pathfinder' tool. I use it all the time and it can become extremely useful.

In this demo, I am going to make a simple example logo, using just basic shapes in Illustrator.

First, I started with a circle.

 Then I made another circle, In another colour. (this helps to see the placement)

 Then I selected both shapes by pressing cmd + A or ctrl + A (for windows users). Opening the pathfinder tool by pressing shift + cmd/ctrl + F9. Alternatively you can go to window > pathfinder.

 After getting this toolbox up, I clicked on 'Minus Front'.

 Now, I got a nice 'moon' shape, then I copied and pasted it, reversed it and made it intersect with its mirror shape. Take a look:

 Then I used the pen tool to make a simple triangle, using the two bottom points as anchors... An easier way is to select the polygon tool from the shape menu and click, bringing up a menu, asking you to specify how many points you want the polygon to have. Type three and a triangle will appear, then stretch this to fit over the two bottom points. Like this:

Then I merge the three shapes together, again with the pathfinder toolbox, this time using the 'merge' tool.

It will become one shape. This makes it easy to change the colour all at once and move as one shape.

In a new document, I made this arrangement:

I did this because I wanted to make a cartoon representation of some waves. I did this by using the 'minus front' pathfinder tool again.

Then I cut this into the other document I was working on, added some colour, made the stroke transparent and added some text. The font is 'Source Sans Pro Light', a personal favourite.

Huzzah.