Despite working in graphic design for a couple of decades, I had always held roles where I was essentially a Mac monkey (one of my job titles was actually Mac Operator!)—taking design work from art directors, resizing it for various formats and applications, and polishing up the files.

Imagine my terror when, after starting a job at a sporting company, I was presented with a page full of 32 blank hexagons and pentagons to fill with artwork—whatever I wanted, no brief! I trawled YouTube for tutorials, trying to spark ideas. I started over many times and got nowhere. It wasn’t until I watched THIS COURSE that I was finally able to come up with something that worked.

Since finishing it over a year ago, I’ve gone back and rewatched the course at times that I've needed a refresher. I honestly think I’ve learned more from Evgeniya than I did during my entire three-year uni degree! I’ve picked up so much more than just how to work with geometric grids—those general Illustrator tips and tricks have been game-changing. I love the precision and mathematical approach.

There couldn't have been a more perfect course at a time when I needed it most. So many of the stylizing tips work beautifully within limited colour palettes, which is ideal since we work with pantones and solid inks for soccer balls. Before this course, I had never used the Blend Tool—but I think I’ve used it roughly 2,542 times since!

And honestly, what could be more useful when designing with hexagonal shapes than a hexagonal grid?

I plan on spending many more hours playing with grids and exploring all the other tips from this course!