Adobe Illustrator has a famously steep first hill: the pen tool and Bezier curves. Learn them properly and everything downstream — logos, illustration, type — becomes fluid. Rush past them and you'll fight the software forever. That single fact is why reading order matters so much here.
This path front-loads the mechanics of vector drawing, then branches into the disciplines that use them: logo design, illustration, and typography. Each stage assumes the tools from the one before.
Master the tools
Begin with Adobe Illustrator Classroom in a Book by Brian Wood, the official guided course through the interface and core features. Then Vector basic training by Von Glitschka drills the craft of building clean, professional vectors rather than just clicking tools. The Bezier Game by Mark MacKay reinforces pen-tool muscle memory — the skill that separates smooth work from lumpy paths.
Adobe Illustrator CC (June 2016 Release) The Professional Portfolio Series adds project-based practice that ties the tools into finished pieces.
Apply it to logo design
Logos are Illustrator's classic proving ground. Logo design love by David Airey covers the strategy and process behind marks that work, and The Logo Design Workbook by Sean Adams deepens the craft with case studies and critique.
Grow into illustration and type
For richer imagery, Vector Illustration: A Master Class in Digital Illustration by Simone Lea and The complete guide to digital illustration by Steve Caplin push your work from clean shapes into full illustrations.
Finally, strong vector work is inseparable from strong type and layout, so Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton and The Elements of Graphic Design by Alex W. White give you the design fundamentals that make everything you draw look intentional. Follow the full path and Illustrator stops being a fight and starts being a medium.
