What is Illustrator®?

Summary

Adobe® Illustrator® is the industry-leading vector graphics editor, widely used by designers, artists, and illustrators to create everything from logos and icons to detailed illustrations and custom typography.

• What is Illustrator? Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics editor developed by Adobe, and uses mathematical relationships to define lines, curves, and shapes, allowing artwork to be scaled to any size without loss of quality.
• What is Illustrator used for? Adobe Illustrator is used to create scalable graphics for both digital and print formats, including logos, icons, illustrations, and custom typography, and valuable in fields like graphic design, UI/UX design, marketing, and architecture.
• What is an illustrator and what are some examples of illustrator careers? Illustrators are visual artists who use tools like Adobe Illustrator to create drawings, artwork, and graphics. Illustrator careers include graphic designer, UI/UX designer, multimedia/visual designer, marketing and communications manager, and book designer, among others.

What is Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator is an industry-leading vector graphics editor and one of the most widely used design tools in the world. First released in 1987, Adobe Illustrator has been updated continuously and is now part of the Adobe Creative Cloud suite. Graphic designers, visual artists, and professional illustrators rely on it to create everything from logos and icons to detailed illustrations and custom typography.

Ahead, we’ll answer the question of what is Adobe Illustrator used for, including its key features and common use cases. We’ll also touch on potential illustrator careers for students interested in drawing, graphic design, and illustration.

What is Adobe Illustrator Used For?

Artists, designers, and illustrators used Adobe Illustrator to create graphics that need to look polished at any size, in both digital and print formats. That makes it especially valuable for creating logos, icons, illustrations, and typography, where precision and scalability matter. 

For educators building design or digital arts pathways, Illustrator is a natural fit: it's a tool students will encounter in the workforce, and the skills it builds—attention to detail, visual communication, and iterative design, to name a few—transfer across a wide range of creative and technical fields.

Key Features of Adobe Illustrator 

Adobe Illustrator provides its users a robust set of professional tools, including¹:

• Drawing tools that help you to draw and edit objects and paths. Examples include the Pen tool, the Pencil tool, and the Anchor Point tool.
• Select tools that let you pick and choose which elements to select, rotate, scale, and more. Examples include the Selection tool, the Magic Wand, and the Lasso.
• Paint tools that allow you to apply fills, strokes, and blends into your work. Examples include the Gradient tool, the Shape Builder tool, and the Mesh tool. 
• Text tools that allow you to add and edit type. Examples include the Type on a Path tool, the Touch Type tool, and more. 

But what really sets Illustrator apart is how it builds images. Illustrator uses vectors—mathematical relationships to define lines, curves, and shapes. The result is vector artwork that can be scaled up or down infinitely without any loss of quality.² In other words, a logo designed in Illustrator will look just as crisp on a small-scale as it will on a large-scale; from the size of a business card, to the size of a billboard. 

What is better, Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator?

While Illustrator uses vectors to create graphics, Photoshop relies on raster graphics. Raster graphics are made up of pixels (those tiny colored squares that make up photos and some other digital images). 

With that said, Illustrator is more of a graphic design application. Photoshop is primarily a photo-editing software. But both applications can be used to create precise designs and graphics.

Common Use Cases of Adobe Illustrator 

If Adobe Illustrator is used to create scalable graphics, what does that look like in practice? Here are a few examples.

• Logos and icons. Adobe Illustrator is a useful tool for creating scalable logos and icons that can be resized indefinitely. Think of some of the logos or associated icons for your favorite brands; chances are, those graphics were created in Illustrator. 
• Drawings and illustrations. In Illustrator, you can draw freehand using built-in brushes, pencils, and pens to create custom illustrations and digital artwork.
• Custom fonts. Illustrator can also be used to create custom fonts or to modify existing fonts. 

Examples of Illustrator Careers

Illustrator skills are crucial in many creative fields, and mastering this software can lead to successful careers in art and design. Unsurprisingly, there are plenty of pathways for Illustrator careers, from creating marketing materials to building out architectural drawings. 

According to the American Graphics Institute, Illustrator is used in a variety jobs across many different industries³, including:

• Graphic Design
• User Interface (UI) Design
• User Experience (UX) Design
• Multimedia/Visual Design
• Marketing/ Communications Management
• Book Design
• Architecture

Digital designers—those in UI and UX design—are especially in demand, with overall employment projected to grow 7% by 2034⁴. 

Learning Resources for Adobe Illustrator 

Mastering Adobe Illustrator—whether for a potential illustrator career or otherwise—means tapping into a variety of learning resources. Online tutorials and courses—like Savvas’ Adobe Illustrator course—offer accessible starting points, providing step-by-step lessons for all levels. Many of these resources typically include video tutorials and interactive exercises, enhancing practical skills.

For a traditional method, there are a number of books and guides that dive into Adobe Illustrator’s uses and best practices. For designers, illustrators, and their ilk, community and networking can be important too. That might look like engaging in community forums or support groups as a way to share insights, ask questions, and receive feedback.