Adobe Illustrator Transparency and Blending Modes

Illustrator - 11 Transparency & Blending Modes

Adding Transparency

You can add transparency in Illustrator by lowering the opacity of objects so that underlying artwork becomes visible. Go to (top menu) Windows > Transparency to open up your Transparency Window. Draw and stack a few objects and set it to a lower opacity of 50% for the underlying color to show through.

Transparency with 33% Opacity
(the bottom image should write "ON LIGHT BACKGROUND")

Blending Modes for Objects

Blending modes in the Transparency panel, creates some different color effects of overlapping objects. Blending modes let you vary the ways that the colors of objects blend with the colors of underlying objects. Some example of blending modes setting and effects as shown below in 2 different background.

Transparency, Blending mode - Multiply
(the bottom image should write "ON LIGHT BACKGROUND")

Transparency, Blending mode - Screen
(the bottom image should write "ON LIGHT BACKGROUND")

Transparency, Blending mode - Overlay

Transparency, Blending mode - Different

You can experiment all the settings available with difference colors of background, and see the effects.

Button Reflection Using Screen Effect

Screen blending mode is one of useful effect to create reflection effortlessly. Shown below is a popular technique on creating a button reflection using Screen.

 

1. First draw a circle and apply a Gradient Fill of light to dark orange to it.

 

2. Draw another circle on top and apply another Gradient Fill from black to white.

3. Finally, select the black to white circle and change the blending mode to Screen. And you’re done!

You can see the black portion in step 2. being 'transparent'.

Communicating using digital marketing / sales channels

Communicating using digital marketing / sales channels


Understand how to plan the use of digital media for a specific message, audience and recipients

		Explain the selection of the organisation’s targeted customers Once you have determined your business’ products and services, you must identify your business’ target market. The target market is the actual customer group, or audience, in which your business will attempt to sell its products and services. Although it is impossible to capture every customer within your target market, gearing your services toward the identified market will make sales much easier.
		Describe expected target audience responses to different electronic media communication methods What does your audience use to look for products Facebook, Twitter, instagram, google, search engines, Google + Linkedin, snapchat...etc Facebook: On Facebook we expect the audience to ‘Like’ and ‘Share’ the conent we put out and also to interact with us. we expect them to tell us how they feel about it and what they want to be reading instead. We expect an emotional repsonse, it’s about creating a relationship with our audience. Twitter: Similar to Facebook in that we expect the users to interact with us, but it’s less about discussion and more about distribution. through Twitter we expect our audience to ‘Re tweet’ the content and increase its reach. It’s more about business and less personal than Facebook. This will depend on age and what your audience feels comfortable using.
		Describe the characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of different software packages for presenting marketing information
Facebook: This is the largest social network with over 128 + Billion users. You can post status's with photos, videos, etc. You can schedule posts, as well as creating apps, groups, pages etc, if you're a business. Pros: A lot of people use it and it gains a lot of interest and sales from marketing. It also contains advanced ad targeting compatibilities for massive audiences. Good, powerful analytic insights. Cons: Low organic reach. Saturated by brands so it's difficult to stand out. Twitter: 271 Million active users. Post tweets, photos, gifs, etc. You have a 140 character limit. Pros: Strong customer service tool and strong analytics. Cons: Expensive limited ad platform. Short lifespan of posts. Instagram: Post images and short videos mainly using hashtags. Primarily a mobile app. 200+ Million users. Pros: Untapped audience by many brands. Great potential as it's owned by Facebook. Cons: No links, scheduling or analytic capabilities. Not a lot you can do with advertising. Linked In: Network of over 300+million users. Mainly for company information, information and recruiting. Pros: Best used to establish your brand as an industry. Valuable recruiting tool. Cons: Unlikely to drive sales unless B2B. Pinterest: Online collaging resource for posting links and pictures. Audiences and users can share inspiration and bookmark links. 70 million users. Pros: Strong, receptive audience with buying power. Cons: Not effective for brands with limited web-prescence. Audience is mainly female. Google +: Niche social network with over 330+million users. Pros: Great SEO benefits, as it is owned by Google. Links to Google Adwords and Youtube. Cons: Uncertain future. Largely interactive user-based. Other software packages include: Spotify, MailChimp and Newsletters.
		Explain the requirements of using multiple digital marketing technologies
Use of managing software like Hootesuite to pre plan messages at regular times and dates to post to multiple social media channels at a time. Can keep an idea and use several different social media channels in one program. What is Hootsuite? Hootsuite is an incredibly useful application for managing social media network channels. Often referred to as a social media management system or tool, it enables you to view multiple streams at once and monitor what customers are saying. You can post updates, read responses, schedule messages, view statistics, and much more. Many international brands—including Coca-Cola and Sony Music—utilize this timesaving approach to social media marketing. 7 Key Benefits of Using Hootsuite to Manage Your Company’s Social Media Presence: 1. Monitor Multiple Social Media Streams in One Place Perhaps the most compelling reason to utilize Hootsuite for your brand is that it allows you to manage multiple social media networks in one place. No more remembering pesky passwords or having to go to each website individually. With Hootsuite, you can post updates, review responses, and connect with your customer base on over thirty-five popular social networks, including: Twitter Facebook (including Profiles, Events, Groups, and Fan Pages) LinkedIn (including Profiles, Pages, and Groups) Google+ Foursquare WordPress blogs And several other platforms via third party apps (including Vimeo, Reddit, Via.me, StumbleUpon, Instagram, Tumblr, Evernote, Flickr, MailChimp, Slideshare, Storify, Edocr, Get Satisfaction, and others) 2. Schedule Posts in Advance Another important reason to use Hootsuite is that it allows you to schedule messages across all your favorite social media platforms in advance. This enables you to create a solid social media strategy that encompasses crucial times when postings are most often read and get more followers to notice your content. Simply pick the day and time that best suits your needs. You can then view scheduled posts in an easy-to-read calendar format. 3. Easily View Analytics Data Hootsuite’s unique analytics feature gives you an in-depth view of how well your social media strategy is working. The tool tracks clicks across all of your favorite platforms, delivering them in an easy-to-read series of charts. Furthermore, Hootsuite provides other extensive monitoring and reporting features that allow you to create professional-looking, printable reports on your business’ social media progress. 4. Hootlet Plug-In Allows You to Share Information Easily Hootlet is a terrific bookmark plug-in that allows you to easily share content across the web with your followers. This special add-on tool to Hootsuite sits atop your browser toolbar for easy access. When you find something online that you would like to share with the world, simply click the Hootlet button. The application shortens the URL with Ow.ly and inserts a small snippet of prominent text from the site into your social media message. Hootelet is just one of the many plug-ins that make adding Hootsuite to your social media arsenal worthwhile. 5. Social Media Listening An excellent way to connect with your customer base is through social media listening—noticing what others are saying and bringing your company’s value to the conversation. Another great feature of Hootsuite is that it allows you to track key phrases and terms across other user’s posts to determine when your expertise could be beneficial. This can be an excellent way to bring in new clients, simply by being highly in tune to their needs! 6. Manage Customer Service on Social Media Efficiently One reason many companies shy away from social media platforms is that it can be difficult to manage customer service effectively on them. With Hootsuite, you can view customer questions in one single place without having to check multiple social media sites. You can also store draft messages to post when a client asks a frequent question, such as store hours or directions to your business location. 7. Team Collaboration Effectively manage your team with Hootsuite! This tool allows you to add multiple team members to the social media accounts of your choice, allowing you to see first-hand who is posting what information and who has scheduled posts. You can also control the ability to assign tasks, add collaborators, and edit posts as you see fit. This is where you look at your company, and specifically target your information to your product and service and your targeted audience 2.1 Confirm the sales and marketing objectives for the digital communication, including response rates and sales generated return on investment 2.2 Identify the criteria to be used in selecting recipients in target audience 2.3 Source and acquire targeted lists and databases of recipients in accordance with the plan 2.4 Confirm the range of electronic media best suited to communicating to the target audience in line with the sales and marketing objectives 2.5 Agree with relevant people the marketing communications message designed to engage the customer and which is appropriate for the media selected