Articles

The Bézier Game—Think You Can Master The Pen Tool?

by . February 28th, 2015

It’s the bane of every beginner in Photoshop and Illustrator. With a very steep learning curve (pun intended), the Pen tool is one of the hardest tools to master, but learning how to use it would definitely make your work quick and efficient.

Mexican Interaction Designer Mark Mackay created a solution for that—The Bézier Game, a game to help you master the pen tool.

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The Bézier Game teaches you the basic functionalities of the Pen Tool, from creating anchor points and drawing curves. It’s name derives from Bézier curves, the proper name of the curves generated by the Pen tool.

The game guides you through a short tutorial where you learn how to create anchor points, using the shift key for angled lines, and creating curves from direction points.

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After that, the game begins. The Bézier Game gives a predefined shape for you to follow, such as a car or a plane. You are given a limited number of anchor points to use.

The aim of the game is to use as few anchor points as you can to fill out the outline.

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I think I need to practice more

I have a few qualms on the game however, like grabbing handles to edit and adding anchor points mid-line. But I guess that just makes the game more challenging.

Mark Mackay currently works on his startup Methods of Action. Check out his site here.

How is your pen tool mastery? Comment below!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kevin is a reader first, a writer second, and a gamer somewhere in between. When not rooting for Tyrion Lannister for the Iron Throne, he's probably writing some morbid short story. He enjoys some surreal art, clever advertising campaigns, and a warm cup of coffee while reading Murakami.