Create a Detailed Cheese Text Effect in Adobe Illustrator

What You'll Be Creating

In the following steps you will learn how to create a detailed cheese text effect and a cheese wedge illustration. For starters you will need a simple piece of text, the 3D Extrude & Bevel effect, and a simple Rounded Corners effect. You'll learn how to easily name and organize your shapes, how to create compound paths, how to cleverly use blending, masking and vector shape building techniques, and how to take full advantage of the Appearance panel. Lastly, you will learn how create a simple blend and how to use the Live Corners feature.

1. Create a New Document and Set Up a Grid

Hit Control-N to create a new document. Select Pixels from the Units drop-down menu, enter 600 in the width box and 470 in the height box, and then click on the Advanced button. Select RGB, Screen (72 ppi), and make sure that the Align New Objects to Pixel Grid box is unchecked before you click OK.

2. Create the Main Shapes

Step 1

Pick the Type Tool (T), click on your artboard, and add the "CHEESE" piece of text. Use the Aldo the Apache font, set the size to 140 px and the tracking to 100, and make sure that the text color is set to R=255 G=220 B=72.

Step 2

Reselect your piece of text and go to Type > Create Outlines (Shift-Control-O). Make sure that the resulting group of shapes is selected and simply hit Shift-Control-G to Ungroup it. Select all your yellow shapes and hit Control-8 (or go to Object > Compound Path > Make) to turn them into a simple compound path. Make sure that this new compound path stays selected and go to Effect > Stylize > Rounded Corners. Enter a 5 px Radius and click OK.

Step 3

Make sure that your yellow compound path is still selected and go to Effect > 3D > Extrude & Bevel. Click the More Options button, enter all the attributes shown in the following image, and click OK.

Step 4

Reselect your compound path and go to Object > Expand Appearance. Make sure that the resulting group of shapes is selected and hit the Shift-Control-G command three times to Ungroup it. Now, select the six shapes that make the the front side of your letters, turn them into a new compound path (Control-8) and simply replace the existing fill color with R=255 G=220 B=72.

Step 5

Select all the shapes that make up the lateral side of your letters, click the Unite button from the Pathfinder panel (Window > Pathfinder), and turn the resulting shapes into a second compound path (Control-8). Focus on the Layers panel and open the existing layer. First, double-click on the name of your yellow compound path and rename it "front". Then focus on the compound path made in this step, rename it "3D" and make sure that it lies below your "front" compound path.

Step 6

Reselect your "front" compound path, make a copy in front (Control-C > Control-F), select it and replace the existing fill color with R=237 G=170 B=37. Move to the Layers panel and rename this new shape "back". Select it along with your "3D" shape, make sure that the Selection Tool (V) is active, click on your "3D" shape (it should get emphasized), and then open the Align pane (Window > Align) and click the Vertical Align Bottom button. In the end your "back" shape should be placed as shown in the third image. Make sure that it's still selected and simply hit Control-[ to send it behind your "front" shape, as shown in the fourth image.

Step 7

Select your "back" shape and make a copy in front (Control-C > Control-F). Move to the Layers panel, rename the newly created shape "shadow", and then drag it below the existing shapes. Make sure that your "shadow" shape stays selected and focus on the Appearance panel. Select the existing stroke, set its color to R=228 G=162 B=75, and simply click on that underlined "Stroke" piece of text to open the Stroke fly-out panel. Make sure that the Width is set at 1 px and check the Align Stroke to Outside button. Return to the Appearance panel and click on the underlined "Opacity" piece of text that stands for your stroke to open the Transparency fly-out panel. Focus on the Opacity box and simply drag that slider to 20%.

Step 8

Make sure that your "shadow" shape stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel. Select the existing stroke and duplicate it using the Duplicate Selected Item button. Select the new stroke, lower its Opacity to 10%, and increase the stroke Width to 2 px.

Step 9

Make sure that your "shadow" shape stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel. Select the existing fill and go to Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow. Enter the properties shown in the top left window (in the following image), click OK, and then add the other three Drop Shadow effects shown below.

3. Add Shading and Highlights for the Lateral Sides of Your Letters

Step 1

Go to Edit > Preferences > General and make sure that the Keyboard Increment is set at 1px. Make sure that your "3D" shape is selected and make two copies in front (Control-C > Control-F > Control-F). Select the top copy and move it 1 px up using the up button from your keyboard.
Reselect both copies made in this step and click the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel. Turn the resulting group of shapes into a compound path (Control-8), make sure that it stays selected, and focus on the Appearance panel. Set the fill color to R=237 G=170 B=37 and change the Blending Mode to Soft Light.

Step 2

Make sure that your "3D" shape is selected and make a copy in front (Control-C > Control-F). Move it 1 px up and then duplicate it (Control-C > Control-F). Select this new copy and move 3 px up. Reselect both copies made in this step and click the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel. Turn the resulting group of shapes into a compound path (Control-8), make sure that it stays selected, and focus on the Appearance panel. Set the fill color to R=255 G=220 B=72 and lower the Opacity to 70%.

Step 3

Select your "3D" shape, bring it to front (Shift-Control-]) and click the Divide button from the Pathfinder panel. Make sure that the resulting group of shapes stays selected, open the Gradient panel (Window > Gradient) and simply click on the gradient thumbnail to add the default black to white linear gradient.
Keep focusing on the Gradient panel, make sure that the Angle is set to 0 degrees, and move to the gradient sliders. Select the left gradient slider, make it black (R=0 G=0 B=0) and lower its Opacity to 0%. Then move to the right gradient slider and add the same attributes.
Focus on the gradient bar and simply click on it to add a new gradient slider. Make sure that this new slider is selected, set its color to black, lower its Opacity to 80%, and then focus on the Location box and drag that slider to 10%.
Keep in mind that the blue numbers from the Gradient images stand for Location percentage, while the yellow ones stand for Opacity percentage. Add a fourth gradient slider, make it white (R=255 G=255 B=255), and set its Location to 90%.

Step 4

Make sure that the group of shapes edited in the previous step is still selected and focus on the Transparency panel (Window > Transparency). Lower the Opacity to 50% and change the Blending Mode to Soft Light.

4. Add Shading and Highlights for the Front Sides of Your Letters

Step 1

Reselect your "front" shape, make a copy in front (Control-C > Control-F) and bring it to front (Shift-Control-]). Make sure that this copy stays selected, fill it with the linear gradient shown in the following image, and change its Blending Mode to Soft Light. Remember that the yellow numbers from the Gradient image stand for Opacity percentage.

Step 2

Focus on the Layers panel, reselect your "front" shape and make two copies in front (Control-C > Control-F > Control-F). Keep focusing on the Layers panel, select the top copy, and move it 1 px up. Reselect both copies made in this step and click the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel. Turn the resulting group of shapes into a compound path (Control-8), make sure that it stays selected and focus on the Appearance panel.
Select the existing fill, set the color at white, change its Blending Mode to Soft Light and go to Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Enter a 3 px Radius, click OK and then return to the Appearance panel and add a second fill for your shape using the Add New Fill button. Select the new fill, make sure that the color is set to white, and lower its Opacity to 60% and change the Blending Mode to Soft Light. Once you're done, move to the Layers panel and rename the compound path made in this step "sleekHighlight".

5. Create the Holes

Step 1

Enable the Grid (View > Show Grid) and the Snap to Grid (View > Snap to Grid). For starters you will need a grid every 1 px, so simply go to Edit > Preferences > Guides > Grid, enter 1 in the Gridline every box and 1 in the Subdivisions box. Try not to get discouraged by all that grid, because it will make your work easier. And keep in mind that you can easily enable or disable it using the Control-" keyboard shortcut.
You should also open the Info panel (Window > Info) for a live preview with the size and position of your shapes. Do not forget to set the unit of measurement to pixels from Edit > Preferences > Units > General. All these options will significantly increase your work speed.

Grab the Ellipse Tool (L), create a 14 px circle, set the fill color to R=190 G=39 B=45, and make sure that it doesn't have a stroke. Using the same tool, create another four circles and use the attributes shown in the following image.

Step 2

Multiply your colored circles and spread them across your text roughly as shown in the first image. Once your're done, disable the Grid (Control-') and the Snap to Grid (Shift-Control-'). Select all these circles and simply hit Control-G to Group them. Make sure that your new group is selected and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Roughen. Enter the properties shown in the following image and click OK.

Step 3

Reselect your group of colored circles and go to Object > Expand Appearance. Make sure that the resulting group of shapes remains selected, click the Unite button from the Pathfinder panel, and then hit Control-8. Select this new compound path and make sure that the fill color is set to R=57 G=181 B=74.

Step 4

Make sure that your green compound path is selected and make two copies in front (Control-C > Control-F > Control-F). Select the top copy and move it 1 px down. Reselect both copies made in this step and click the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel. Turn the resulting group of shapes into a compound path, make sure that it stays selected, and focus on the Appearance panel. Set the fill color to black, lower the Opacity to 20%, and change the Blending Mode to Soft Light.

Step 5

Make sure that your green compound path is selected and make two copies in front (Control-C > Control-F > Control-F). Select the top copy and move it 3 px down. Reselect both copies made in this step and click the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel. Turn the resulting group of shapes into a compound path, make sure that it stays selected, and focus on the Appearance panel. Set the fill color to black, lower the Opacity to 15%, and change the Blending Mode to Soft Light.

Step 6

Make sure that your green compound path is selected and make two copies in front (Control-C > Control-F > Control-F). Focus on the Layers panel, and this time select the bottom copy and move it 1 px down. Reselect both copies made in this step and click the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel. Turn the resulting group of shapes into a compound path, make sure that it stays selected, and focus on the Appearance panel. Set the fill color to white, lower the Opacity to 80%, and change the Blending Mode to Soft Light.

Step 7

Make sure that your green compound path is selected and make two copies in front (Control-C > Control-F > Control-F). Select the top copy and move it 1 px up. Reselect both copies made in this step and click the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel. Turn the resulting group of shapes into a compound path, make sure that it stays selected, and focus on the Appearance panel. Set the fill color to white, lower the Opacity to 50%, and change the Blending Mode to Soft Light.

Step 8

Make sure that your green compound path is selected and make two copies in front (Control-C > Control-F > Control-F). Select the top copy and move it 2 px up. Reselect both copies made in this step and click the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel. Turn the resulting group of shapes into a compound path, make sure that it stays selected, and focus on the Appearance panel. Set the fill color to white, lower the Opacity to 50%, and change the Blending Mode to Soft Light.

Step 9

Make sure that your green compound path is selected and focus on the Appearance panel. Select the fill, replace the green with black, lower its Opacity to 60%, and change the Blending Mode to Soft Light. Keep focusing on the Appearance panel and select the existing stroke. Make it black, set the Width to 3 px, align it to inside, lower its Opacity to 10%, and change the Blending Mode to Soft Light.
Make sure that the stroke is still selected and simply duplicate it using that same Duplicate Selected Item button. Select your new stroke, increase its Opacity to 20% and decrease the Width to 1 px. Now, reselect the shape edited in this step along with the thin compound path used to highlight it and Group them (Control-G). Move to the Layers panel and simply rename this new group "Holes".

Step 10

Focus on the Layers panel and duplicate your "front" and "back" shapes (Control-C > Control-F). Select these copies, click the Unite button from the Pathfinder panel, and hit Control-8. Bring this new compound path to front (Shift-Control-]) and make sure that it's white.

Step 11

Reselect the white compound path made in the previous step along with your "Holes" group, focus on the Transparency panel, and simply click the Make Mask button. If you're not an Illustrator CC user you need to open the fly-out menu of the Transparency panel and click the Make Opacity Mask command.

6. Add Shading and Highlights for the Overall Text Effect

Step 1

Reselect your "Holes" group and make a copy in front (Control-C > Control-F). Select this new group, click the Unite button from the Pathfinder panel, and hit Control-8. Bring this new compound path to front (Shift-Control-]) and make sure that it's black.

Step 2

Reselect the black compound path made in the previous step along with your "sleekHighlight" shape, focus on the Transparency panel, click the Make Mask button, and then uncheck the Clip box.

Step 3

Focus on the Layers panel, reselect your "front" shape and make two copies in front (Control-C > Control-F > Control-F). Keep focusing on the Layers panel, select the top copy, and move it 3 px down. Reselect both copies made in this step and click the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel. Turn the resulting group of shapes into a compound path (Control-8), make sure that it stays selected, focus on the Appearance panel, and set the fill color to white.

Step 4

Make sure that the white compound path made in the previous step is still selected and focus on the Appearance panel. Change the Blending Mode to Color Dodge, and then go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -1 px Offset, click OK and go to Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Enter a 2 px Radius and click OK.

Step 5

Focus on the Layers panel and duplicate your "front" and "back" shapes (Control-C > Control-F). Select these copies, click the Unite button from the Pathfinder panel, and hit Control-8. Bring this new compound path to front (Shift-Control-]), make sure that it's white, and then go to Effect > Stylize > Inner Glow. Enter the properties shown in the following image and click OK.

Step 6

Make sure that your white compound path is still selected and go to Object > Expand Appearance. Focus on the Layers panel, simply Ungroup the resulting group, and you will get two new groups, a simple one and a masked one. Delete the simple group, select the masked one, and focus on the Transparency panel. Change the Blending Mode to Soft Light and lower the Opacity to 70%.

Step 7

Focus on your Toolbar and double-click on the Blend Tool to open the Blend Options window. Select Specified Steps from the Spacing drop-down menu and enter 50 in that white box. Move to the Layers panel, reselect your "front" and "back" shapes, and hit Alt-Control-B to create a new blend. In the end things should look like in the second image.

7. Create a Cheese Wedge

Step 1

Enable the Grid (Control-') and the Snap to Grid (Shift-Control-'). For these final steps you will need a grid every 5 px which means that you need to go to Edit > Preferences > Guides & Grid and enter 5 in the Gridline every box. Pick the Ellipse Tool (L), create a 100 px circle, set the fill color at R=255 G=220 B=72 and place it roughly as shown in the following image.

Step 2

Using the Rectangle Tool (M), create a 100 x 50 px shape, pick a simple red for the fill color, and place it as shown in the first image. Focus on the top side of this new rectangle and grab the Direct Selection Tool (A). Select the right anchor point, drag it 50 px to the left then switch to the Delete Anchor Point Tool (-). Simply click on the left anchor point to remove it, and your red shape will turn into a triangle as shown in the second image.

Step 3

Reselect your red triangle along with the yellow circle and click the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel.

Step 4

Disable the Grid (Control-") and the Snap to Grid (Shift-Control-'). Keep focusing on the yellow shape made in the previous step and grab the Direct Selection Tool (A). Select the two anchor points highlighted in the first image, focus on the top bar and simply enter a 5 px radius in that Corners box. In the end things should look like in the second image.

This feature is only available for CC users. The best solution to replace this effect would be the Round Any Corner script that you can find in this article: 20 Free and Useful Adobe Illustrator Scripts. Save it to your hard drive, return to Illustrator and grab the Direct Selection Tool (A).

Select those anchor points and go to File > Scripts > Other Script. Open the Round Any Corner Script, enter a 5 px radius and click OK. The end result might look a bit different, so feel free to try a different value for the radius. In some cases you will have to increase/decrease the value mentioned in that Corners box.

Step 5

Make sure that your yellow shape is still selected and go to Effect > 3D > Extrude & Bevel. Don't forget to click the More Options button, enter all the attributes shown in the following image, and click OK.

Step 6

Reselect your 3D yellow shape and go to Object > Expand Appearance. Ungroup (Shift-Control-G) the resulting group of shapes, and then simply repeat the techniques and effects used for the text shapes. In the end things should look like in the third image.

Congratulations! You're Done!

Here is how it should look. I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial and can apply these techniques in your future projects.

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Stay Golden With This Shiny Metallic Text Art Effect in Adobe Illustrator

What You'll Be Creating

In this tutorial, you will draw your own script font (or work off an existing one) and render it into a completed shiny, golden design. Create dimension in the design by doubling up on the text's line art, set up thinly stroked paths on one side, and use golden gradients to create gilded lettering fit to print.
The following tutorial assumes you are familiar with the Pen Tool (P), Pencil Tool (N), and Gradient Tool (G), and stresses technique and style over exact replication. Let's fire up Adobe Illustrator and get on with it!

1. Drawing the Letters

Step 1

We'll start with the most descriptive word in the final design: golden.

1. Using the Pencil Tool (N) with the stroke set to 1 pt Weight in the Stroke panel, I drew a large, loopy letter "G". If it makes you feel more comfortable, you can base your script letters on a preexisting font and simply trace the letter forms.
2. For the "OL" of "Golden", I want to make sure the letters loop into each other as though created with a single golden wire. Draw two-thirds of an ellipse, starting at the bottom.
3. In the last third of the "O", loop down to the left and back up to the right.
4. Then complete the "L" by creating another half loop shape.

Step 2

Not all of my letters are joined together. The "D" simply overlaps the other letters, while the "E" and "N" connect.

Step 3

We're going to focus on the word "Gold" for most of the rendering section of this tutorial. Group (Control-G) together your single line of text. Copy (Control-C) and Paste (Control-V) the text so that the copied group is offset from the first.
Group together both sets of text and lock the group in the Layers panel. I found it easiest to use the Pen Tool (P) to trace the ribbon-like shapes formed by doubling up the line art I drew for my text. Alternatively, you could choose a loopy script font that you like, and skip this entire section.
Whatever you choose to do, set the fill color to #ddbb4f because it is a wonderful soft gold color that sets the stage for our final design perfectly.

Doubling up the line art of letters gives the design dimension and weight.

2. Rendering the G

Step 1

If you opted to skip the previous section and used a ready-made font, make sure to Expand your text under Object before continuing.
Let's start with the top loop. Using the Pen Tool, draw a shape that overlaps the underside of the loop and accentuates the ribbon-like quality of the text (see below). Select your letter and the newly drawn shape. Use the Shape Builder Tool (Shift-M) to select the non-intersecting portion of the newly drawn object. Deselect and Delete this extraneous component.
Use the Gradient Tool (G) to apply a Linear Gradient to this shape consisting of the following colors, from left to right:

• #e3b76c
• #412927
• #c3ae3b
• #f0eb87
• #d29255

In the Gradient panel, set the angle to 83°, or so. Alternatively, you can adjust the gradient's angle with the Gradient Tool itself.

Step 2

The next shape begins at the top of the "G" and ends before the second loop in the letter begins. Use the Shape Builder Tool, as in the previous step, to fit a new object perfectly to the contour of the letter. The Linear Gradient applied has nine colors; here they are from left to right:

• #653d3b
• #eeb570
• #f9e99c
• #f5e283
• #ce9440
• #f1e67c
• #fffcb3
• #e0bd61
• #cd8f52

Angle the gradient so that it's parallel to the middle of the shape (a bit off from being parallel with the artboard itself).
For small highlight shapes, use the Shape Builder Tool once more to follow the letter's contour and apply a Linear Gradient going from #fffbbb at 100% to 0% Opacity. Place highlights like these right above darker colors in the golden gradient.

Step 3

Continue using the gradients from the previous two steps to create shadow and highlight shapes on the letter G.

• Note how lighter colors don't appear in portions of the letters that are overlapped by others. 
• The gradient shape being drawn here will accentuate the shine of the text. Make sure you manipulate the handles of the anchor points enough for the curve of the top of the highlight shape.
• Once more (and something you'll do often in this tutorial), use the Shape Builder Tool to delete extraneous portions of shapes from the main text group.
• The gradient of this highlight shape goes from #f1a46b at 100% to 0% Opacity. Use the same gradient from the previous step on all three shapes that now make up the lower loop of the "G".

Step 4

Use the Pen Tool to trace the outer edge of the letter. Set the fill color to null and the stroke to a Linear Gradient with the following colors:

• #f2e182
• #fcf4d4
• #f7e79f
• #f2e182

Increase the Weight of the stroke to 2–3 pts (or whatever thickness works for your lettering) and Expand the strokes under Object. This will be the process for the edge on every letter.

Step 5

To complete the "G" I made some of the following small changes:

1. Make sure the strokes that line the edges of your lettering don't extend past the rest of the letter shape. Use the Shape Builder Tool to trim them down.
2. I drew a small rectangle on the bottom of the "G"'s tail (it was done at the end of the top loop too) to give the letter more dimension and make it look as if it's been made out of a flat golden wire.
3. Again, the edge was trimmed here so the weight of the path didn't extend past the shape of the letter itself.

Group together your "G" components when satisfied with your design.

3. Putting the Gold in Golden

Step 1

Moving on to the next letter, let's check out the subtler gradient used for each section of the looping "O". As before, I used the Shape Builder Tool to draw a shape that follows the contour of the letter and accentuates its ever-changing planes.
The Linear Gradient used on the top of the "O" contains the following colors:

• #672e25
• #d2a142
• #fcf4d4
• #d2a142
• #884729

The three shapes drawn for the undersides of the loops of the "O" contain the gradient seen in the image below:

• #672e25
• #d2a142
• #d2a142
• #884729

Step 2

Continue on to the "L". Note how the first and largest shape connects completely with the second loop of the "O". Use the same gradient from the previous step, with the colors repeating so that there are two areas of highlights.
Four shapes complete the letter "L" at this point in the design. There's more to do on both the "O" and the "L", but I found it easier to break everything down into sections rather than rendering each letter separately and to completion.

Step 3

Next up we have the letter "D".

1. I started with a singular shape for the entire letter, using the same gradient as on the "G". 
2. After adjusting the gradient in the Gradient panel (spreading the colors out and adjusting the angle), I drew two shapes to define the twists and curves within the letter. For this I used the same gradient as we used for the undersides of the loops of the "O".
3. Finally, I repeated the process we used on the "G" to create the edges on the letters "OLD". There are four expanded paths in total.

4. Adding Letters

Step 1

As you've got most of the technique that I've used here, the following sections will concern themselves with showing alternate methods, streamlining the process, or creating different letter forms.
For starters, I had initially only created the word "gold" rather than the entire phrase seen in the final piece. As such, adding into the design was crucial to fill up space. When adding letters, use parallel lines along the top and bottom of each letter in order to make sure they're at the same angle as the ones that came before.
This also helps you visualize what the ribbon-like ends, curves, and angles of the letters are before you've filled in these spaces.

Step 2

Let's focus on the process of the "E", as it appears three times in the final design.

1. Using the same gradients as I used on the "D" for highlighted areas and shadows, I've created three shapes on the left side of the "E". Make sure the angles of the gradients are perpendicular to the edges of their objects.
2. Replicate the technique used throughout Section 3 (drawing gradient shapes to highlight, shade in, and drawing paths to create edges). Note how the edge path in the center of the "E" had to be cut into two pieces for the curve to be just right. Do not be afraid to draw edges in steps if it's a particularly difficult curve.
3. Concentrate darker colors within your gradient in the bottom side of curving shapes and especially if another letter or shape overlaps them (note the darker color behind the stem of the "N").

Step 3

This is the completed version of my word "Golden". Almost all of the highlights received additional gradient shapes like those we used to create shadow and highlight shapes on the letter "G". Using additional shades of brown, orange, and creamy yellow keeps the tone of this gold from being too cold.

5. Rendering Letters Without a Base Shape

Step 1

An alternative method in rendering gold text is to draw each gradient shape with the Pen Tool, without using the Shape Builder Tool method outlined in this tutorial.

1. Start with your basic lettering. In this case, it's the rest of the final design, "We Are".
2. Copy, Paste, and place the copied text to the right of the original text. Use the Pen Tool to draw horizontal lines between open edges on the top and bottom of the design. Group together your components for each word and Lock them in the Layers panel.
3. Starting with the "W", trace the end of the first curve. Use the same gradient as we initially used for the "G".
4. Draw in the next part of the first curve in the "W". Use the same gradient as we used for the "D". Make sure the angle of the gradient is parallel with the horizontal ends and edges of the letters (note the end of the curl).

Step 2

Continuing on with the letter "W", I've already added the next curve and the corresponding edge shape.

• The second diagonal of the letter is a large, curving shape.
• The shape beneath the second diagonal (the end of the first diagonal) uses the same gradient as for the undersides of the loops of the "O". Angle the gradient so the darker portion is in the upper left of the shape (this was -51.7° for my piece).
• Trace the edge of both of these shapes. I found it easiest if the edge was a singular path.

Step 3

Let's look closely at the meeting point of the first and second diagonal of the "W". I used the Direct Selection Tool (A) to adjust the anchor points of the overlapping shape so it didn't kick out past the path of the yellow edge.
Then, using the Pen Tool, I drew a simple rectangle that served as an end point for the two diagonals. This allows the shape of the letters to look as if they were bent by pliers in order to get that severe bend.
Adjust the anchor points of your shapes so that they connect to the rectangle at the end of your letter.

Step 4

The third diagonal overlaps the second at the top, and the fourth diagonal overlaps the third at the bottom. The letter is constantly loops through itself. Once again, the bottom of the fourth diagonal has another rectangle allowing the sharp curve in the design seem more plausible.

6. Handling Other Letter Shapes

Step 1

Two more instances of the letter "E" appear in my design. I found it easiest to just Copy, Paste, and Scale the letter as needed throughout the rest of the design. If your "E" connects with your "N", you'll have to carefully delete anchor points and extraneous components.

Step 2

The "A" has a lot of overlapping shapes.

1. As with previous letters, start with the curving tail on the left.
2. Adjust the angles of the Linear Gradients used in the stem and its curving tail. 
3. Make sure the gradient used on the tail is brighter than what's nearest it in the stem of the "A", since that part of the design is curving outward.
4. The second stem overlaps the first at the top, but it's overlapped by the curling bar of the "A".
5. Note how the curling bar was separated into two shapes so it has dimension in its design. Five shapes in total make up the "A" at this point.

Step 3

The edge of the bar of the "A" was drawn in one shape, but after I expanded the path, I drew two small gradient shapes on either side of the overlapping bar that go from #5e322a at 100% to 0% Opacity in order to separate the sections and add a shadow. I also drew a small shape filled with #874e2e to break up the end of the bar with the shape below it.

Creating the illusion of an overlapping shape.

Step 4

Finally, the letter "R" is broken down into three shapes (see below). Note the light yellow edges appearing on both side of the letter since they're curving in toward the center of the letter.

Step 5

Finally, create some simple sparkles by drawing small white circles with the Ellipse Tool (L) and applying a Pucker effect (Effect > Distort & Transform > Pucker & Bloat). I slid the slider to -93%, but the amount will vary depending on the size of your circle and the shape you want to create. Expand the new shape under Object, and Rotate or overlap sparkles as needed. Place them around your shiny gold text.

Great Job, You're Done!

Give yourself a gold star! You've completed the tutorial and are ready to take on the world with shiny, golden text. I hope the techniques outlined above inspire you to create banners, posters, and more with glorious golden letter forms that glisten off the page.

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