There is a short way of doing a task and a long, roundabout way of doing it in Illustrator. Ever since I started tinkering with the software earlier this year, I have inadvertently ended up going the longer route. But once in a while you have the a-ha moment on your self-learning journey and what a wonderful moment that is when you discover that you can accomplish the same task in 2 minutes that earlier took you 10. The Tricks section on the blog is dedicated to those "Look Ma! I did it in 2 minutes!" moments. Today I will show you how to create a complex shape in Illustrator and then with the click of a button, convert all the sharp corners of that shape into rounded corners. All in just 2 minutes.

Software – Adobe Illustrator

Genre – Shapes

1. Open a new document in Illustrator [File>New]

2. Click on the little arrow in the right bottom corner of the Rectangle Tool and choose the Polygon Tool from the list. Click anywhere in the work area to get the option box. I used the values 2in and 6 sides to get a 6-sided polygon. Make sure Fill color is set to orange/red and stroke is null. Click again in the work space and now enter the value 1in and 4 sides. You will get a square shape. Using the Selection Tool (V), drag it to the right to get a rectangle. Add 2 more squares as shown in the picture.

3. Pressing down Shift and using the Selection Tool (V), click and select all the shapes. Go to the Pathfinder Window [Windows>Pathfinder]. Click on the "Unite" tool to unite the shapes into one complex shape.

4. Making sure the shape is selected using the Selection Tool, go to Effect>Stylize>Round Corners. Enter the values as shown in the picture or try out your own. Voila! Rounded corners in an instant.

5. I spent another 5 minutes adding a cartoon eye [ Cartoon Eye In 5 Minutes Tutorial ] and creating a simple cartoon fire hydrant.