Making a Spirograph design in Illustrator may look difficult, but it's very easy to quickly make any spirograph design you want. There are different methods to make spirographs, one of the most know is by using the Transform Panel where you can precisely control every aspect of the design. But if you want some freedom when drawing spirographs, then the method that I will show you here is the right one for you. By using the tilde key (~) you can easily and quickly make all kinds of designs in real-time. Today, I will show you how to make realtime spirographs in Illustrator by usig the tilde key (~) together with the Polygon, Ellipse, and Star tools.

File Setup

Step 1

Open Illustrator and make a new file at any size you want. In this case, I will setup mine at 1800 x 1200 px.

Step 2

In the toolbar, set the Fill to "none" and pick any color you want for the stroke. Here I will be using #000000 but you are free to use any color you want.

Using the Polygon Tool

Step 3

Select the Polygon Tool.

Step 4

With the Polygon Tool selected, hold the tilde key (~) on your keyboard and then simply click and drag to any location on the Artboard to start creating your spirograph design as shown. Note: If you drag slowly more shapes will be made, and if you drag quickly, less shapes will be shown.

Using the Ellipse Tool

Step 5

Delete all objects in the Artboard, or simply make a new file at any size you want.

Step 6

Select the Ellipse Tool (L). Hold Alt+ tilde key (~) on your keyboard and then simply click and drag to any location on the Artboard to start creating your spirograph design as shown. Note: If you drag slowly, more shapes will be made and if you drag quickly, fewer shapes will be shown.

Using the Star Tool

Step 7

Delete all objects in the Artboard, or simply make a new file at any size you want.

Step 8

Select the Star Tool. Hold the tilde key (~) on your keyboard and then simply click and drag to any location on the Artboard to start creating your spirograph design as shown. Note: If you drag slowly, more shapes will be made and if you drag quickly, fewer shapes will be shown.

A Final Note:

Now that you've learned how to make a spirograph designs in Illustrator, you may try to change some of the Polygon and Star settings right before drawing your spirograph. You could create new designs using a 4 points star shapes or multi-point polygons. Also, if you want to change the design color later, simply select all artboard elements and change the stroke color from the Swatches panel.