Click OK, then using the Pen tool, create the main stem for the left side of your design. Create a new document called “Swirls” at 720×540 pixels, and set the Color Mode to RGB. Let’s start out in Adobe Illustrator CS3, by far the best tool for creating such design elements-and as you’ll see, hugely important in providing the actual animation paths for us also (yes, you read that right!). But creating and animating such elements is really not as difficult and time-consuming as it would seem, even if the shapes are detailed and intricate. Animated swirls are all the rage in the motion graphics world, and there are some pretty cool things that can be done with them.
