How to warp text with font effects

Question

I am working on a logo and want to use a text effect like this one. I add the appearance effects to get the offset outlines but when I warp the text, all of the outlines still go the same way. While with this text, the outlines around "FEEDLOT" seem to rotate around the text in a 3D looking manner.

Can anyone help with the technique on this? Thanks!

Answer 1

If you can manage the text part of logo to be expanded, you can try this approach:

Not sure of exact effect but one way of achieving similar effect is using a duplicate layer of the text as a Shadow Layer.

I don't know how this bent text is done in Illustrator, I used Object > Envelope Distort feature to achieve this effect, and then expanded the shape. Let's call it text layer.

1. Once you've the text layer. Duplicate it and Edit > Paste in Back and change the color to desired shadow color. You'll need it as a shadow layer.

2. Select the shadow layer and increase the size a bit (the amount you need for the shadow) and shift it a little down

3. Apply a stroke to text layer and expand it again. I used a purple stroke (color wouldn't matter. See next step.)

4. Select and expand the text layer again.

5. Group everything (shadow layer + text layer) and use Shape Builder tool and carefully remove all unwanted shapes so only shadow and text remains.

6. You should get a result like this:

Answer 2

• Add a new fill and stoke via the *Appearance Panel and move them below the <characters>
• Use Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform to move and scale the additional fill a bit.

Adjust settings as desired.

• Use Object > Envelope Distort > Make with Warp to add the curve.

Adjust settings as desired.

When ready to "bake in" all these effects ...

• Choose Object > Expand
• Choose Object > Expand again (Yes, do it twice)
• Hit Merge on the Pathfinder Panel
• Select one white stroke
• Choose Select > Same > Fill & Stroke
• Hit the Delete key
• Draw a no fill, no stroke, rectangle anywhere on the artboard.
• Choose Select > Same > Fill & Stroke again
• Hit the Delete key

Answer 3

Preword: Hopefully you see that this is not a suggestion to steal, but a way to learn the method.

If we check it carefully we can see a couple of things which look like they should be taken into the account:

1. It's not curved. It's not made by using warping method Arc. The upper halves of the letters are distorted in a way which keeps straight lines straight.

2. It has rounded corners. They forgive a great part of the fact that it has no 3D extrusion, the illusion of thickness is made by having a black version with white stroke and in the bottom there's a brown copy which is dragged to a little bigger size.

What to do:

1. The text. It has simple a font which has horizontal top edges. The letters are placed under the magenta jig sketch which is stolen from your model by drawing it over the example with the line tool.

2. The text is outlined. The nodes of the upper halves if the letters F, E and E are moved with the direct selection tool to fit into the stolen jig.

3. The corners are rounded by applying effect Stylize > Round corners.

4. A duplicate is made to the bottom. It has brown fill and brown stroke. It's stretched a little wider and dragged a little downwards. The right edge fit into the original, but the difference grows leftwards. The original has got black fill and white stroke.

The strokes are "outer strokes". It helped a little thinking because the strokes do not use room inside the original letters.