Repeat Shapes Along Concentric Circles in Illustrator

[S01200]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some guidance on a project I'm working on. I need to repeat shapes (squares or rectangles) in a pattern similar to the photo attached. Specifically, I want to arrange these shapes along concentric circles.

I'm aiming to create something akin to the photo (abstract shapes) in Adobe Illustrator, which will then be imported into After Effects for final use.

Could someone point me to the simplest solution to achieve this?

Thanks in advance!

[Monika Gause · Accepted solution]

You could search for sunflower patterns. There are some tutorials. And there are discussions in this forum:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator-discussions/sunflower-dot-pattern/m-p/5685875

https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator-discussions/sunflower-dot-pattern/m-p/5685880/page/3

https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator-discussions/phyllotaxis-spiral-challenge-2018/td-p/100636...

What do you want to do with them in After effects, because most of them are generated by effects or scripts. Separating them by circle will get kind of hard.

[S01200]

Thanks. I will have a look. I'm making a background for screen graphics for a client. I add effects, depth, and subtle animation in AE. I don't animate elements individually but will change the grey scale of each element for animation purposes in AE.

[Monika Gause]

you need to then figure out how to best export that from Illustrator if you need to target single elements in After Effects. Or do you want to change their greyscale as a group?

[S01200]

Thanks, Monika, I change the greyscale element individually in Illustrator. I go back and forth between AI and AE to see how it reacts to the effects I apply. Trial and error. I am experimenting with what I learned from Learn Squared:)

[pixxxelschubser]

search for sunflower dot pattern, e.g.
https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator-discussions/sunflower-dot-pattern/m-p/5685857#M19098

[S01200]

Thanks