Sorry to be one of those guys who needs help finding a thread, but a while back, we had a discussion (and even a demo, if I remember correctly) regarding ornate "spirograph" patterns created in Illustrator, such as you might find on currency or certificates. Anyone remember the thread? I've done about a dozen searches.
Thanks!
Not remembering the actual thread, but you may very well find the following post (and related links) on my blog on 'Guilloche' interesting: for.ma/blog/?p=89.
Dav(id)
Here are two more rather related threads titled 'Engaved Patterns (Banknotes & Stocks)', and 'Gullioche Pattern', on Typophile.
Dav(id)
From my history there are these:
http://typophile.com/node/30432 and http://typophile.com/node/20517
As far as Tutorials: the best I can suggest at this point is, using simple lines and the Object>Blend tool, you can achieve some rather basic but similar effects. layering these effects can create a more complicated looking design. Also, you might be able to use the pattern brush to create a border as well. It'll just take some experimenting to get the desired effect. Also, remember lines in a blend can be manipulated (either adding points, curves or even changing the position.)
Hope that helps.
Try Object/Transform/Scale (or whatever) and Copy in transform . Thus one curve becomes many and can be scaled, slanted etc . Command D repeats the transformation.
thanks, guys.
there was actually a pretty longish thread before, and a lot of people had some great tips on using the blend to create the patterns. but, like i said, i can't find the precise node. but i do appreciate your ideas; i didn't know about the plugin.
Maybe this thread can help:
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