Every vector needs a good base, regardless of style. Shape and form are the recipe for all good things, especially illustrations. Composition is the single most important key to constructing your illustrations, and plays the major part in showcasing your work. Getting the elements in the right place has everything to do with how it all looks and works after the drawing is done. Here are a few hints and tips to master composition.

Free as a bird.
A sketch pad is always the best starting point. Illustration is all about style, and there's no better way to bring style into vectors than by hand. With the ease of using a sketchpad you can take a lot of the guessing out of line work. Drawing frees your mind and lets the lines wander. It's the easiest way to get your ideas into visual shape. The free-flowing movements created by a pen and paper are very hard to emulate with a mouse and drawing program, although they do play a big part in the next step - scanning and redrawing lines.
Here's a tip: For those of you out there who don't use the bezier tool .... Pick it up and have a play. It's tricky to begin with, but the more you drag those handles and play with those curves, the sooner you'll be drawing free-flowing lines right on the screen.

The Straight Shooter
For those who don't dig on hand drawing, or are allergic to paper, starting straight out in your drawing program also has its benefits. All those tools for creating shapes quickly and easily are great for laying out design elements and forming your ideas, for simplistic or technical illustrations.
A reference photo is always a good start for realistic illustrations. We mean a photo of your own, of course - always include the source image in your zip to put inspectors' minds at ease. Once you've got the basic contours, whether from a drawing of your own, or based on your photograph, or roughed out with shape tools in Illustrator, it's time to take a look at the details and decide if it's actually what you want. Are there points you don't need? Are you happy with the shape? The answer means spending 5 more minutes here in the construction phase to ensure a good composition. Don't be afraid to break the rules a little. With this lime picture, even though it's a trace of an actual lime, the shape is far from looking real. A few tweaks in the right spots and voila... NOW it looks tasty.

Tips for the straight shooter
Take the time to think about what you're going to do before you jump in. Remember, Illustrator is just a tool - it's our minds that create.
Put a spin on things: use rotate or push the perspective tool to create cool, simple twists on your image.