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March 6, 2023 07:00 am

How to Make the Back to the Future Logo

Learn how to create the Back to the Future movie logo in Illustrator. Let's create an 80s style logo that you can apply to future projects.

If you don't have the time to learn how to make the Back to the Future logo from scratch, you can always try Envato Elements, where you will find a large selection of fonts that are ready to be used for 80s logos. This wonderful 80s style font is just one of the many examples.

What You'll Learn in This Back to the Future Logo Tutorial

How to edit a font in Adobe Illustrator

How to distort a vector logo with Warp effects

How to color an 80s style logo

Tutorial Assets

You'll need the following resources in order to complete this project:

Toska Font

3D Portal Futurism Neon Tunnel Photo

1. How to Make a New Document in Adobe Illustrator

Launch Adobe Illustrator and then go to File > New to open the New Document window. Type a file name and set the dimensions of the document as shown. Use Pixels as the units and RGB as the Color Mode. Click Create.

Next, go to Edit > Preferences > General and set the Keyboard Increment to 1 px and while there, go to Units to make sure they are set as in the following image. I usually work with these settings, and they will help you throughout the drawing process.

2. How to Make the Back to the Future Vector Logo in Adobe Illustrator

Step 1

To make the Back to the Future logo vector, we need to start with the text. Grab the Type Tool (T) and write BACK on your artboard using the Toska Bold Font, with a size of 216 pt. Under Set the tracking for the selected characters, choose a value of -50 to move the letters closer to each other.

Step 2

Still using the Type Tool (T), hit Enter on your keyboard to go onto the second line, and type TO. Now, select only the letters TO and reduce the font size to 80 pt. Also use the following settings:

Set the leading: 54 pt

Set the tracking for the selected characters: -50

Horizontal Scale: 125%

Step 3

Hit Enter again to go onto the third line and, using the Type Tool (T), write THE (1). Go to Window > Type > Glyphs to open the Glyphs window, where you can see the alternatives of the font. Use the Type Tool (T) to select each letter T, H, and E separately, and replace them with the other letter alternatives (2).

Still using the Type Tool (T), select THE and change the font to Toska Regular so the letters are thinner (3). Also use the following settings:

Set the font size: 72 pt

Set the leading: 60 pt

Set the tracking for the selected characters: -50

Vertical Scale: 125%

Step 4

Continue to write FUTURE on the third row, without a space. While only FUTURE is selected, change the font back to Toska Bold. Also use the following settings:

Set the font size: 176 pt

Set the leading: 60 pt

Set the tracking for the selected characters: -50

Vertical Scale: 100%

Step 5

In the next few steps, we will distort some of the letters to make them as similar as possible to the original Back to the Future logo.

Start by selecting only the two points indicated on the letter A using the Direct Selection Tool (A), and move them downwards a little by pressing the Down Arrow key on your keyboard a few times. The goal is to make the legs of the letter A a bit shorter.

Next, select the two green highlighted points on the letter C using the Direct Selection Tool (A), and move them to the right until they go over the letter K (1).

Focus on the letter K and use the Delete Anchor Point Tool (-) to delete the red highlighted points. This action will remove the curves, and you should have straight lines (2). The next thing to do is to select only the orange highlighted point, and move it downwards as shown (3).

Also for the letter K, select the pink highlighted points and move them to the right to elongate the letter (4).

Step 6

Drag and align a guideline on the left side of the letter B, and another one on the left side of the letter A. To do this, you should first activate the Rulers by going to View > Rulers > Show Rulers.

Now, select TO THE and align it to the first guide, followed by the letter F that should be aligned with the second guideline.

Step 7

Focus on the letter F. Use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to select only the indicated points (1) and delete them by pressing the Delete key on your keyboard. Move the remaining points to reconstruct the corner point.

Next, select only the red highlighted points and move them to the left so that there is an empty space up to the letter U. Continue to select only the green highlighted point and move it to the right (2) so the arms of the letter F have the same length (3).

Repeat the same thing for the letter E from THE, i.e. create the corner points and make the arms the same length (4).

Step 8

Focus on the letter E from FUTURE (1) and create the corner points as you did before. Also, make the middle and bottom arms of the letter the same length and shorter by moving the green highlighted points to the left (2).

Focus on the letter R and use the Anchor Point Tool (Shift-C) to transform the straight paths into curved paths so that the leg of the letter will be rounded. The last thing to do is to select only the red highlighted point with the Direct Selection Tool (A) and move it to the right until it goes over the letter E, just like in the original Back to the Future logo (4).

Step 9

The Back to the Future logo font is pretty much done now. Let's add the arrow next.

Use the Rectangle Tool (M) to draw five shapes with the same height but different widths. Mine have the following sizes in order: 60 x 78 px, 20 x 78 px, 19 x 78 px, 16 x 78 px, and 15 x 78 px (1). Using the Pen Tool (P), draw the head of the arrow as a triangle, but make sure that it has the same angle as the letter K (2).

Next, use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to drag a selection over the top points of the rectangles as indicated in the image below, and move them to the left to create the slanted appearance (3).

Step 10

We are almost done with the Back to the Future logo font; only a few extra adjustments are needed. Select the BACK letters and press Unite in the Pathfinder panel followed by Object > Compound Path > Make (1). The same thing goes for the FUTURE letters: turn them into a compound path (2).

Finally, select the head of the arrow along with the first rectangle and press Unite in the Pathfinder panel to merge them into one shape (3).