I was experimenting with various tools on Illustrator last night and somehow managed to create an interesting illusion with simple squares. All it took was two minutes and I’ve got something as interesting as this:

If you look at it long enough, your eyes will play a trick with your illusion leaving your mind to guess if the image is made out of open boxes or ice cubes. I couldn’t quite figure it myself. It’s mysteriously distracting. Just in case any of you are interested to know how this squarish illusion is done, here’s how.

Step 1: Draw a perfect square by holding down the SHIFT key while using the Rectangle Tool. It could be a big square or a small square, depending on your preference.

Step 2: Duplicate the square by holding down ALT and dragging your mouse. When you drag, remember to hold down SHIFT too so that the square will be automatically aligned to the same height. Make sure the sides are overlapping.

Step 3: Now, select the 2nd square and use the same method previously to repeat Step 2 automatically. Press COMMAND + D for this.

Step 4: Next, select the row of squares and duplicate it at the bottom like the image above. Same as Step 2, hold down ALT and drag your mouse downwards. Remember to hold down SHIFT too so that the objects are automatically aligned as well.

Step 5: Now select the 2nd row of squares and press COMMAND + D to repeatedly duplicate it like above. You will get many squares lined up next to one another.

Step 6: Select all the objects and go to EFFECT > 3D> Extrude & Bevel. Use the options displayed on the image above for the best effect. Then click OK.

Step 7: You will get the above result. The hard  black colour appears because your objects have been filled with Stroke colour. If you like it to be this way, you can change the Stroke colour to your preference.

Step 8: If you don’t like the black patches, select all objects and put transparency to the Stroke option. You will then get the result like above.

Step 9: Now, you can fill the squares with any colours of your choice. I like green. So I filled all of the with lime green. And you are done.

There you got it! The confusing interesting Squarish Illusion at your fingertips. All you have to do now is pick the squares you want to highlight and change the colour according to your preference. I did mine to spell my initials. Have fun!

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