Circles in a Spiral Motion
This tip builds a hypnotic spiral of circles in Adobe Illustrator. The idea is to blend circles along a quarter-circle arc, mirror the arc into a full ring, and then let a Transform effect shrink and rotate copies of the ring towards the centre. Everything stays live, so you can change the angle, count and colours afterwards.
Step 1: Make the arc
Draw a 900 x 900 square and a 900 x 900 circle, both centred on the artboard, as strokes with no fill. Select both, Pathfinder > Divide, ungroup and delete the inner circle. Copy one corner piece, then with the Direct Selection Tool delete the outer corner anchor so you are left with a quarter-circle arc.
Step 2: Blend circles along it
Turn on Smart Guides and Snap to Point. Draw a 50 x 50 filled circle centred on one end of the arc (Shift+Alt drag from the anchor) and a 5 x 5 circle on the other end. Blend the two circles with the Blend Tool, then select the blend and the arc and choose Object > Blend > Replace Spine. In Blend Options switch to Specified Steps and lower the number until the circles have clear gaps.
Step 3: Build the ring
Snap the arc back onto the large circle. Use the Reflect Tool (double-click, Horizontal, Copy) to mirror it, then select both and reflect again vertically with Copy. Snap the four arcs together so there are no gaps. Where the circle sizes run the wrong way, select that arc and Object > Blend > Reverse Spine. Delete the guide shapes and group the ring.
Step 4: Spiral with a Transform effect
Select the group and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Scale 90 percent horizontally and vertically, set 12 to 18 copies, and add a rotation of 15 degrees. The copies twist inwards into a spiral. A negative angle spins it the other way, and the Move values shift the vanishing point off centre for a skewed spiral. Edit the effect later from the Appearance panel.
Step 5: Colour
With the Direct Selection Tool pick individual circles and recolour them for variation. Because the Transform effect is live, every copy updates.
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