Step 2: Correct any mistakes.

Similar to handwriting, not everything will turn out perfectly. Compared to the other letters, the "E" seems a little small, right?

The Pencil Tool can fix this. The trick is to simply go over the letter again, starting and ending on a point in the original letter. It seems messy, but it works.

Step 3: Position and add detail.

Use the Selection Tool to rotate the letters as necessary and adjust the spacing between the letters to make the word more legible.

Select the Pencil Tool and add in counters, the holes in the letters "P," "O," and "R."

Step 4: Combine the parts of each letter into one shape.

It’s time to take all of these separate elements and combine them so that each letter is a compound shape.

Select the individual elements of the letter you want to combine and go to Window > Pathfinder. Under Shape Modes, click the second option: Minus Front. This creates a compound shape. Repeat this process for all letters.

Step 5: Define the letterforms.

I like my letters to be very bold but this can sometimes affect their legibility. To ensure they're still readable, you can draw additional lines to accentuate the forms of each letter. This technique works perfectly for "W" and "E.".

Step 6: Define the letterforms.

Now for the fun part: Colors! I usually have colors in mind for my work. They always pop and have a lot of contrast.

Start to add color so you can see the letterforms more clearly. I’ll go into more detail on choosing my color palette in a later step; for now, let’s use this yellow. 

Step 7: Arrange the letters.

I decided to rearrange the stacking order of some letters to make the word easier to read. To do this, select a letter, right-click to select Arrange, and then Bring to Front.

Step 8: Add highlights.

To make the letters more eye-catching, I like to add highlights. It makes me want to grab the letters.

Draw the highlight shapes with the Pencil Tool in the same organic way as the letters. To speed up the process, copy and paste each shape and slightly alter it for each letter. This technique also means every highlight is the same thickness — almost, anyway. If you’ve come this far, you’ll know I’m not too worried about perfection.

Step 9: Create a composition.

To improve the composition of the piece, I decided to repeat the word "Power" three times. To do this, select the entire word, copy and paste it, and repeat.

Step 10: Choose a color palette.

Now for even more color.

I like to test different colors and keep everything really saturated, with enough contrast to define my color palettes. For this, I use my favorite feature, the Recolor Artwork Tool. It lets you play with the colors of your design and test new ones in a quick, intuitive, and simple way.

Select a word and go to Edit > Edit Colors > Recolor Artwork. In the dialog box that appears, click Edit and change the color by simply dragging the larger dot to another spot on the color wheel. 

After you've recolored your words, let’s look at the background color. Black backgrounds always work. Add one by selecting a fill color of black, choosing the Rectangle tool and drawing a shape as large as the Artboard, and then positioning the shape at the back.

Step 11: Add some sparkle.

To draw more attention to the letters, I like to add sparkles. I make one with the Pencil Tool and copy and paste the shape around the composition, resizing each sparkle as I go.

The result.

The final image is one you can't ignore — and you don't want to!