A great alternative to the Pathfinder, the Shape Builder Tool in Adobe Illustrator allows you to merge, unite and divide overlapping shapes to create compound paths.

This quick tutorial will show you how to draw a belt buckle (or other fashion flats) using this tool using a few simple shapes.

You will learn:

• How to cut a shape out of another shape (00:57)
• How to merge overlapping shapes together (01:48)