Heather M. answered • 10/15/19
A writer, a designer, and a teacher
The easiest way I can think of to do this is to use the Blend tool. You can create evenly spaced objects on a path using this tool by putting two of one kind of object a little way apart. Select both of them, and go to Object>Blend>Make. Your results will vary depending on how you have the Blend mode set, so you should go back into Object>Blend>Blend Options and set it to "Specified Steps" and then choose how many of the object you want to repeat.
You can then take this Blend, or set of objects, and apply it to a circle as seen in the first half of this video, by using the Replace Spine command in the Object>Blend menu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Xr6s98K6hQ
However, it sounds like you want to have groups of several different objects spaced regularly around a circle.
First, make sure that you have the option for the orientation of the objects set to "Align to Path" in the Blend Options pop-up window. This will make sure your objects are rotated to align with the circle as they go around.
Second, I would make a circle of circles, as seen in the video above. Choose as many steps for the blend as you will have objects in your finished project. Make sure the small circles are the same size as the objects you want to eventually put in their place, and that the circle you are using as a "spine," or guide, is the right size. This will be a guide for placing your objects on the page, and will be deleted later. When you have it looking about how you want for your finished project, you can do one of two things.
The simplest way is to place the objects over the circles by hand––in other words, use the circle of circles as a guide. You will have to adjust the orientation of each object by hand until it looks good. This is the simplest, but requires hand/eye coordination, so if you are an artistic type this will feel easiest, but if you are not confident with it, you can try the second way.
The second way seems more complex but is really just more of the same, with a little thinking thrown in:
- Make another circle the same size as your original "spine." If you thought ahead, you could copy and paste the original spine circle, but if not, just approximate it.
- Lay it over the blend as exactly as you can. You can open the Align panel by going to Window>Align and use this to center your new circle over the blended object; just select both objects and then choose the "vertical align" and then the "horizontal align" options to get them centered together. Deselect them.
- Use your scissors tool to clip the new circle at points between clusters of like objects. For example, if the top left quarter of your circular chart is going to be 6 pieces of sushi, use the scissors to cut the new "spine" circle at the center of the top little circle, and then count down counterclockwise to the 6th little circle, and cut the spine at the center of that circle. Do this counting and cutting for the rest of the kinds of objects.
- You should now have a series of segments that make a circle, which you can use to lay your objects out. Just make a new (straight) blend of sushi pieces, as in the first part of this answer, setting the steps to 6. Then select both this new sushi blend (there should be 6 pieces there) *and* the section of the spine-circle that you have designated for sushi, and then choose "replace spine" from the Object>Blend menu. The sushi should spread out along the section you cut for it. Keep doing this for all the other sections with the different groups of objects
- Lastly, throw away the "guide" blend that you originally made (the circle of circles). Select and delete it, along with any leftover bits of line segments from the new circle that didn't get used as "spines." You should now have a nice circle of different kinds of objects.
Good luck!
