Creating a custom vector shape from text

This is really fun if you incorporate some of those fonts that aren't actually letters, like Webdings, Zapf Dingbats, or Wingdings. You can come up with a pretty cool logo combining a letter font and one or two of those dingy font symbols.
1. Create a new document, select the Type tool, click on the canvas and begin typing your logo name. Since you have per-character editing control, you can individually change a character's font, size, baseline shift, scale, etc. For example your logo could include the fonts Arial and Webdings with various settings to make it look extra cool.
2. Once you've got all the font characters just the way you like them, go to Layer menu -> Type -> Convert to Shape
3. (if needed or desired) fine tune the path that is generated from the text by using the direct selection tool
4. Click on the Edit menu -> Define Custom Shape (give it a name and click Save)
5. Bam! There you go. Now you can go to the Edit menu -> Preset Manager, select Custom Shapes, Save Set...and email to co-workers or friends. You can also post it on a server or publish it on a website and become famous.