Conquering the Pen Tool

As an exercise we received a template to work on our "pen tool" skills in Illustrator. Since I haven't kept up with them since last year, I had some difficulties. But, as in all things, practice makes perfect. After about the fourth round I made significant progress and conquered the several twists and turns with the pen tool. Below is the template I used.

Some tips I learned:

-When creating a circle or curve, always insert each pen point at 90 degree intervals to manage a perfect curve.
-Cut the point when going from a curve to a straight line.
-Use live trace when possible and lock it in the background if you need to have a guideline.
-After you're done, zoom in and eliminate any unnecessary points. The more points, the more ragged. The less points, the more smooth... however you want to look at it!
-Hold down the shift key to make very straight and even lines. It will make equal angles and straight lines according to your last point.
-When re-creating a logo or type, try using shapes if possible and create as outlines and minimize the points if needed.

Let me know any additional hints or tips that you use!