In this tutorial you'll create a fun to-do list or organizer application icon with a three‑dimensional effect, ready for desktop or market use. Combine radial gradients, blends, a sense of lighting, and the tiniest bit of perspective for a simply built, but eye catching, icon. This tutorial uses Adobe Illustrator CC 2014, though many of the techniques are applicable to other versions of the program
Create the Icon's Base
Step 1
Start out by drawing a square using the Rectangle Tool (M). In the Gradient panel, apply a Radial Gradient of tan (#e3c184) to slightly darker tan (#c9a068).
Step 2
Use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to pull the square's Live Corners inward, rounding the square out slightly.
Then, using the Line Segment Tool (/), draw a vertical line with a 1–2 pt stroke of tan, and its Blend Mode set to Screen in the Transparency panel. Draw a second, darker tan line, slightly overlapping the first, and set the Blend Modeto Multiply. Group (Control-G) the two lines together.
Copy (Control-C) and Paste (Control-V) the grouped lines a total of five times and spread them evenly across your rounded square.
Create Your Notepad
Step 1
Draw a rounded rectangle and Rotate it 15° with the Rotate Tool (R). Apply a Radial Gradient to it of white (#ffffff) to light beige (#f3dcca).
Step 2
Copy and Paste the notebook object twice. Set the copied shape's fill color to dark tan (#a8783f). Align one of the copies with the notebook shape created previously and place the other copied shape to the lower right of the rest of the icon.
Reduce the Opacity of the rightmost copied shape to 0% in the Transparencypanel. Select both copied shapes and use the Blend Tool (W) to create a blend of 50 steps (or whatever amount gives your shapes a smooth blend).
Place the blend group beneath the notepad shape in the Layers panel.
Step 3
Copy and Paste the notebook page drawn previously. Overlap the upper left corner of the shape slightly. Select both objects and use the Shape Builder Tool (Shift-M)to select the non-intersecting portion of the overlapped shapes. Deselectand Delete this extraneous shape. Set the bottom shape's fill color to beige (#dbb588) to create dimension within the icon
Step 4
For the spiral of the notebook, draw a small rounded rectangle (either with the Rectangle Tool or the Rounded Rectangle Tool) with a Radial Gradient of gray (#b6ada6) to dark warm gray (#6f5c4f). Use the Gradient Tool (G) to move the radius of the gradient to the top of the shape.
Copy and Paste three instances of the spiral shape, line them up, and Rotate the group 15°. Place the shapes near the top of the notebook. Draw dark tan circles with the Ellipse Tool (L) for the holes in the notebook's pages. Place them below the spiral shapes in the Layers panel
Step 5
For the turned-up notebook page corner, Copy and Paste the main notebook page. Use the Pen Tool (P) to draw a small triangle overlapping the bottom right corner of the rounded rectangle.
Use the Shape Builder Tool to separate the three shapes. Delete the rightmost, extraneous shape.
Rotate the rounded corner shape so it lines up with the edge of the page's bottom right corner. Apply a Linear Gradient that goes from light beige to white (the same as the page itself).
Place the newly turned up page underneath the spiral and hole group and above the rest of the notebook design in the Layers panel. Adjust the gradient of the shape below the turned-up page to be slightly darker.
Step 5
Group together your pencil components, place your pencil on the icon base (rotate or scale as needed), and go to Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow. Apply the following attributes:
- Mode: Multiply
- Opacity: 45%
- X Offset: 7 px
- Y Offset: 7 px
- Blur: 7 px
- Color: Brown (
#3f1706)
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