Create a Battery Meter Icon in Adobe Illustrator

In the following tutorial you will learn how to create a simple battery meter icon in Adobe Illustrator.

For starters you will learn how to set up a simple grid and how to create the main shapes using the Snap to Grid feature, the Rectangle Tool, the Rounded Corners effect and the Pathfinder panel.

Moving on, you will learn how to quickly create and save a simple pattern. Taking full advantage of the Appearance panel you will learn how to add shading, highlights and a subtle glow for your shapes.

Finally, you’ll be surprised how easy it can be to recolor your final design.

Final Image

As always, this is the final image that we’ll be creating:

Tutorial Details

Program: Adobe Illustrator CC
Estimated Completion Time: 45 minutes
Difficulty: Beginner-Intermediate

Step 1

Hit Control + N to create a new document. Select Pixels from the Units drop-down menu, enter 600 in the width and height boxes and then click the Advanced button. Select RGB, Screen (72ppi) and make sure that the Align New Objects to Pixel Grid box is unchecked before you click OK.

Enable the Grid (View > Show Grid) and the Snap to Grid (View > Snap to Grid). For starters you will need a grid every 5 px, so simply go to Edit > Preferences > Guides > Grid, enter 5 in the Gridline every box and 1 in the Subdivisions box. Try not to get discouraged by all that grid, it will ease your work and keep in mind that you can easily enable or disable it using the Control + " keyboard shortcut.

You should also open the Info panel (Window > Info) for a live preview with the size and position of your shapes. Do not forget to set the unit of measurement to pixels from Edit > Preferences > Units > General. All these options will significantly increase your work speed.

Step 2

Pick the Rectangle Tool (M) and focus on your Toolbar. Remove the color from the stroke then select the fill and set its color to R=30 G=30 B=35.

Create a 195 x 110 px rectangle and place it in the center of your artboard. Make sure that this new shape stays selected and go to Effect > Stylize > Rounded Corners. Enter a 15 px Radius and then click the OK button.

Step 3

Using the same tool, create a 30 x 50 px shape and fill it with R=30 G=30 B=35. Place this new rectangle as shown below and then go to Effect > Stylize > Rounded Corners. Enter a 5 px Radius and then click the OK button.

Step 4

Reselect both shapes made so far and go to Object > Expand Appearance. Make sure that the resulting shapes remain selected, open the Pathfinder panel (Window > Pathfinder) and click the Unite button. In the end, your new shape should look like that in the second image.

Step 5

Using the Rectangle Tool (M), create a 610 px square and fill it with R=35 G=35 B=40. Make sure that this new shape covers your entire artboard and then send it to back using the Shift + Control + [ keyboard shortcut.

Step 6

Select the battery shape and open the Appearance panel (Window > Appearance). Select the existing fill and go to Effect > Stylize > Outer Glow. Enter the attributes shown in the following image and then click the OK button.

Step 7

Make sure that your battery shape stays selected, keep focusing on the Appearance panel and add a second fill using the Add New Fill button.

Select this new fill, set its color to R=30 G=30 B=35 and then go to Effect > Stylize > Inner Glow. Enter the attributes shown below, click the OK button and then go to Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow. Enter the properties shown in the left window (in the following image), click the OK button and then go again to Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow. Enter the attributes shown in the right window and then click the OK button.

Step 8

Make sure that your battery shape stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel. Select the stroke, set its color to black (R=0 G=0 B=0) and then click that "Stroke" piece of text to open the Stroke fly-out panel. Set the Weight to 3 px, check the Align Stroke to Inside button and then return to the Appearance panel.

Expand your stroke by clicking that little arrow icon and then click the "Opacity" piece of text to open the Transparency fly-out panel. Simply lower the Opacity to 5%.

Step 9

Next, you will learn how to create and save a simple pattern. You will need a grid every 1 px, so go to Edit > Preferences > Guides & Grid and enter 1 in the Gridline every box.

Using the Rectangle Tool (M), create two, 1 px squares, fill both shapes with black and place them exactly as shown in the following image.

Make sure that these new shapes are selected and drag them inside the Swatches panel (Window > Swatches) to save them as a pattern.

Step 10

Return to gridline every 5 px, so go to Edit > Preferences > Guides & Grid and enter 5 in the Gridline every box.

Using the Rectangle Tool (M), create a 25 x 80 px shape, fill it with the linear gradient shown below and place it as shown in the following image.

Step 11

Make sure that your newest rectangle stays selected, focus on the Appearance panel and add a second fill using that same Add New Fill button.

Select this new fill, set its color to R=140 G=255 B=63 and then go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -1 px Offset, click the OK button and then go to Effect > Stylize > Inner Glow. Enter the attributes shown below, click the OK button and then go to Effect > Stylize > Outer Glow. Enter the properties shown below and click OK.