In this new tutorial you will learn how to create a set of summer inspired food icons in Adobe Illustrator.
Final Image
As always, this is the final image that we’ll be creating:
Tutorial Details
- Program: Adobe Illustrator CS3+
- Estimated Completion Time: 90 min
- Difficulty: Beginner-Intermediate
Resources
Step 1
Launch Illustrator and go to File > New in order to open a blank document. Type a name for your file and set up the dimensions then select Pixels as Units and RGB as Color Mode. Next, go to Edit > Preferences > General and set the Keyboard Increment to 1 px and while there, also go to Units & Display Performance and make sure that the Units are set as in the following image. I usually work with these settings and they will help you throughout the drawing process.
Step 2
Let’s start with the sausage icon. Grab the Rounded Rectangle Tool and use the settings shown to draw the shape then select light brown as the fill color.
Step 3
Now, grab the Pen Tool (P) or the Pencil Tool (N) and draw two shapes as the ends of the sausage as in the next image. Continue with a few smaller shapes on each end in order to add some highlights. Use the colors indicated to fill these shapes.
Step 4
Next, draw two shapes like below and they will act as shadows. Fill them with a warm brown.
Step 5
To add some highlights on the sausage, draw an oval shape on the middle left side then fill it with white and reduce the Opacity to 15%. Draw a smaller ellipse on the left side of the previous shape, select white as the fill color and reduce the Opacity to 25% this time.
Step 6
Let’s add some mustard on the sausage icon. Use the Pen Tool (P) or the Pencil Tool (N) and draw a wavy path in the middle. Set the Stroke Weight at 8 pt and select the Round Cap option in the Stroke panel. Copy and Paste in Back (Control-B) this path and increase the Stroke Weight at 21 pt. The stroke colors are not important so choose any.
Step 7
While these two paths are selected, go to the Object menu and choose Expand then Ungroup (Shift-Control-G) in order to turn the strokes into fills. Now, you can fill the resulting shapes with the colors indicated. Select the bigger shape then Copy and Paste in Back (Control-B) and move it a little to the right to create a shadow. Change the fill color to medium brown. For the moment, the sausage icon is ready.
Step 8
Next is the grilled chicken icon. Grab the Pen Tool (P) and draw a shape like below then fill it with the color indicated. You can draw this shape directly or you can start from a circle and only modify the bottom.
Step 9
Now draw a bone shape as in the next image.
Step 10
To create the grill marks, first use the Line Segment Tool (\) to draw three paths over the chicken. Stroke them with an Art Brush called Tapered Stroke that you can find in the Brush Libraries Menu > Artistic > Artistic_Ink then increase the Stroke Weight to 1.6 pt.
Still having these three paths selected, go to Object menu and choose Expand Appearance and Ungroup (Shift-Control-G). Fill the resulting shapes with the color indicated.
Step 11
Next, take the Pencil Tool (N) and draw some random shapes in between the grill marks. For now, the grilled chicken icon is ready.
Step 12
We will continue with the ketchup bottle. Grab the Rectangle Tool (M) and draw two rectangles having the dimensions shown, in this case the green and the blue shapes. After that, draw the purple shape between them using the Pen Tool (P). Having the three shapes selected, press Add in the Pathfinder panel in order to create a single shape. Use red as the fill color.
Step 13
Use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to select only the two points at the bottom of the bottle then go to File > Scripts > Round Any Corner and apply a Radius of 20. This action will create the rounded corners. Next, use the Add Anchor Point Tool (+) to add two extra points then move them with the Direct Selection Tool (A) towards the inside to create the neck of the bottle.
Step 14
With the Line Segment Tool (\) draw a straight path across the bottle then go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Zig Zag and apply this effect using the settings shown. After that, select Expand Appearance and Ungroup (Shift-Control-G). Now, starting from the end points, close the path using the Pen Tool (P) in order to create the label.
Step 15
Take the Rounded Rectangle Tool and draw a small shape on the cap and fill it with pink. Now, go to the sausage icon, select the two highlight-shapes then Copy and Paste (Control-V) and arrange them on the left side of the ketchup bottle.
Step 16
Next, use the Pen Tool (P) or the Pencil Tool (N) to draw the shape of a tomato on the label and fill it with red. Continue to draw a few random paths and give them a 2 pt green Stroke. For now, the ketchup bottle icon is ready.
Step 17
Next in line is the beer icon. Start with a rectangle then select only the two points at the bottom with the Direct Selection Tool (A), run the Round Any Corner script and apply a Radius of 10.
Step 18
Draw another rectangle on the right side of the previous shape and fill it with the color indicated. Now, select only the bottom right anchor point, go to File > Scripts > Round Any Corner and apply a Radius of 10 again to create the rounded corner.
Step 19
Still using the Rectangle Tool (M) draw four new shapes like in the following image and use the shades of yellow indicated as the fill colors.
Step 20
Grab the Pen Tool (P) and draw a path in the shape of a handle and give it a 15 pt Stroke. Select Expand from the Object menu and Ungroup (Shift-Control-G) if necessary, then fill the resulting shape with the color indicated. Use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to fix the bottom end of the handle by moving the points in line with the glass.
Step 21
Now, go to the ketchup bottle icon or the sausage icon and from the two highlight shapes, select only the smaller one then Copy and Paste (Control-V) it here. Arrange it on the left side of the beer. Finally, draw a cloud-like shape as the foam and fill it with white.
Step 22
Let’s continue with the ice cream icon. From the sausage icon, select the main shape then Copy and Paste (Control-V) it on your artboard. Grab the Pen Tool (P) or the Line Segment Tool (\) and draw two straight paths that will cut the shape in three equal parts. Select the two lines and Group (Control-G) them. Now, select the shape along with the two lines and press Divide in the Pathfinder panel. Ungroup (Shift-Control-G) if necessary and fill the shapes with pink, yellow and bright green.
Step 23
Use the Rounded Rectangle Tool to draw the stick and fill it with warm brown. Now, grab another copy of the sausage-shape and arrange it in front. Select the stick along with this copy and press Subtract in the Pathfinder panel.
Step 24
To create the design on the stick, simply draw a few wavy stripes and fill them with a lighter shade of brown but this is optional. Copy again the two highlight shapes from the previous icons and Paste (Control-V) them on top of the ice cream icon.
Step 25
The last icon is the watermelon slice. Grab the Ellipse Tool (L) and draw three circles using the dimensions and the colors shown in the next image.
Step 26
Grab the Rectangle Tool (M) and draw a shape that covers the left side of the circles. Select the green circle and the rectangle and press Subtract in the Pathfinder panel. Repeat the same thing with the other two circles.
Step 27
With the help of the Ellipse Tool (L) draw a small ellipse then multiply it and arrange the seeds on the watermelon slice. Select again the two highlight shapes from one of the previous icons then Copy and Paste (Control-V) them here. At this point, the watermelon slice icon is ready.
Step 28
Before you continue, make sure that the icons are the same size and for that use a 256 x 256 px rectangle as reference. Select all the shapes that compose the sausage icon and go to the Transform panel. There, in the H Value field type 256 px instead of the existing dimension. Do not modify the W Value. Repeat this step with the rest of the icons.
Step 29
Next, select the icons one by one and Rotate them -45 degrees with the help of the Transform panel.
Step 30
Now let’s create the 3D look and we will start with the ketchup bottle icon because it’s the easiest. Select the bottle-shape then go to Object > Transform > Move, apply the settings shown and hit Copy. Change the fill color for the new shape to dark red. As you can see in the image below, the transition between the bottle-shape and the darker copy is not smooth at the corners (indicated by the arrows) but we will fix that with the help of the Blend Tool (W).
Step 31
Select again the main bottle-shape then Copy and Paste in Back (Control-B). Change the fill color for the new copy to dark red. Now, select this copy along with the other copy from the previous step and go to Object > Blend > Blend Options. Select 15 Specified Steps, hit OK then go back to Object > Blend > Make (Alt-Control-B).
Step 32
Select the main bottle-shape then Move it 10 px Horizontal and -14 px Vertical in order to obtain another copy. Send it behind everything by going to Object > Arrange > Send to Back (Shift-Control-[). Still having this copy selected, go to Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow and apply this effect twice using the settings shown.
Step 33
Grab the Pen Tool (P) and draw a rectangle shape filled with dark yellow as the side part of the label.
Step 34
Now let’s create the 3D look for the ice cream icon. This is a little more complex than the ketchup bottle icon because you have the three colored shapes instead of one plus the stick but the technique remains the same.
Select the green, yellow, pink shapes along with the stick (without the stripes) then apply the Move effect again. Use the same settings and hit Copy. Fill the resulting shapes with the colors indicated.
Step 35
Select only the green ice cream shape then Copy and Paste in Back (Control-B). Fill this copy with the same dark green shade. Now, select the two dark green shapes (the one from the previous step and the one from this step) and go to Object > Blend > Blend Options. Choose 15 Specified Steps and hit OK then go back to Object > Blend > Make (Alt-Ctrl-B).
Continue with the next piece of ice cream. Select only the yellow shape then Copy and Paste in Back (Control-B). Use the same dark yellow shade to fill the new copy. Now, select the two dark yellow shapes (the one from the previous step and the one from this step) and use the same settings to blend them.
Do the same thing for the pink ice cream then for the stick.
Step 36
Select the green, yellow and pink ice cream shapes along with the stick (without the stripes) then Move them 10 px Horizontal and -14 px Vertical again. Don’t forget to hit Copy instead of OK. Still having these copies selected, go to Object > Arrange > Send to Back (Shift-Control-[) in order to send them behind everything. Press Add in the Pathfinder panel to obtain a single shape then apply the Drop Shadow effect twice using the settings shown earlier. Finally, make sure the shapes that compose this icon are in the correct order (as shown in the Layer panel below) otherwise your icon will look strange.
Step 37
Next is the beer icon. Apply the Move effect to obtain the gray copy of the glass then create the blend as explained earlier (1). Use the Move effect again to obtain the gray copy of the handle then create the blend (2). The same thing goes for the foam-shape (3). To add the shadow, first make copies of the glass, handle and foam shapes with the help of the Move effect. Send these copies behind everything by going to Object > Arrange > Send to Back (Shift-Control-[) then press Add in the Pathfinder panel to obtain a single shape. Apply the Drop Shadow effect twice using the same settings (4). At the end, make sure all the shapes that compose this icon are in the correct order as shown in the next image.
Step 38
For the grilled chicken icon you have to create the blend for the meat (1) and for the bone (2). After that, use a copy of the two shapes to create a compound path and add the shadow (3).
Step 39
For the sausage icon, you have only one shape to work with and that is the main shape of the sausage. Create the blend to give it the 3D look (1) then make another copy of the sausage-shape with the Move effect and add the shadow (2).
Step 40
The same thing goes for the watermelon icon. Create the blend (1) then make another copy of the green shape with the Move effect and apply the Drop Shadow effect twice (2).
Step 41
The set of icons is ready at this point and they should look like in the following image:
Awesome work!
Here is the final image of the summer inspired food icons. I hope this was fun and that you learned new things from this tutorial.
