In the following tutorial you will learn to create an attractive
emoticons icon set. Learn an easy to follow workflow for creating each
of these little emotional character faces in Adobe Illustrator.
Step 1
Create a 60px by 60px, RGB document. First, turn on the Grid (View
> Grid) and the Snap to Grid (View > Snap to Grid). Next, you'll
need a grid every 1px. Go to Edit > Preferences > Guides &
Grid, enter 1 in the Gridline every box and 1 in the Subdivisions box.
You can also open the Info panel (Window > Info) for a live
preview with the size and position of your shapes. Do not forget to
replace the unit of measurement to pixels from Edit > Preferences
> Unit > General. All these options will significantly increase
your work speed....
Step 2
Pick the Ellipse Tool(L), create a 40 by 40px shape and fill it with R=255, G=222, B=23.
Step 3
Select the shape created in the previous step and make sure that it's
placed in the middle of your artboard. Enable the Rulers (Command + R)
and the Guides (View > Guides > Show Guides), then drag a vertical
and a horizontal guide as shown in the following image. Disable the
Rulers and keep the guides visible. It will help in the following steps,
as you add some new shapes.
Step 4
Disable the Snap to Grid, then go to Edit > Preferences >
General and enter 0.5 in the Keyboard Increment box. Reselect the yellow
circle and make two copies in front (Command + C > Command + F >
Command + F). Select the top copy and hit the down arrow once (to move
it 0.5px down). Reselect both copies and click on the Minus Front button
from the Pathfinder panel. Fill the resulting shape with white.
Step 5
Re-enable the Snap to Grid. Reselect the yellow circle and go to the
Appearance panel. Select the existing fill and click on the Duplicate
Selected Item button located in the bottom of the Appearance panel.
Obviously, this will create a copy of the selected fill. Select this new
fill, lower its Opacity to 75% and fill it with the linear gradient
shown in the following image.
Pay attention to the gradient image. The yellow "0" stands for
opacity percentage. This means that you need to select the gradient
slider and lower its opacity to 0%. Keep focusing on this yellow circle.
Reselect it and add a simple stroke. Make it 1pt wide, align it to
outside and set its color to R=237, G=147, B=39.
Step 6
Reselect the shape edited in the previous step. Go to the Appearance
panel, select the yellow fill and go to Effect Stylize > Inner Glow.
Enter the data shown below, click OK, then go to Effect > Stylize
> Drop Shadow. Again, enter the data shown below and click OK. In the
end your shape should look like the following image. This will be the
face shape that you will use for most of the emoticons.
Step 7
Now, let's add a mood for this face. First, re-enable the Snap to
Grid, then select the Rectangle Tool (M). Create two 4 by 8px shapes and
a 12 by 8px shape, then place them as shown.
The Snap to Grid and the Guides will ease your work. Fill them all
with R=96, G=57, B=19, then go to Effect > Stylize > Rounded
Corners. Enter a 2px radius, click OK, then go to Effect > Stylize
> Drop Shadow. Enter the data shown below and click OK.
Step 8
Pick the Ellipse Tool (L), create a 26 by 16px shape and place it as
shown. Fill it with the linear gradient shown below, then lower its
Opacity to 50%. Now, let's organize the existing shapes.
Go to the Layers panel, select the existing layer and click on the
Create New Sublayer button from the bottom of the Layers panel. Select
all the shapes created so far and move them inside this new sublayer.
Double-click on this sublayer and name it "Not Amused." Now your first
emoticon is complete.
Step 9
Select the sublayer created in the previous step and make a copy in
front. Focus on this new sublayer, select the mouth shape and go to
Effect > Warp > Arc. Enter the data shown below image #1 and click
OK.
Name this second sublayer "Sad" and duplicate it. Select the mouth
shape from this new sublayer, then go to the Appearance panel and open
the existing Warp effect. Drag the Bend slider to -50%, then click OK.
Name this third sublayer "Happy."
Step 10
Select the "Happy" sublayer and make a copy in front. Let's focus on
this fresh sublayer. First, rename it "Grin," then select the exiting
mouth shape and delete it. Pick the Ellipse Tool (L), create a 16 by 7px
shape and place it as shown in the first image. Fill it with R=96,
G=57, B=19. Then go to Effect > Warp > Arch. Enter the data shown
below, click OK, then go to Object > Expand Appearance.
Select the resulting shape and make two copies in front, then disable
the Snap to Grid. Select the top copy and hit the down arrow four
times, then reselect both copies and click on the Minus Front button
from the Pathfinder panel. Fill the resulting shape with white.
Step 11
Re-enable the Snap to Grid. Pick the Pen Tool (P), draw three
vertical paths and place then as shown in the first image. Add a 1pt
stroke for these paths and set its color at R=39, G=170, B=225.
Group them (Command + G). Select the white shape created in the
previous step, make a copy and bring it to front (Shift > Command +
Right Bracket key). Select this fresh, white shape along with the fresh
group and go to the Transparency panel. Open the fly-out menu and click
on Make Opacity Mask
Step 12
Reselect the mouth shape and go to Effect > Stylize > Drop
Shadow. Enter the data shown below, click OK, then add a 1pt stroke.
Align it to outside and set its color at R=237, G=147, B=39.
Step 13
Select the "Grin" sublayer and make a copy in front. Let's focus on
this fresh sublayer. First, rename it "Winking," then select the right
eye shape and delete it. Pick the Rectangle Tool (M), create a 5 by 3px
shape and place it as shown.
Fill it with R=96, G=57, B=19. Then go to Effect > Stylize >
Rounded Corners. Enter a 2px radius, click OK, then go to Effect >
Warp > Arc. Enter the data shown below, click OK, then go to Effect
> Stylize > Drop Shadow. Again, enter the data shown below then
click OK
Step 14
Select the "Winking" sublayer and make a copy in front. Let's focus
on this fresh sublayer. First, rename it "Weeping," then select the eyes
and the mouth components and delete them. Pick the Rectangle Tool (M),
create two 6 by 4px shapes and place them as shown in the following
image. Fill them with with R=96, G=57, B=19. Then go to Effect >
Stylize > Rounded Corners. Enter a 2px radius, click OK, then go to
Effect > Warp > Arc. Enter the data shown below, click OK then go
to Object > Expand Appearance.
Select the left eye shape and go to Object > Transform >
Rotate. Enter a 45 degrees angle, then click OK. Select the right eye
shape and go to Object > Transform > Rotate. Enter a -45 degrees
angle, then click OK. Reselect both eye shapes and go to Effect >
Stylize > Drop Shadow. Enter the data shown in the final image, then
click OK
step No 16 Select the shape made in the previous step and duplicate it. Select
these two heart shapes, resize them, and place them as shown. Now go to
Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow. Enter the data shown below, click
OK, then add a 0.75pt stroke. Align it to inside and set its color to
R=190, G=30, B=45.
Step17
Once again, pick the Pen Tool (P), draw two vertical paths (6px tall)
and place them as shown. Add a 1pt stroke for both of these paths, set
the color at R=0, G=104, B=56, and go to the Stroke panel (Window >
Stroke). Click on the Round Cap button, then go to Effect > Stylize
> Drop Shadow.
Enter the data shown below, click OK, then select only the left path.
Go to Effect > Warp > Arc, enter the data shown below, click OK.
Now select the right path. Again, go to Effect > Warp > Arc, enter
the data shown below and click OK
To be Continued................
