In the following steps I will show you how to create a simple vector badge. For the overall badge you will only need a simple circle. Using multiple fills and strokes along with some built-in patterns and basic effects you will reach the final product. The final badge is easily editable so it won’t be difficult for you to use the colors that you like.
Step 1
Create a 700 by 700px, RGB document then pick the Ellipse Tool (L) and click on your artboard. Enter 500 in the width box and 500 in the height box the click OK. This will create a 500 by 500px shape. Fill it with R=215 G=215 B=215.
Step 2
Reselect the shape made in the previous step and go to the Appearance panel. Select the fill and go to Effect > Distort&Transform > Zig Zag. Enter the data shown below then click OK.
Step 3
Reselect your shape and go to the Appearance panel. Select the existing fill and click on the Duplicate Selection Item icon from the bottom of the Appearance panel. Obviously, this will add a copy of the selected fill. You will need a built-in pattern for this new fill. Go to the Swatches panel, open the fly-out menu and go to Open Swatch Library > Pattern > Basic Graphics > Basic Graphics_Textures. This will open a new window with some nice patterns. Reselect the newly created fill from the Appearance panel, lower its opacity to 10% and use the Diamond pattern.
Step 4
Reselect your shape and add a white stroke. Make it 2pt wide and align it to inside then go to Effect > Distort&Transform > Zig Zag and enter the same data used in the second step. Select this stroke from the Appearance panel and click on the Duplicate Selected Item button. Obviously, this will add a copy of the stroke. Make it 1pt wide and set its color at R=167 G=169 B=172.
Step 5
Reselect your shape and go to the Appearance panel. Open the fly-out menu and click on Add New Fill. This will add a new fill for you shape. Select it and make sure that it’s placed in the top of the Appearance panel then set its color at R=215 G=215 B=215 and go to Effect > Distort&Transform > Transform. Enter the data shown below then click OK.
Step 6
Add two new strokes for your shape. You can easily add new strokes from the fly-out menu of the Appearance panel > Add New Stroke. Both strokes should be aligned to inside and 1pt wide. Now, let’s focus on the first stroke, the bottom one. Set its color at R=255 G=255 B=255 and go to Effect > Distort&Transform > Transform. Enter the data shown in the left window, click OK then select the top stroke. Set its color at R=167 G=169 B=172 then go to Effect > Distort&Transform > Transform. Enter the data shown in the right window then click OK.
Step 7
Add a new fill for your shape then select it from the Appearance panel. Lower its opacity to 10% and fill it with the Diamond pattern then go to Effect > Distort&Transform > Transform. Enter the data shown below then click OK.
Step 8
Again, add two new strokes for your shape. Both strokes should be aligned to inside and 1pt wide. First, focus on the bottom stroke. Set its color at R=255 G=255 B=255 and go to Effect > Distort&Transform > Transform. Enter the data shown in the left window, click OK then select the top stroke. Set its color at R=167 G=169 B=172 then go to Effect > Distort&Transform > Transform. Enter the data shown in the right window then click OK.
Step 9
Add one final stroke for your shape. Make it 7px wide and set its color at R=167 G=169 B=172 then go to Effect > Distort&Transform > Transform. Enter the data shown below, click OK then go to Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow. Again, enter the data shown below then click OK.
Step 10
Go back to the first fill, select it and go to Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow. Enter the data shown in the following image then click OK.
Step 11
Pick the Type Tool (T), click on your artboard and add some text. Use the Franchise Bold font with a size of 250pt. Select it and go to Object > Expand then select the resulting group of shapes and go to Object > Compound Path > Make.
Step 12
Reselect the path made in the previous step and fill it with R=215 G=215 B=215. Also, add two simple strokes and use the properties shown in the following image.
Step 13
Again, use the Type Tool (T) to add a small percentage symbol. Use the Freestyle Script font with a size of 100pt, set the color at R=167 G=169 B=172 then go to Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow. Enter the data shown below then click OK.
Step 14
Finally, take a closer look at the final badge and you will notice that we only used three colors for the fills and strokes: white and two grey tints (R=215 G=215 B=215 and R=167 G=169 B=172). You can replace the grey tints with two different colors as shown in the following image.
Conclusion
Here is how your final illustration should look like. As I said in the final step, you can use various colors for your final vector badge. Also, you can replace the Diamond pattern with another built-in pattern or you can use different fonts for you text. There are countless possibilities, see what you can come up with!
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