How to Make a Report Icon in Adobe Illustrator – Blancer.com Tutorials and projects

Love
icon design? If so, then this is the project for you. Follow this
tutorial and learn the process of creating a report icon in a minimal
style and in three different versions.

A
minimal icon is characterized by:

Simplicity: minimum of shapes and elements

Clarity: icons should be understandable in a single glance

Scaling: icons should maintain sharpness and clarity at any size,
especially when scaled very small

Excludes complex colors, gradients, textures, and shadows.

This
tutorial is beginner friendly because we will use only basic shapes
and with the help of the Align options, the Pathfinder options and
the Transform options we will build these icons step by step. By the
end of this tutorial, you will have the knowledge to make icons in different styles in future projects.

If
you are hungry for more icon design, head over to GraphicRiver and
you will be able to find a multitude of vector icons in different
styles, shapes and categories.

Tutorial
Assets

To
complete the tutorial, you will need the following assets:

Round
Any Corner Script I 20
Free and Useful Adobe Illustrator Scripts

1. How
to Open a New Document

Launch
Illustrator
and
go to File
> New to
open a blank document. Type a name for your file, set up the
dimensions, and then select Pixels
as
Units
and
RGB
as
Color
Mode.

Next,
go to Edit
> Preferences > General,
set the Keyboard
Increment to
1
px and, while there, go to Units
to
make sure they are set as in the following image. I usually work with
these settings, and they will help you throughout the drawing process.

2. How
to Create the “Clipboard” Report Icon

The first icon is inspired by a simple clipboard icon with a clean design, and we will start to build it shape by shape.

Step
1

Grab
the Rectangle Tool (M) and draw the first shape, which is a 160 x 178
px rectangle. While this shape stays selected, go to the Align panel
and make sure to check the Align to Artboard option in the bottom
right corner. Now, press Horizontal Align Center and Vertical Align
Bottom to align it perfectly inside your 200 x 200 px artboard.

Step
2

Give
it a 12 pt Stroke and press the Align Stroke to Inside option (1).
The color is not important at this point.

With
the shape still selected, go to the Transform panel and apply a
Radius of 30 px for all four corners to round them (2).

Step
3

Next,
use the Rectangle Tool (M) to draw a 90 x 17 px rectangle and then
press the Horizontal Align Center followed by Vertical Align Top to
align it with your artboard (1).

Draw
another rectangle of 90 x 20 px and arrange it right under the first
one (2).

Step
4

At
this point, you can delete the blue rectangle at the top because it was just a reference element.

Select
the shape of the icon and go to Object > Expand Appearance in
order to turn the stroke into a filled shape (1). Now, select this
shape along with the pink rectangle and press Minus Front in the
Pathfinder panel (2). You will obtain the basic shape of the clipboard without the clip.

Step
5

Let’s continue with the clip element. Draw
a new rectangle of 76 x 20 px and then press Horizontal Align Center
and Vertical Align Top to align it with your artboard (1).

Draw
another rectangle of 88 x 20 px and align it in the top left corner
of your artboard by pressing the Horizontal Align Left and Vertical
Align Top. Keep this rectangle selected and apply a Radius of 17 px
in the Transform panel in order to round the bottom right corner (2).

Create
the same shape in the top right corner of your artboard, and this
time, apply a Radius of 17 px to the bottom left corner of the
rectangle (3).

Now,
select the two beige rectangles and go to Object > Compound Path >
Make (Control-8). Keep the resulting compound path selected, and also
select the purple rectangle and press Minus Front in the Pathfinder
panel (4).

Step
6

Zoom in on the purple shape that you have obtained in the previous step and use
the Delete Anchor Point Tool (-) to delete the two indicated points
(1). Switch to the Direct Selection Tool (A) and use it to select
only the two top points (2); then go to File > Scripts > Round
Any Corner and apply a Radius of 10. You will obtain a shape rounded
at the top (3).

The
Round Any Corner Script is a very useful script that allows you to
round only the anchor point(s) that you want and you can download it
from this tutorial 20
Free and Useful Adobe Illustrator Scripts.
Follow the instructions to install it in Illustrator, and then you
will be able to find it under File > Scripts.

Step
7

Draw
a 76 x 18 px rectangle and arrange it right under the purple shape
that you have obtained in the previous step (1). Round all four
corners by 2 px using the Transform panel, and then move it 1 px
upwards by pressing the Up Arrow key on your keyboard once in order
to make them overlap a little (2).

While
the purple and the pink shapes stay selected, press Unite in the
Pathfinder panel to merge them into a single shape (3).

Step
8

To keep this a minimal icon, we will add only a few writing elements on it. Use
the Pen Tool (P) to draw a V-like shape as the checked symbol. Give
it an 8 pt Stroke, and also select the Round Cap and Round Join
options in the Stroke panel (1).

Next, draw a straight path 52 px in length. Give it an 8 pt Stroke
and select the Round Cap option in the Stroke panel to obtain the
rounded ends. Align this path with the checked symbol on your
clipboard (2). Duplicate these two shapes to add another row on the report icon (3).

Next,
draw an 18 x 18 px circle using the Ellipse Tool (L). Give it a 7 px
Stroke and press the Align Stroke to Outside option in the Stroke
panel. Arrange another copy of the straight path next to the circle, and this will be the third row
at the bottom of the report icon (4).

Step
9

At
this point, the first icon is ready. Select all the writing
elements created earlier and go to Object > Expand Appearance
followed by Object > Expand in order to turn the strokes into
filled shapes.

Select
all the shapes that make up the “Clipboard” report icon and go to Object >
Compound Path > Make (Control-8) to merge them together although this step is optional. Now, you
can color it as you wish.