In
this tutorial you will learn how to create a cupcake icon in Adobe
Illustrator, and starting from the first one, you’ll create other
delicious variations just by making a few changes.
Let’s
take advantage of the overhead
view of these icons and be as creative as possible with the
decorations. The four flavors that I’ve chosen are vanilla confetti,
red velvet, chocolate almond, and blueberry cream. Let’s begin!
If
you are hungry for more food icons or vector icons in general, then Envato Market has
you covered, with plenty of designs to choose from.
1. Start
a New Project
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.
Make sure that Align
New Objects to Pixel Grid is
not checked.
Next,
go to Edit
> Preferences > General and
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. Create
the Paper Cup
Step
1
Start
by drawing a 190 x 190 px circle on your artboard with the Ellipse
Tool (L). With the shape still selected, go to Effect > Distort &
Transform > Zig Zag and apply the settings shown.
Step
2
With
the circle still selected, choose Expand Appearance from the Object
menu and Ungroup (Shift-Control-G) if necessary. Fill the resulting
shape with the linear gradient shown at a -45 degrees Angle. Let’s
name this shape “paper exterior”.
Step
3
While
“paper exterior” stays selected, go to Object > Path >
Offset Path and apply a -3 px Offset. Fill the smaller shape with the
radial gradient shown and name it “paper interior”.
Group
(Control-G) these two shapes and name the group “paper cup”.
3. Create
the Cupcake
Step
1
Use
Ellipse Tool (L) to draw a 170 x 170 px circle and arrange it in the
center. Fill it with the radial gradient shown and name the shape
“cupcake”.
Step
2
While
“cupcake” stays selected, take a look at the Appearance panel.
Add a New Fill above the first and keep the same gradient. Go to
Effect > Texture > Texturizer, apply the settings shown, and hit
OK. Reduce the Opacity to 33%.
4. Create
the Vanilla Icing
Step
1
Draw
a shape like below and fill it with yellow (1). Copy and Paste in
Back (Control-B) this shape, change the fill color to warm brown, and
then move it a little down and to the right to act as the shadow (2).
Copy and Paste in Front (Control-F) the first shape, make it smaller, and change the fill color (3).
Step
2
Grab
the Pen Tool (P) or the Pencil Tool (N) and draw a spiral in the
center (1). Stroke it with the Charcoal – Rough Art Brush from the
Brush Libraries Menu > Artistic > Artistic_ChalkCharcoalPencil.
Select yellow as the stroke color and set the Weight to 2 pt (2).
Next, go to Effect > Stylize > Feather and apply a Radius of 5
px (3).
Step
3
Copy
and Paste in Front (Control-F) the spiral from the previous step,
change the stroke color to brown, and set the Weight to 0.5 pt. The
rest of the settings remain the same.
Step
4
Draw
a new spiral in the middle but smaller. Use the Charcoal – Rough
Art Brush again to stroke it and keep the Weight at 1 pt. Apply a 5
px Feather Radius.
5. Decorate
With Confetti Sprinkles and Cherry
Step
1
To
create the confetti, just take the Ellipse Tool (L) and draw as many
small circles as you like. Fill them with various colors, and after
that Group (Control-G) all of them. With the group still selected, go
to Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow and apply the settings shown.
Step
2
For
the cherry, start with a 50 x 50 px circle. Fill it with the radial
gradient shown below.
Step
3
Draw
a small shape on the upper left side using the Pen Tool (P). Fill it
with the linear gradient shown; then go to Effect > Blur >
Gaussian Blur and apply a Radius of 2 px.
Step
4
Draw
another small shape in the bottom right side and fill it with the
linear gradient shown. After that, apply a 2 px Gaussian Blur.
Step
5
Group
(Control-G) all the shapes that compose the cherry and move them onto the icing. Draw a new circle about the size of the cherry, fill it
with the radial gradient shown, and then set to Blending Mode
Multiply. This shape will act as the shadow and should be behind the
cherry.
At this point, the Vanilla Confetti Cupcake is ready.
6. Create
the Red Velvet Cupcake
Step
1
Now,
we are going to transform the vanilla cupcake into a red velvet
cupcake. First, make a copy of the vanilla cupcake, but delete the
confetti and the cherry because you don’t need them.
Step
2
For
visual purposes and to focus better on the changes that you need to
make, I’ve hidden the icing group, but you don’t have to.
First,
select “paper exterior” and change the fill gradient, and after
that change the fill color for “paper interior”.
Step
3
Select
“cupcake”, and in the Appearance panel, change the two existing
gradients to the one shown below. Increase the Opacity to 44%.
Step
4
Change
the fill colors of the three shapes that compose the icing, and after
that change the stroke colors of the three spirals. The rest of the
settings remain the same.
Step
5
Use
the Pen Tool (P) to draw a random but very small shape and fill it
with red. Don’t draw a circle because in the end, the red crumbs on
the icing will look too perfect and regular. Drag this shape into the
Brushes panel and choose New Scatter Brush.
Now,
grab the Pen Tool (P) and draw a messy spiral on the icing, and use
the Scatter Brush that you just saved to stroke it. Keep the Weight
at 1 pt but open the Stroke Options window (double click on the
Stroke attribute in the Appearance panel) and change the settings as
indicated.
Step
6
While
the messy spiral stays selected, go to the Object menu and choose Expand
Appearance. As a result, the stroked path will turn into a group of
red crumbs. Take the Selection Tool (V) and double click on this
group to enter the Isolation Mode.
Now, you’ll be able to select the
crumbs individually and delete the ones that are scattered too far
away. To Exit Isolation Mode, press the arrow in the corner twice.
At this point, the Red Velvet Cupcake is ready.
7. Create
the Chocolate and Almonds Cupcake
Step
1
Now,
let’s transform the red velvet cupcake into a chocolate cupcake.
First, make a copy of the red velvet cupcake, but delete the red
crumbs.
Step
2
The
paper cup remains the same. Select “cupcake” and change the two
gradients in the Appearance panel.
Step
3
Change
the fill colors of the three shapes that compose the icing, and after
that, change the stroke colors of the three spirals as indicated. I
also made a copy of the smaller spiral and moved it to the top.
Step
4
Draw
an oval shape with the Pen Tool (P) similar to an almond slice. Make
a few copies and arrange them over the chocolate icing. Use the two
gradients to fill them.
Step
5
Apply
the Drop Shadow effect to each almond slice in order to add a small
shadow. You can’t really apply the same settings to all of them
because that depends on the position of the almonds, but in the next
image, you can see two examples.
At this point, the Chocolate and
Almonds Cupcake is ready.
8. Create
the Blueberry and Cream Cupcake
Step
1
Now,
let’s transform the vanilla cupcake into a blueberry cupcake. First,
make a copy of the vanilla cupcake, but delete the confetti and the
cherry.
Step
2
The
paper cup and the cupcake remain the same. Change the fill colors of
the three shapes that compose the icing, and after that, change the stroke
colors of the three spirals.
Step
3
Go
to the red velvet cupcake, select only two out of the three shapes
that compose the icing, and make a copy. Group (Control-G) the two
shapes, make them smaller, and arrange them over the blueberry icing.
Step
4
Now,
make a copy of the cherry, and let’s transform it into a blueberry.
First, select the circle and change the gradient fill. After that,
change the fill colors of the two highlight shapes. The Gaussian Blur
effect remains the same.
Step
5
Move
the blueberry on the icing. Draw a new circle about the size of the
blueberry and fill it with the radial gradient shown. Set the
Blending Mode to Multiply. This shape will act as the shadow and
should be behind the blueberry.
At this point, the Blueberry Cream Cupcake
is ready.
9. Add the Shadows
Step
1
Select the “paper cup” group, go to Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow, and apply the
settings shown.
Step
2
Repeat
the previous step for the other three cupcakes. Apply the Drop Shadow
effect to each “paper cup”.
Congratulations,
You’re Done!
Challenge
your creativity and use these cupcakes as a starting point to create
other delicious flavors, or decorate them in a different way. If you
do, don’t forget to share your re-creations with us. I would love to
eat them…. oops! I mean, to see them!
