Creating Icons with Illustrator

This beginner-level course gives you an overview of what an icon is and its key characteristics, then enables you to design and export your icons in Illustrator.

Introduction

• Fast and efficient icon creation
• About challenges

1. Understanding Core Concepts

• The concept of an icon
• Screen versus printed icons
• Icon styles and sets
• Things to help you get started
• Challenge
• Solution

2. Setting Up Illustrator

• How to correctly set up a document
• Creating a custom toolset
• Setting grid preferences
• How to use the pixel grid
• Creating artboards
• Challenge
• Solution

3. Going from Paper to Digital

• Sketching icons
• Importing a sketch as a template
• Auto-tracing a sketch
• Capturing and importing a sketch using Adobe Capture
• Reducing the number of points and cleaning up
• Challenge
• Solution

4. Understanding Design Techniques

• Designing with basic shapes
• Setting stroke options
• Using the Pathfinder panel
• Understanding compound shapes
• Mastering the Shape Builder tool
• Discovering the Appearance panel
• Useful filters and effects
• Power tips
• Advanced techniques: Creating a winter icon
• Advanced techniques: Creating a summer icon
• Advanced techniques: Creating a fall icon
• Advanced techniques: Creating a spring icon
• Challenge
• Solution

5. Saving and Exporting

• Common icon sizes
• How to export for web
• How to export as SVG
• Bulk exporting via Export for Screens
• Bulk artwork export via Asset Export panel
• Exporting for print
• Exporting to Adobe Photoshop
• Challenge
• Solution

Conclusion

• Thank you