We will give you a detailed analysis of the photoshop software and share with you the tutorial on designing a flat style weather theme icon.
Tutorial sharing:
Final effect:
Let's start learning!
1. Create a rainbow icon
Step 1
We began to draw red stripes on the outermost layer of the rainbow.
Use the elliptical tool (shortcut U) to draw a circle of 450x450 px and open the attribute panel (window> properties). In the attribute panel, we can change the circle size, position, color, and other settings.
Set the stroke of the circle to 3 pt without filling the color, and then adjust the color of the stroke. Click the stroke color icon to open the color sample selection window. You can select a color in the sample or click the color picker button in the upper right corner to open the solid color panel, in this way, you can select colors more accurately.
Step 2
Add another rainbow inner ring. On the layers panel, select a red circle layer and press Control + J (command + J) to copy the layer. Press and hold Control + T (command + T) to make the circle smaller so that it can be nested inside the red circle, and change the stroke color to Orange in the attribute panel.
Step 3
Copy the layer (Control + J or conmand + J) to add the third shorter circle and change the stroke color to yellow.
Step 4
Add other circles and give them the other colors of the rainbow. You can add 7 colors or less, because we don't need to be very materialized or too much details, because the icons I want to draw are very small. Even if you only draw three or four rings of different colors, it looks like a rainbow.
After you adjust to the satisfaction level, use the mobile tool (V) to select all the rings and combine them into a group (Control + G) to go to the layer panel, press and hold Control + J to copy the group or drag the group to the page to create a new layer button. In this way, the group is also copied. In this way, we will make a backup. In case we want to add some details to the rainbow during the rendering process, we can use it.
On the layers panel, select the first group and right-click the group to merge all the rings into a raster layer.
Step 5
Now we use the rectangular box selection tool (M) to select half of the rainbow ring and delete it.
Step 6
Let's build two clouds at both ends of the rainbow. Use the elliptical tool (U) to draw a small blue circle in the lower left corner of the rainbow. Then add several small circles of different sizes. Press and hold (Control + G) to put the elements that constitute the cloud into a group, and (Control + J) copy a group of clouds. Put the copied clouds on the other side of the rainbow.
Step 7
If you want to add more embellishment, you can use the previous backup layer to adjust it as you like. I also decided to reduce the color of the rainbow, with each color band becoming thicker.
Step 8
Now we create the basic layer of the icon. We use an elliptical tool (U) to draw a circle of 545x545 px. On the attribute panel, set the fill color to green without adding a stroke.
Step 9
Add a long shadow effect to the icon. Use the rectangle (U) tool to draw a green square of 350x350 px and use the mobile tool (V) to select 45 degrees. Go to the layers panel and select the front slice and bottom in the blending mode to bring the square color deeper. If the color looks too deep, we will reduce the transparency of the dot.
Step 10
Adjust the rectangle size and position so that it is placed at both ends of the rainbow like the screenshot below. Drag the square layer on the layer panel to the bottom of the rainbow layer, or press the shortcut key Control + [
Step 2
Now we need to cut off the square shown outside the circle. Use the mobile tool to select the circle layer and switch to the pen tool (P). Right-click the circle and choose create selection. Close the create constituency window and keep the default settings. Select reverse from the select menu. (Select> reverse)
Now let's go back to the layer panel and find the shadow layer. Delete the keys to delete the areas outside the circle that we don't need. (The Shadow layer should be rasterized and the original text should not be written, including the raster after being wiped out with an eraser below)
Step 2
Now we use the rubber tool (E) to erase unnecessary shadows on the icon.
Lighter the background color and shadow color of the icon. Our flat rainbow icon is ready! Next we will move to the next icon.
2. Draw a warm spring sun icon
Step 1
This time we want to create a sun icon. Draw a 260x260 px yellow circle as the body of the sun.
Step 2
Now we add some scattered sunlight. Switch to the polygon tool (U) and set the number of polygon edges to 3 at the top of the control panel to place the orange triangle at the top of the sun. Select both the circle and triangle, and align them horizontally at the top of the control panel to ensure that the two shapes are perfectly centered and aligned.
We use reference lines to mark the center of the sun. Press Control + R (command + R) to bring up the ruler tool and drop down the horizontal reference line to the canvas. The same method is used to draw vertical reference lines and make them intersection.
Now let's add more beams to the sun.
Press and hold the selected triangle Alt + Control + T (Alt + Command + T) to change freely in the center of the triangle to find its axis, drag the axis point to the center of the yellow sun. (Reference line focus) you will see on the layer panel that the triangle layer has been automatically copied (if not by pressing Alt-Control-T for free conversion, layers are not automatically copied ). Press Shift and hold it, rotate the triangle for 45 degrees, and press enter to confirm.
Now press Shift + Control + Alt + T (Shift + Command + Alt + T) and copy 6 layers to surround the sun.
Great! Sunlight has been completed.
Step 3
We do not use reference lines anymore. In View> clear reference lines to close them.
Step 4
Copy the background layer of the previous icon and fill it with the sky blue. Add a translucent shadow to the sun.
Step 5
Use an eraser to erase the shadows of the yellow sun. (the original article does not mean Raster. You must raster the shadows before using the eraser .). We can use the elliptical tool (M) to create a constituency selection> Change the constituency to modify the constituency so that the constituency contains air strikes between the Sun and The Sun.
After confirming, go to the layer panel and select the shadow layer. Delete the shadow from the sun
Finished! Our sun icon is ready! Let's proceed to the next step.
3. Draw a rainy day icon
Step 1
Use the elliptical tool (U) to draw a 200x200 px blue positive circle. Add some circles on both sides of the left and right to make the clouds look cute.
Step 2
Select all circles, and click the layers menu> merge shape. Go to the layers panel, right-click the merged cloud layers, and raster the layers to facilitate subsequent processing.
Now we use the rectangular box selection tool to delete the lower half of the cloud layer to make the bottom of the cloud flat.
Step 3
Now we start to draw the shape of raindrops. Use the elliptical tool (U) to draw a circle of 35x35 px blue and use the edit Node tool (you can find it in the drop-down menu of the pen tool (P) select the anchor at the top of the circle. Click to see the rounded corner. Finally, drag the dots up to make them look more like raindrops.
Step 4
Press Control + J (Command + J) to copy more raindrops and scatter them at the bottom of the cloud, as if it were raining.
Step 5
Add a yellow circle as the background of the icon and add a long shadow. The rain icon is ready! Now we have the last icon!
4. Create an umbrella icon
Step 1
First, we start to draw an umbrella from a circle of 430x430 px Green. Raster the layer on the layer panel and use the rectangular box selection tool (M) to delete the lower half of the circle.
Step 2
Use the elliptical tool (U) to draw a circle at the bottom of the blue-green semi-circle. Adjust the size of the circle to make it more match with the umbrella surface. Finally, select the circles and combine them into a graph.
Step 3
Switch to the pen tool (P) and right-click the circle to create a selection. On the layers panel, select a green layer and delete the part in the selected area. The bottom part of the umbrella is ready.
Now we don't need orange circles. Just delete them.
Step 4
Now we can draw a wooden umbrella handle with a curved hand handle. Use the rounded rectangle tool (U) to draw a 4 PT orange stroke with no fill color. As shown in the following figure.
On the layers panel, right-click the raster layer for later editing.
Step 5
Use the rectangular selection tool (M) to remove the curved part of the cane and expose only a few tip on the Green Umbrella. Select and delete the left half side of the curve, and the cane will be shaped.
Keep the walking stick layer Selected. Press Shift + Control + [to adjust the walking stick layer to the lower layer of the Green Umbrella.
Step 6
Add a pink circle background layer and a flat shadow.
Great! By now, our flat weather icon for April is complete.
However, this tutorial is not over yet. So far, if you like clean and simple icons. If you want to add more details and textures, let's continue to look at how to adjust the icons using some of Adobe Photoshop's art brushes.
5. Use a rust brush to add some textures
Step 1
Let's start from the sun icon to the layer panel and select the yellow circle sun. Press Alt and click create new layer. In the displayed dialog box, select create clipping mask from the previous layer.
In this way, our new layer and the selected Sun layer are bound together (on the layer panel, you will see a small downward arrow next to the new layer ). It only shows what you draw within the scope of the sun.
Step 2
Now we use another great brush to create a rust effect. You can choose one of your favorite or some default Adobe Photoshop brushes.
Select brush tool (B) right-click to open the brush list (or direct window> paint), click the drop-down menu icon in the upper right corner of the pop-up window, and select M paint at the bottom of the menu list. Append the paint brushes to the existing list or directly replace them.
Step 3
Find the dry paint brush 1 #2 in the list and select the paint brush. If you do not have this paint brush in your preset paint brush for version reasons, you can try some other paint brushes in the default settings, such as the dry medium paint brush or some other paint brushes that may seem rusty.
Step 4
On the color panel, select a light yellow color. On the upper layer of the Sun layer, click the clipboard layer and add some soft rust textures. Use the dark yellow color to add some shadows at the bottom of the Sun body.
Merge all the sunlight into a graph, and add a layer of clipboard to them.
Step 5
We move to the rainbow layer and add the same texture to it. Add a mask layer to the arc rainbow layer and the two clouds respectively, and add the same artistic paint effect to them.
Step 6
In the same way, you can use a paint brush to add the rusty texture to every icon.
Step 7
Create a new layer as the background layer, and draw some light yellow textures under each icon.
Great! The weather icon for March is complete!
You can use these technologies to create more icons or create a group of icons with different themes.
Good luck!
All right, the above information is the detailed design of a flat style weather theme icon creation tutorial for all photoshop users, you can see that the production method is very clear, so you can follow the tutorial of the small series to create a flat style weather icon.
