In the following tutorial you will learn to create a suitcase icon, suitable for a travel oriented site, or vacation brochure. Grab hold of your vector tools and let's get to building.
Step 1
Create a 255 by 255px document. First, turn on the Grid (View > Grid) and the Snap to Grid (View > Snap to Grid). Next, you'll need a grid every 5px. Go to Edit > Preferences > Guides & Grid, enter 5 in the Gridline every box and 1 in the Subdivisions box.
You can also open the Info panel (Window > Info) for a live preview with the size and position of your shapes. Do not forget to replace the unit of measurement to pixels from Edit > Preferences > Unit > General. Al these options will significantly increase your work speed.
Step 2
Select the Rectangle Tool (M). Create a 225 by 170px shape and go to Effect > Stylize > Rounded Corners. Enter a 10px radius, click OK then go to Object > Expand Appearance.
Step 3
Select the shape made in the previous step and fill it with the linear gradient shown below. Next, you'll need a specific pattern. Open the fly-out menu of the Swatches panel and go to Open Swatch Library > Patterns > Basic Graphics > Basic Graphics_Texture. A new window with some cool patterns should open.
Reselect the existing shape, open the fly-out menu of the Appearance panel and click on Add New Fill. This will add a second fill for your shape. Select it, lower its Opacity to 8%, then fill it with the Diamond pattern. Add a third fill for this shape. Make it black, change its blending mode to Multiply, lower the opacity to 10% then go to Effect > Distort > Diffuse Glow. Enter the data shown below and click OK. Now, your shape should look like in the image below.
Step 4
Next, you need to mask the existing shape. Select it, first hit Control + C then Control + F. This will add a copy in front. Select it, fill it only with white (remove the extra fills from the Appearance panel) then open the Transparency panel. Select the two shapes created so far, open the fly-out menu of the Transparency panel and click on Make Opacity Mask.
Step 5
Disable the Snap to Grid and make two copies of the existing shape. Select the top copy and hit the left arrow and the up arrow once. Reselect both copies and click on the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel. Fill the resulting shape with R=158, G=100, B=72. Now change its blending mode to Multiply and lower the Opacity to 50%.
Make another two copies of the masked shape. Select the top copy and hit the left arrow twice. Reselect these two copies and click on the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel. Fill this new shape with R=158, G=100, B=72. Now change its blending mode to Multiply and lower the Opacity to 25%.
Step 6
Select the masked shape and go to Object > Path > Offset Path. Enter a 1px Offset and click OK. Fill the resulting shape with a dark color and lower its opacity. It will be easier for you to distinguish it in the further steps. Double-click on it (in the Layers panel) and rename it "00."
Step 7
Enable the Snap to Grid. Pick the Ellipse Tool (L), create four perfect circles and place them as shown in the following image. All four circles should be 35px wide and tall.
Step 8
Focus on the top left circle. First, duplicate "00." Next, select this copy along with the top, left circle and click on the Intersect button from the Pathfinder panel. Now, you need to add a discrete roundness effect using the Round Any Corner Script.
Save it to your hard drive then pick the Direct Selection Tool (A). Select the anchor points highlighted in the second image and go to File > Scripts > Other Script. Open the Round Any Corner Script, enter a 1px Radius and click OK. Fill the resulting shape with the linear gradient shown in the final image. The white text from the gradient image stands for Location.
Step 9
Let's move to the top, right circle. Make a new copy of "00," select it along with the circle and click on the Intersect button from the Pathfinder panel. Pick the Direct Selection Tool (A), select the anchor points highlighted in the second image and go to File > Scripts > Other Script. Open the Round Any Corner Script, enter a 1px Radius and click OK. Fill the resulting shape with the linear gradient shown in the final image.
Step 10
Continue with the bottom, left circle. Again, make a copy of "00". Select it along with the circle and click on the Intersect button from the Pathfinder panel. Pick the Direct Selection Tool(A), select the anchor points highlighted in the second image and go to File > Scripts > Other Script. Open the Round Any Corner Script, enter a 1px Radius and click OK. Fill the resulting shape with the linear gradient shown in the final image.
Step 11
Finally, the bottom, right circle. Select the original "00" along with the circle and click on the Intersect button from the Pathfinder panel. Pick the Direct Selection Tool (A), select the anchor points highlighted in the second image and go to File > Scripts > Other Script. Open the Round Any Corner Script, enter a 1px Radius and click OK. Fill the resulting shape with the linear gradient shown in the final image.
Step 12
From now on you will need a grid every 1px. Go to Edit > Preferences > Guides & Grid and enter 1 in the Gridline every box. Pick the Ellipse Tool (L) and create a 3 by 3px shape. Fill it with the radial gradient shown below, and add a 0.15pt, aligned to outside stroke (R=60, G=36, B=21). Make two copies of this circle then place all three shapes as shown in the following image. The Snap to Grid will ease your work.
Step 13
Make some new copies of the shape created in the previous step and place them as shown below.
Step 14
Grab the Rectangle Tool (M) and create a 15 by 172px shape. Place it like in the following image, then go to Effect > Stylize > Rounded Corners. Enter a 1px radius, click OK, then go to Object > Expand Appearance.
Step 15
Select the shape resulted from the previous step and fill it with the linear gradient shown below.
Step 16
Pick the Pen Tool (P) and draw two vertical paths as shown in the following step. Add a 0,25pt stroke (R=169, G=124, B=80) for each path then open the stroke panel. Check the Dashed Line button and enter 1pt in the first dash box.
Step 17
Grab the Ellipse Tool (L), create a small circle (2 by 2px) and place it as shown in the following image. Fill it with R=96, G=57, B=19, add a 0.25pt, aligned to outside stroke (R=169, G=124, B=80) then go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter 2 in the copies box and drag the Move-Vertical slider to 10px then click OK. Duplicate this shape and the ones created in the last three steps. Select these copies and move them to the left, as shown in the second image.
Step 18
Pick the Rectangle Tool (M) and create a 45 by 10px shape. Place it as shown in the following image then go to Effect > Stylize > Rounded Corners. Enter a 1px radius, click OK then go to Object > Expand Appearance.
Step 19
Select the shape resulted from the previous step and fill it with R=98, G=58, B=39. Add a second fill for this shape. Make it black, move it below the existing fill, then go to Effect > Warp > Bulge. Enter the data shown below, click OK then go to Effect > Distort > Distort & Transform. Make changes only in the Scale section (as shown) then click OK. With the black fill still selected go to Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur and enter a 1px radius.
Step 20
Grab the Rectangle Tool (M) and create a 43 by 8px shape. Place it as shown in the following image, then go to Effect > Stylize > Rounded Corners. Enter a 1px radius, click OK and then go to Object > Expand Appearance. Fill the resulting shape with none and add a 0.25pt, dashed stroke (R=169, G=124, B=80). Make two new copies of the shape made in the twelfth step and place them as shown in the final image.
Step 21
Duplicate the shapes created in the last three steps. Select these copies and move them to the left, as shown in the following image.
Step 22
Pick the Rectangle Tool (M), create a 17 by 6px shape and place it as shown in the following image. Fill it with the linear gradient, then go to Effect > Stylize > Rounded Corners and enter a 2px radius.
Create a second shape. Make it 2px tall and 3px wide, fill it with R=241, G=158, B=86, and then go to Effect > Stylize > Rounded Corners. Enter a 0,5pt radius and click OK. Make sure that these two shapes are placed in the back of the rest of the shapes. Duplicate these two shapes and move the copies to the left, as shown in the final image below.
Step 23
Pick the Rectangle Tool, create two similar shapes (7 by 2px) and place them as shown in the following image. Fill them both with the linear gradient shown below, then go to Effect > Stylize > Rounded Corners and enter a 1pt radius.
Step 24
Again, create two similar shapes (14 by 2px) and place them as shown in the following image. Fill them both with R=80, G=45, B=27. Now go to Effect > Stylize > Rounded Corners and enter a 1pt radius.
Step 25
Grab the Rectangle Tool (M), create a 49 by 23px shape and place it as shown in the following image. Fill it with none and add a 8pt, aligned to outside stroke, then go to Effect > Stylize > Rounded Corners. Enter a 1px radius, click OK after applying Object > Expand Appearance.
Duplicate the masked shape. Select the copy and the expanded stroke, then click on the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel. Fill the resulting shape with R=80, G=45, B=27. Now apply Effect > Stylize > Inner Glow and enter the data shown below.
Step 26
Select the shape made in the previous step and go to Object > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -1px Offset and click OK. Select the resulting shape and replace the exiting fill color with the linear gradient shown in the following image.
Step 27
Finally, select the masked shape and go to Object > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -2px Offset and click OK. Fill the resulting shape with none, add a 1pt stroke then go to Object > Expand.
Select this newly created shape. First, bring it to front (Shift + Control + ]) then fill it with the linear gradient shown in the final image. Change its blending mode to Overlay, lower the Opacity to 50% then go to Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Enter a 1px radius, click OK and you're done.
Conclusion
The final image is below. Now take a vector vacation.
