The Do’s and Don’ts of Creating Line Icons

In today’s
tutorial we’re going to take an in-depth look at the process of creating
line icons both in Adobe Illustrator and Affinity Designer. You’ll see how you can craft
a usable finished product using a few basic shapes that we will adjust here and
there.

So, if you always wanted to know the do’s and don’ts when
working on this style of icons, you should definitely give this piece a read!

Also, don’t forget you can always expand your asset library by heading over to GraphicRiver, where you’ll find a great selection of vector icon packs to pick from.

A few years ago,
I explored the main two methods that can be used to create line icons, and
compared them in order to see which one would be a better fit for you.

Today, we’re going
to expand on one of those methods, more exactly the Stroke one, and talk about the do’s and don’ts so that you can
perfect your skills when it comes to creating these types of icons.

We’re going to be creating exactly the same icon using two different
pieces of software, more precisely Adobe Illustrator and Affinity Designer, so
that everybody can partake in the project.

That being said, let’s get started!

How to Create Line
Icons in Adobe Illustrator

1. How to Set Up a
New Project File 

As with any new
project, we’re going to kick things off by quickly going through the process of
setting up a New Document. So go over to File > New (or use the Control-N
keyboard shortcut), and then adjust it as follows:

• Profile:
  Web
• Number of Artboards:
  1
• Width:
  128 px
• Height:
  128 px
• Units: Pixels

And from the Advanced tab:

• Color Mode:
  RGB
• Raster Effects:
  Screen (72 ppi)
• Preview Mode: Default

2. How to Set Up
the Layers

Once we’ve created
our document, we need to take a couple of moments and structure the project
using a couple of layers, so that we can implement and maintain a clear and
steady workflow by separating our reference grid from the actual icon.

To do this, simply
open up the Layers panel and then
create two layers using the Create New
Layer button, naming them as follows:

• bottom layer:
  reference grid
• top layer: icon

3. How to Create
the Reference Grid

As soon as we’ve finished layering our
document, we can focus on building the reference grid, which will help us define
the actual size of the final icon, while allowing us to add a small protective
padding.

Step 1

Select the bottom
layer, and then create the main reference surface (the base size) using a 128 x 128 px square, which we will
color using #F15A24 and then position in the center of the underlying Artboard
using the Align panel’s Horizontal and Vertical Align Center options.

Step 2

Add the active
drawing area using a smaller 112 x 112
px square, which we will color using white (#FFFFFF) and then center align
to the larger underlying one, which will result in an all-around 8 px padding.

Step 3

Once you have both
shapes in place, select and group them together using the Control-G keyboard shortcut, making sure to lock the current layer
before moving on to the next step.

4. How to Create the Newspaper Icon

As soon as we’ve finished setting up our
project file, we can begin working on the actual icon, which we will gradually
create one section at a time.

Step 1

Grab the Ellipse Tool (L) and create the
background using a 112 x 112 px circle,
which we will color using #AEEDEA and then center align to the underlying
Artboard.

Step 2

Create the main
shape for the front section of the newspaper using a 40 x 44 px rectangle, which we will color using #FFFFFF and then
position at a distance of 30 px from
the active drawing area’s left edge and 34
px from its top one.

As you may have noticed, even though the gap values are even
numbers (since they can be divided by two), they can only be cut in half once
before becoming odd. Normally I try to stay away from these types of numbers,
but since we’re creating line icons, that’s something that’s going to be fixed
as soon as we add the actual outlines, as you’ll see in a few moments.

Step 3

Adjust the shape that we’ve just created by setting the Radius of its bottom-left corner to 6 px from within the Transform panel’s Rectangle Properties. Again, I’ve gone with a weird number value,
but all will make sense as soon as we add the outline.

Step 4

Create a copy (Control-C >
Control-F) of the resulting shape, which we will position on its right
side so that their paths end up overlapping as seen in the reference image.

Step 5

Open up the two paths by individually selecting each of their right
anchor points using the Direct Selection
Tool (A), and then immediately removing them by pressing Delete.

Step 6

With the two paths still selected, unite them into a single larger shape
by pressing the Control-J (join)
keyboard shortcut twice.

Step 7

Now that we’ve finished
adjusting the main shape for the front section, we can go about adding the
outline. This part is actually more important than you might think, since the
thickness of the Stroke will end up directly influencing the surrounding gap values, as well as the visible
section of the corner radius, as you’ll see in the following moments.

As a general rule,
you always want to go with an even numeric value (e.g. 2, 4, 6, 8, etc.), since we’re going to align
the Stroke to the center. By doing so, we will ensure that our shapes will remain perfectly snapped to the underlying Pixel Grid, since the alignment will end up equally splitting their Weight in half.

To add the actual outline, start
by creating a copy (Control-C) of
the resulting shape, which we will paste in front (Control-F) and then adjust by changing its color to #43435B.
Once you’re done, flip its Fill with
its Stroke using the Shift-X keyboard shortcut, and then
open up the Stroke panel and set its
Weight to 4 px, making sure that
the Stroke is aligned to the center.

Since half of the outline will end up falling outside of the fill
shape’s path, this will in effect decrease the gap values by 2 px, making the rounded corners look
less rounded.

If we were to use odd numbers (e.g. 3, 5, 7, 9, etc.), our Stroke would end up being subjected to some nasty antialiasing, which is clearly visible when you turn on Pixel Preview mode (Alt-Control-Y). This happens since the software can’t find a perfect center, due to the fact that once divided in half, odd numbers become decimal ones.

To make matters even worse, if you try and use the Make Pixel Perfect option (right click > Make Pixel Perfect), the stroke’s path will end up snapping off the Pixel Grid due to that center alignment.

Step 8

Since we want the icon to feel all around more
friendly, we’re going to set all of its Strokes’ Corners to Round Join, which is a neat little
trick that helps you do just that. In the case of the current shape, this also
fixes the appearance of the bottom-right anchor point, which would otherwise
look as if it was mistakenly chopped.

Step 9

As soon as we’ve finished making all the little adjustments to the
outline, we need to select both it and the underlying fill shape and then group
them together using either the Control-G
keyboard shortcut or the slightly slower right
click > Group method. 

I usually end up grouping my fill shapes and
outlines together since if I later on decide to move one of them, the other
will automatically follow it. Also, if you ever need to make adjustments to
either of the two, you can easily do so by isolating the group and carrying them
out.

Step 10

Create the main shape for the side section using a 12 x 36 px rectangle, which we will color using #59C9C9 and then
position onto the right side of the shapes that we’ve just grouped, making sure
that their paths overlap. The overlapping part is really important, since it
helps ensure that when you add all the outlines, they perfectly cover each
other, without adding to the thickness of the final design.

Step 11

Adjust the shape that we’ve just created by setting the Radius of its bottom corners to 6 px, which is the same value
used for the front section. When working on line icons, consistency plays a key
factor when it comes to the perfect overlapping of your paths, so always keep
an eye on your values, so that you won’t have to come back and fix them
later on.

Step 12

Add the subtle shadow using a 6 x
36 px square, which we will position on the left side of the current
section, coloring it using the same value used for the outline (#43435B) and making sure to lower its Opacity to 24%. This is another little trick that
I like to use a lot, where instead of picking darker values for the shadows, I
simply sample the color of the strokes and then lower their Opacity until I get something that
works.

Step 13

Mask the shadow using a copy (Control-C)
of the larger underlying shape, which we will paste in front, and then with
both of them selected, simply right click
> Make Clipping Mask.

Step 14

As soon as you’ve masked the shadow, you can go
ahead and give the current section a 4
px thick outline by creating a copy (Control-C
> Control-F) of it, and then sampling the existing outline using the Eyedropper Tool (I). 

This is another
little trick that I use all the time, since it helps me copy all the existing attributes of my outline (color, weight) to my current shape. Beyond that, it also
ensures that the color value being used is all-around consistent, which is really
important when designing line icons, since when adding volume you do so using
darker colors for the fill shapes but not their outlines.

Quick tip: here’s a quick picture of what would happen if
you did some of the things that I’ve argued against (improper path
overlapping, inconsistent corner radius for the overlapping shapes, different
color values for the outlines).

Step 15

Move on back to the front section of the
newspaper, and let’s start adding its little details by creating the photo box
using a 12 x 12 px rounded rectangle
with a 2 px Corner Radius, which we
will color using #43435B and then position at a distance of 4 px from the front outline’s right
edge and 8 px from its top one.

At this point, you may be wondering why I didn’t include those 2 px from the outline in the indicated
spacing values, and the answer is that since in this case we can’t distribute
the shapes using the Align panel,
those values are irrelevant. Whenever we position shapes inside of an outline,
we will always do so in relation to its Weight’s inner edge, thus ignoring its inner half.

If we were to position the shapes outside of the
outline’s surface, then we would need to add them to the final distance, since
the software will always position them in relation to the outline’s path, which
is aligned to the center.

Step 16

Create the first
of the dummy text lines using an 8 px wide
4 px thick Stroke (#43435B) with a Round
Cap, which we will position in line with the picture’s top edge, at a
distance of 4 px from its left one.

As you can see, I went with stroke lines instead of rounded rectangles,
which is something that I try to do all the time when their thickness is
identical to that of the outlines, since if I ever need to change their color,
I can easily target them using Select
> Same > Stroke Color.

Notice that I used the word “position” instead
of “align”, since if we were to use the Align
panel’s Vertical Align Top option,
the software would do the alignment to the indicated key object based on the
center of the stroke, which would produce quite a different result.

Step 17

Add the second text line using a copy (Control-C > Control-F) of the one that we’ve just created, which
we will position just 4 px below it. 

This is a great example of stroke positioning, since
we have two ways of doing it. The first one relies on using the directional
arrow keys to gradually move the stroke one pixel at a time, until we have it
in the desired position.

The second one involves using the Align panel’s Vertical Distribute Spacing option, which requires you to adjust
the spacing value, since you need to include the bottom and top halves of the
two strokes’ Weight. So instead of
using a value of 4 px, you’ll end up
using 8 px (2 + 4 + 2). Personally, I recommend you stick to the first method
when it comes to smaller distances, and use the Align panel when dealing with bigger ones, which to be honest
doesn’t happen all that often.

Step 18

Create the wider text line, using a copy (Control-C > Control-F) of the one from the previous step, which
we will position 4
px below it and then adjust by increasing its Width
from 8 px to 24 px. To do this, open up the Transform
panel and first uncheck the Scale
Strokes & Effects option, since it will otherwise increase the Weight of the Stroke as you adjust it. Then, set the Reference Point to the left square and simply enter the indicated
value (24 px) within the W(idth)
input field.

Step 19

Add the final text line using a copy (Control-C > Control-F) of the one that we’ve adjusted, which we
will position below using the same 4 px distance.
Once you have all the lines in place, make sure you select and group (Control-G) them together, doing the
same for the entire newspaper afterwards.

Step 20

Finish off the icon by adding the little motion lines using an 8 px tall 4 px thick Stroke (#43435B)
for the center one, and two shorter 4 px
ones for the sides, positioning them as seen in the reference image. Take
your time, and once you’re done, don’t forget to select and group (Control-G) all of them together, doing
the same for all of its composing shapes afterwards.

How to Create Line
Icons in Affinity Designer

Now that we have a
better idea when it comes to the do’s and don’ts of creating line icons, let’s
see how we can build the same product in Affinity Designer.

1. How to Set Up a
New Project File

As we did with
Illustrator, we’re going to start by creating a New Document by heading over to File > New (or by using the Control-N
keyboard shortcut), which we will adjust as follows:

• Type:
  Web
• Document Units:
  Pixels
• Create artboard: checked
• Transparent Background: checked
• Page Width:
  128 px
• Page Height:
  128 px
• DPI: 72

2. How to Set Up
the Layers

Take a couple of
moments and structure the project file by opening up the Layers panel and then creating two layers using the Add Layer button, naming them as
follows:

• bottom layer:
  reference grid
• top layer: icon

3. How to Create
the Reference Grid

Once we’ve
finished layering our document, we can move on to building the little reference
grid.

Step 1

Start by selecting the bottom layer and then creating the main
reference surface (the base size) using a 128
x 128 px square, which we will color using #F15A24 and then position in the
center of the underlying Artboard, using the Alignment panel’s Align Center
and Align Middle options.

Step 2

Add the active drawing area using a smaller 112 x 112 px square, which we will color using white (#FFFFFF) and
then center align to the main reference surface, which will give us the same
8 px protective padding.

Step 3

With both shapes in place, make sure you select and group them together
using the Control-G keyboard
shortcut, locking the current layer using the little Lock/Unlock toggle, before moving on to the next one.

4. How to Create
the Newspaper Icon

Position yourself
on the top layer, and let’s begin working on our little newspaper icon.

Step 1

Start by creating the background using a 112 x 112 px circle, which we will color using #AEEDEA and then
center align to the underlying Artboard.

Step 2

Add the main shape for the newspaper’s front section using a 40 x 44 px rectangle, which we will
color using white (#FFFFFF) and then position at a distance of 30 px from the active drawing area’s
left edge and 34 px from its top
one.

Step 3

Adjust the shape by first unchecking the Single Radius option, and then setting its bottom-left corner (BL) to Rounded, making sure to give it an absolute value of 6 px.

Step 4

Create a copy (Control-C > Control-V) of the resulting
shape, which we will then position on the right side of the active drawing
area, so that their paths end up overlapping.

Step 5

With both shapes selected, use the Convert to Curves option so that we can
adjust their paths, and then individually open them up by selecting their top right
nodes using the Node Tool (A) and
then the Break Curve action.
Once you’ve opened up their paths, make sure you select and remove all of their
right nodes using the Delete key.

Step 6

Unite the resulting path segments into a single
larger shape using the Node Tool’s Join
curves and Close curve actions.

Step 7

Give the resulting shape an outline using the Stroke method, by creating a copy (Control-C) of it, which we will paste
in front (Control-V) and then adjust
by first changing its color to #43435B and then
flipping its Fill with its Stroke (Shift-X), setting its Width to
4 pt. Once you’re done, make sure
you select and group the two together using the Control-G keyboard shortcut.

Quick tip: compared to Illustrator, where you have to set
the Stroke’s Join to Round manually, Affinity Designer does it automatically
since it’s the default option used.

Step 8

Create the main shape for the newspaper’s side section using a 12 x 36 px rectangle (#59C9C9), which
we will adjust by setting the radius of its bottom corners to 6 px, positioning the resulting shape on the right side of the front section, making sure their paths perfectly overlap.

Step 9

Add the subtle shadow using a 6 x
36 px square (#43435B), which we will position on the left side of the
current section, making sure to lower its Opacity
to 24%.

Step 10

Mask the shadow by opening up the Layers
panel and first adding a copy (Control-C)
of the side section’s fill shape to the Clipboard,
and then simply dragging the smaller shape on top of it.

Step 11

Add the outline by pasting the copy from the Clipboard in place using the Control-V
keyboard shortcut, and then changing its color to #43435B and flipping its Fill with
its Stroke (Shift-X), making sure to set its Width to 4 pt. Once
you’re done, don’t forget to select and group (Control-G) all of the side section’s composing shapes before moving
on to the next step.

Step 12

Shift your focus back to the newspaper’s front
section, and create the photo box using a 12
x 12 px rounded rectangle (#43435B) with a 2 px Corner Radius, which we will position at a distance of 4 px from the larger outline’s right
edge and 8 px from its top one.

Step 13

Add the first text line using an 8 px wide 4 pt thick Stroke (#43435B), which we will position in line with the
photo’s top edge, at a distance of 4
px from its left one.

Step 14

Create the second text line using a copy (Control-C > Control-V) of the one from the previous step, which we will position 4 px below it.

Step 15

Add the wider text line, using a copy (Control-C > Control-V) of the one
that we’ve just created, which we will position 4 px below and then adjust by increasing its
Width to 24 px. To do this, open
up the Transform panel, and first
make sure the adjustments are made in relation to its left anchor point by
clicking on the Anchor point selector’s
left box, and then simply entering the indicated value (24 px) within the W(idth)
input field.

Step 16

Create the final text line using a copy (Control-C > Control-V) of the one
that we’ve just adjusted, making sure to position it below using the same 4 px distance. Once you have all the
lines in place, make sure you select and group (Control-G) all of them together, doing the same for the entire
newspaper afterwards.

Step 17

Finish off the icon by adding the little motion lines using an 8 px tall 4 pt thick Stroke (#43435B)
for the center one and two shorter 4 px
ones for the sides, positioning them as seen in the reference image. Take
your time, and once you’re done, don’t forget to select and group (Control-G) all of them together, doing
the same for all of its composing shapes afterwards.

Recap

Before I ride off into the sunset, I wanted to do a little recap of the key points that we’ve learned when it comes to creating stroke-based line icons, in case some of you want to skip the whole project part.

The Do’s:

• When you start laying out your icon’s different composing shapes, always do the math and make sure you include the value of their outlines (their strokes) when doing so, since it will help you figure out key aspects in regards to their position in relation to the Artboard and one another. 
• When choosing a weight for your stroke, always try to go with even numbers (e.g. 2, 4, 6, 8, etc.) instead of odd ones (e.g. 3, 5, 7, 9, etc.), since otherwise your outlines will end up being snapped off the Pixel Grid.
• When positioning your shapes, always make sure that their paths perfectly overlap, especially if you’re dealing with objects that have rounded corners or more organic lines.
• When adding an outline to a shape, make sure you select and group them together so that they will behave as a single unit, which makes its easier to reposition them if you need to later on.
• As you start building your icon, always make sure you maintain the same color value and weight across all of your strokes in order to achieve consistency.
• When positioning shapes inside of an outline, always do so from its stroke’s inner edges and not its center.
• When aligning stroke-based objects to non-stroke-based ones, always make sure to adjust their final position if you’ve used the align panel, since the software will always make the alignment based on the stroke’s center, and not its outer edges.
• When positioning multiple stroke-based objects in relation to one another, always do the math and include the values of their top and/or bottom halves when using the align panel, otherwise you won’t get the desired result.

The Don’ts:

• When it comes to the don’ts, they’re pretty much the exact opposites of the bullet items from the previous list, so as long as you keep those key notions in mind, you should be good to go.

As always, I really hope you had fun working on the project and most
importantly managed to learn a thing or two during the process.

That being said, if you have any questions, feel
free to post them within the comments section and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!

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