Illustrate a Fun Magnify Zoom Icon

In this tutorial, we'll create a unique Magnifying Glass shown enlarging a selection of text. We'll work primarily with the pathfinder and basic shape tools to cut out our shapes for this illustration, though the pen tool will also be used. We color the elements along the way using various gradients.

Step 1

Create new document, 800px by 600px will do. Type some text using a big font size. I am using Futura for this design. After that, apply create outline (Shift + Ctrl + O) to the text. Then apply a gradient color to the text, as shown below.

Step 2

Grab the pen tool and draw a shape, as shown below. Copy (CTRL + C) the outlined text and paste in front (CTRL + F) of it. Select both paths and choose intersect shape areas from the pathfinder tool.

Step 3

Repeat step 2 to create a shadow using different color.

Step 4

Grab the Ellipse tool and draw a circle. Copy the circle and paste in front. Then hold ALT + Shift and resize it. Select both of the circles and subtract from shape area using pathfinder. Then Expand it.

Step 5

Position the donut shape and apply the color and stroke setting, as shown below.

Step 6

Grab the rounded rectangle tool and click once on the screen to bring up the dialogue box. Create a 150px width, 50px height, and 20px corner radius rectangle. Fill it with a gradient color shown below with a -111 ° angle. Also, apply a 1px stroke with the same color we used before.

Step 7

Now, we need to add some shading. We can do this using the same technique we used to create the orange top area for the text in step 2. For area 1, we use a white to black gradient with a 57 ° angle. For area 2, we use the same gradient with a 253 ° angle. For area 3, we use a black color.

Step 8

Using the same technique, create something like a rubber or cloth band. Use a white color and a 0.5px stroke.

Step 9

Now we draw the ribbons.

Step 10

Create a rectangle using rectangle tool as our background. Apply a radial gradient to it. Then draw a shadow using the ellipse tool.

Step 11

We are almost there. Add a white circle below all layers, but above the text layer. Set the opacity to 10%. Create a shinning area using the pathfinder. Fill it with a white color, and set the opacity to 5%.

Conclusion

Finally, add some shadow for the text layer because it is under the donut shape. Well, that's all about it.

This tutorial only required some drawing skills. In this tutorial, we often repeated the process where we need to copy and paste a path in front of another path. This allows us to easily make an intersection, often done via pathfinder tools. I Hope you enjoy the tutorial and leave some comments. Cheers!