In the following tutorial, you will learn how to create a bullet logo from scratch and then how to turn it into a 3D bullet logo design using Adobe Illustrator.
If you prefer video tutorials, then don't miss this new video from the Envato Tuts+ YouTube channel. Follow along to learn how to create a bullet logo design in two ways:
What You'll Learn in This Illustrator Tutorial
- How to create bullet logo shapes
- How to stylize a bullet logo design
- How to create a 3D bullet logo
1. How to Create a New Document and Set Up a Grid
Hit Control-N to create a new document in Illustrator. Select Pixels from the Units drop-down menu, set the Width to 850 px and the Height to 600 px, and then click that Advanced Options button. Select RGB for the Color Mode and set the Raster Effects to Screen (72 ppi), and then click the Create button.
Enable the Grid (View > Show Grid or Control-") and Snap to Grid (View > Snap to Grid or Shift-Control-"). You will need a grid every 5 px, so simply go to Edit > Preferences > Guides & Grid, enter 5 in the Gridline every box and 1 in the Subdivisions box. Try not to get discouraged by all that grid—it will make your work easier, and keep in mind that you can easily enable or disable it using the Control-" keyboard shortcut.
You should also open the Info panel (Window > Info) for a live preview with the size and position of your shapes. Don't forget to set the unit of measurement to pixels from Edit > Preferences > Units. All these options will significantly increase your work speed.
Now that you're set, let's see how you can create a logo for a bullet.
2. How to Create the Main Bullet Logo Shapes
Step 1
Pick the Ellipse Tool (L) from your toolbar and then focus on the color settings. Select the stroke and remove the color, and then double-click the fill and replace the existing color with black (R=0 G=0 B=0).
Move to your artboard and create a 95 x 20 px shape. You can either click and drag to create this shape (check the Info panel to see the size of the shape as you're creating it), or you can click on your artboard to open the Ellipse window where you can set the size of the shape.
Switch to the Selection Tool (V), make sure that you're holding down the Alt key, and then click and drag your ellipse to add a copy 10 px up, as shown in the second image.
Step 2
Pick the Rectangle Tool (M), use it to create a 95 x 10 px shape, and place it as shown in the following image. Using the Selection Tool (V), select all your shapes and merge them using the Unite button from the Pathfinder panel (Window > Pathfinder).
Step 3
Using the Rectangle Tool (M), create an 85 x 20 px shape, make it blue, and place it as shown in the following image. Keep it selected and go to Effect > Warp > Arc Lower. Check the Horizontal box and set the Bend to 15%. Click OK to apply this effect, and then expand it by going to Object > Expand Appearance.
Step 4
Using the Ellipse Tool (L), create a 95 x 30 px shape, make it green, and place it as shown below.
Step 5
Using the Rectangle Tool (M), create a 95 x 155 px green rectangle and place it as shown below.
Step 6
Use the Selection Tool (V) to select both green shapes and merge them using the Unite button from the Pathfinder panel.
Step 7
Focus on the top side of your green shape and pick the Direct Selection Tool (A). Use it to select the two highlighted anchor points, move to the control panel, and set the Corner Radius to 10 px.
Step 8
Pick the Ellipse Tool (L), create an 85 x 160 px shape, make it yellow, and place it as shown in the first image. Continue with the Rectangle Tool (M), using it to add an 85 x 80 px rectangle, and place it as shown in the second image.
Step 9
Use the Selection Tool (V) to select both yellow shapes and merge them using the Unite button from the Pathfinder panel.
Step 10
Using the Rectangle Tool (M), create a 95 x 10 px rectangle and place it exactly as shown in the first image. Select it along with your yellow shape and click the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel.
Press Shift-Control-G to Ungroup the resulting group of shapes, and then select that bottom yellow shape and simply delete it.
Step 11
Focus on the bottom side of your yellow shape and pick the Direct Selection Tool (A). Use it to select those two anchor points and set the Corner Radius to 5 px.
Step 12
Using the Rectangle Tool (M), create an 85 x 10 px shape and place it as shown in the first image. Keep it selected, switch to the Direct Selection Tool (A), and set the Corner Radius to 5 px.
Step 13
Go to the Layers panel (Window > Layers), select the existing layer, and simply drag it on top of that Create New Layer button to duplicate it. Turn off the visibility of your original layer, and let's focus on the copy.
3. How to Add the Highlights
Step 1
Using the Ellipse Tool (L), create a 30 x 110 px shape, make it white, and place it as shown in the first image. Select your yellow shape and go to Object > Path > Offset Path. Set the Offset to -10 px and click OK.
Select this new shape along with the white ellipse and click the Intersect button from the Pathfinder panel.
Step 2
Keep focusing on your white shape, use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to select the highlighted anchor points, and set the Corner Radius to 3 px.
Step 3
Using the Rectangle Tool (M), create a 30 x 10 px shape, make it white, and place it as shown in the first image.
Keep it selected, switch to the Direct Selection Tool (A), and set the Corner Radius to 3 px.
Step 4
Using the Rectangle Tool (M), create a 30 x 180 px shape, make it white, and place it as shown in the first image. Select your green shape and go to Object > Path > Offset Path. Set the Offset to -10 px and click OK.
Select this new shape along with the white rectangle and click the Intersect button from the Pathfinder panel.
Step 5
Make sure that the white shape made in the previous step is still selected, grab the Direct Selection Tool (A), and set the Corner Radius to 3 px.
Step 6
Using the Rectangle Tool (M), create a 30 x 35 px shape, make it white, and place it as shown in the first image. Select your blue shape and add a copy in front (Control-C > Control-F). Select this copy along with your white rectangle and click the Intersect button from the Pathfinder panel.
Now select your green shape and add a copy in the same place, on top of your white shape (Control-C > Shift-Control-V). Select this green copy along with the white shape added in this step and click the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel. Keep the resulting shape selected, switch to the Direct Selection Tool (A), and set the Corner Radius to 3 px.
Step 7
Using the Rectangle Tool (M), create a 30 x 40 px shape, make it white, and place it as shown in the first image. Select your black shape and add a copy in front (Control-C > Control-F). Select this copy along with your new white rectangle and click the Intersect button from the Pathfinder panel.
Using the Ellipse Tool (L), add a 95 x 20 px shape as shown in the third image. Select it along with the white shape added in this step and click the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel. Keep the resulting shape selected, switch to the Direct Selection Tool (A) and set the Corner Radius to 3 px.
Step 8
Select your colored shapes, and let's make them all black.
Step 9
Select all your black shapes and merge them using the Unite button from the Pathfinder panel.
Step 10
Select your black shape along with the white ones, and click the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel.
Step 11
Have a look at the bottom edge of your bullet logo, and let's make a small adjustment. Pick the Shape Builder Tool (Shift-M), hold down the Alt key, and simply click and drag across that thin edge to remove it.
4. How to Color Your Bullet Logo Design
Step 1
Now that you have the bullet shape, let's color it and add some text. First, we'll use the Rectangle Tool (M) to add a background for this bullet logo.
Create a shape that covers your entire artboard, and fill it with R=255 G=222 B=23. Move this shape behind the bullet logo, and then select your bullet shape and set the fill color to R=6 G=10 B=43.
Step 2
Pick the Selection Tool (V) and rotate your bullet logo 90 degrees to the right, and then use the Reflect Tool (O) to easily flip your bullet logo as shown below.
Step 3
Finally, let's add some text to this bullet logo. Pick the Type Tool (T) from your toolbar and focus on the Character panel (or the control panel) to set the settings for the text that you're about to add.
For the first piece of text, you'll need the Roadstore font. Set the size to 73 pt and the tracking to 100, and then just click on your artboard to type in "BULLET". Apply the same color that you used for the bullet logo.
For the next piece of text, you'll need the Foregen font. Set the size to 28 and the tracking to 740, and type "INDUSTRIES". Make it yellow and place it as shown below.
5. How to Create a 3D Bullet Logo Design
Step 1
Now you have your flat bullet logo design, but there's still that invisible layer left in the Layers panel.
Make it visible and turn off the visibility of the top layer. We'll use these shapes to make a 3D bullet logo.
Step 2
Focus on the blue shape. Use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to select the two highlighted anchor points and set the Corner Radius to 8 px.
Step 3
For this step, you'll need a gridline every 2.5 px, so let's go to Edit > Preferences > Guides and Grid and simply enter 2.5 in that Gridline Every box.
Once you're done, pick the Rectangle Tool (M) and use it to create a shape that will cover the left half of your bullet, exactly as shown in the following image.
Step 4
Select that rectangle along with all your bullet shapes, and pick the Shape Builder Tool (Shift-M). Again, hold the Alt key and drag a line across that rectangle to easily remove the left half of your bullet, as shown in the following image.
Step 5
Select the remaining shapes that make up the right half of your bullet, and adjust the fill colors as shown below. Once you're done, press Control-G to Group these shapes.
Step 6
Make sure that your group is selected, and go to Effect > 3D and Materials > Revolve. This will open the 3D and Materials panel, which you can use to further adjust 3D objects in Illustrator.
First of all, click that top-right button to enable Ray Tracing. For this particular example, you need to set the Revolve Angle to about 360 degrees and the Twist to 0 degrees, while Taper and Volume should be kept at 100% and 0 px. Move down to the Rotation section, select the Front preset, and make sure that the Perspective is set to 0 degrees.
Step 7
Keep your 3D group selected, and switch from the Object tab to the Materials tab.
Keep the default material and focus on the Base Properties section, where you need to set the Roughness to 0.5 and keep the Metallic at 1.
Continue with the Lighting tab. Click that color box and make sure that it's set to white, and then enter all the settings shown below.
Step 8
Finally, let's add a subtle shadow effect. Make sure that your group is still selected, and go to Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow. Enter the settings shown below and click OK.
Step 9
If you wish to rotate your bullet, remember to expand the applied effects (Object > Expand Appearance). Once expanded, feel free to rotate this 3D bullet logo and add the text.
Congratulations! You're Done!
Here is how your logo for a bullet should look. I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial and can apply these techniques in your future projects.
Feel free to adjust this bullet logo and make it your own. You can find some great sources of inspiration at Envato Elements, with interesting solutions to help you create logos with bullets.
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