Follow this tutorial and learn how to create a set of social media icons in vector form. You will use basic shapes to create the flat style icon shapes, the notification icons, and the social media logos. We will also talk about how to save them individually, and in the end you will have the knowledge to create other icons in this flat style in Adobe Illustrator.
Hungry for more icons? Whether you are looking for more social media icons, flat style icons, or vector icons in general, head over to GraphicRiver and you will find plenty of resources there in different styles and designs.
You can also find a huge range of ready-made social media icon sets in this roundup:
Tutorial Assets
To complete the tutorial you will need the following assets:
- World of Water Font
- Magnolia Script Font
- Sniglet Font
1. How to Open a New Document
Launch Illustrator and go to File > New to open a blank document. Type a name for your file, set the dimensions, and then select Pixels as Units and RGB as Color Mode.
Next, go to Edit > Preferences > General and set the Keyboard Increment to 1 px and while there, go to Units to make sure they are set as in the following image. I usually work with these settings, and they will help you throughout the drawing process.
2. How to Create a Vector Flat Icon Shape
Step 1
Take the Ellipse Tool (L) and draw a 98 x 98 px circle on your artboard. Give it a 4 pt dark gray Stroke and press the Align Stroke to Inside option in the Stroke panel.
Go to View > Rulers > Show Rulers to make them active, and then drag a guideline through the four points of the circle. You will notice that everything stays inside the guidelines, and this will make things easier when the time comes to save each icon. You won't have to worry about adding the width of the stroke to the size of the circle to calculate the final size of the icon.
Step 2
Next, draw a small 30 x 30 px square with the Rectangle Tool (M) and use it as a guide to draw a triangle between its corner points. Move this triangle to the lower left side of the gray circle. Make sure it doesn't go over the guidelines.
Step 3
We need to make a small adjustment. Take the Add Anchor Point Tool (+) and use it to add an extra point on the triangle. Drag this point on the gray contour to clear the inside of the circle. At the end, color it with the same dark gray.
Step 4
Select the gray circle and go to Object > Expand Appearance in order to turn the inside stroke into a fill. Now, select the resulting gray ring shape along with the triangle and press Unite in the Pathfinder panel to merge them into a single shape. This will be the final shape, and you can name it “icon shape” in the Layers panel.
Step 5
Make five copies of the “icon shape” and use the guidelines or the Align panel to arrange them on your artboard. Move each icon shape to a separate layer and name them accordingly to keep things organized in the Layers panel.
3. How to Create a Vector Facebook Icon
Step 1
Position yourself on the “Facebook icon” layer, and let's complete the first social media icon. Grab the Type Tool (T) and type the letter “f” on your artboard using the World of Water Font, Bold, with a size of 68 pt. This is the most similar font to the actual Facebook logo that I found. Fill it and give it a 2 pt Stroke using the same dark gray color.
Go to Object > Expand twice in order to expand the text and then the stroke applied. Now, you can move the letter inside the icon shape and use the guides to align it to the center.
Step 2
At this point, the Facebook icon is ready. You can leave it as it is with the icon shape and the logo as two separate shapes, or you can merge them into a compound path. To do so, press Unite in the Pathfinder panel followed by Object > Compound Path > Make (Control-8). Done!
4. How to Create a Vector Instagram Icon
Step 1
Position yourself on the “Instagram icon” layer. Use the Rectangle Tool (M) to draw a 44 x 44 px square on your artboard; then go to the Transform panel and enter 10 px in all four Corner Radius fields in order to get the rounded corners (1). Fill this shape with the same dark gray color.
Use the Ellipse Tool (L) to draw a 25 x 25 px circle; then select both shapes and press Horizontal Align Center and Vertical Align Center in the Align panel (2).
While both shapes are still selected, press Minus Front in the Pathfinder panel to obtain a compound path (3).
Step 2
Next, draw a thin 46 x 2 px rectangle over the icon; then select both shapes and press Minus Front in the Pathfinder panel followed by Object > Compound Path > Make (Control-8) (1).
Draw a small 5 x 5 px circle in the upper right side of the icon, and while both shapes are selected, press Minus Front in the Pathfinder panel followed by Object > Compound Path > Make (Control-8) again (2).
Step 3
Draw another 18 x 18 px circle and give it a 2 pt Stroke using the same dark gray color. Select the icon shape along with this circle and press Horizontal Align Center and Vertical Align Center in the Align panel to make sure they are perfectly aligned (1).
While the inner circle stays selected, go to Object > Expand in order to turn the stroke into a fill (2). Now, select both shapes and press Unite in the Pathfinder panel followed by Object > Compound Path > Make (Control-8) (3).
Step 4
The logo compound path is ready now. You can move it inside the icon shape and use the guidelines to arrange it in the center (1).
At this point, you should have two shapes on the “Instagram icon” layer: the logo and the icon shape. You can leave them as they are, or you can merge them into a new compound path by pressing Unite in the Pathfinder panel followed by Object > Compound Path > Make (Control-8) (2).
5. How to Create a Vector Twitter Icon
Step 1
Position yourself on the “Twitter icon” layer, and let's draw the cute bird. Start with a 27.5 x 27.5 px circle filled with the same dark gray color. Switch to the Pen Tool (P) and draw the shape of the body as shown in the image below.
For the beak, draw a triangle-like shape and then go to Object > Transform > Reflect, check Horizontal, and hit Copy to obtain the bottom half.
Finally, draw the shape of the wing with the Pen Tool (P). Now, select all the shapes and press Unite in the Pathfinder panel to merge them into a single shape.
Step 2
Move the bird logo inside the icon shape and use the guidelines to arrange it in the center (1).
On the “Twitter icon” layer, you should now have two shapes: the logo and the icon shape. Leave them like this, or merge them into a new compound path by pressing Unite in the Pathfinder panel followed by Object > Compound Path > Make (Control-8) as you did before (2). The Twitter vector icon is done.
6. How to Create a Vector YouTube Icon
Step 1
Position yourself on the “YouTube icon” layer. Use the Rectangle Tool (M) to draw a 50 x 37 px rectangle on your artboard (1); then go to the Transform panel and enter 8 px in all four Corner Radius fields to obtain the rounded corners (2).
Next, draw a small triangle in the center (3) and then, while both shapes stay selected, press Minus Front in the Pathfinder panel to obtain a compound path (4).
Step 2
Move the logo inside the icon shape and arrange it in the center (1). Merge the icon shape and the logo into a new compound path if you want, or keep the two shapes separate (2).
7. How to Create a Vector Snapchat Icon
Step 1
On the “Snapchat icon” layer, draw a 27 x 43 px rectangle (1); then go to the Transform panel and enter 12 px in the upper Corner Radius fields to obtain the rounded corners at the top (2).
Use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to select only the bottom left and bottom right corner points and move them outwards a little (3). Switch to the Add Anchor Point Tool (+) and use it to add three extra points at the bottom; then move them and adjust the handles to create the wavy bottom (4).
Add other two points in the left and right side with the Add Anchor Point Tool (+); then move them inwards to obtain a ghost-like shape (5).
Step 2
Fill the shape obtained in the previous step with the same dark gray color (1). Next, use the Pen Tool (P) to draw two short paths as the arms and give them a 4 pt Stroke. Press the Round Cap option in the Stroke panel to get the rounded ends (2). While both arms stay selected, go to Object > Expand in order to turn the strokes into fills (3).
Select all the shapes and press Unite in the Pathfinder panel to merge them into a single shape (4).
Step 3
Move the logo inside the icon shape and arrange it in the center using guidelines (1). Merge the logo and the icon shape into a new compound path if you want, and at this point, the Snapchat icon is ready (2).
8. How to Create a Vector Pinterest Icon
Step 1
On the “Pinterest icon” layer, take the Type Tool (T) and write the letter “P” on your artboard using the Magnolia Script Font, with a size of 64 pt (1). This is the most similar font to the original Pinterest logo that I found. Go to Object > Expand to turn the text into a shape (2) and now, let's make a few adjustments.
With the help of the Direct Selection Tool (A), we will distort this letter by moving some of the points to obtain the pointed bottom, to make it more rounded at the top, to make it less rounded on the right side (3), and in the end, you will get a shape much more similar to the original logo (4). It doesn't have to be identical, though.
Step 2
Move the logo to the center of the icon shape (1). Merge the logo and the icon shape into a new compound path if you want, or keep them separate (2). At this point, the Pinterest icon is done.
9. How to Save the Vector Social Media Icons
Step 1
Now you have all the social media icons arranged on your artboard, and you can save them individually.
Step 2
Let's take the Facebook icon as an example. Use the Rectangle Tool (M) to draw a 98 x 98 px square, which is the size of the icon shape from the beginning of the tutorial. You don't have to worry about the stroke width because everything fits perfectly inside the square. While the icon and the square stay selected, press Horizontal Align Center and Vertical Align Center to make sure they are centered.
Select only the square and go to Object > Artboards > Convert to Artboards to define a new area. Now, you can save the icon by going to File > Export > Save for Web. Choose the file type that you need, PNG with a transparent background or a JPEG, and hit Save. Do the same for the rest of the icons to save them individually.
10. How to Create Vector Notification Icons
Step 1
We can't forget the notification icons. Use the Rectangle Tool (M) to draw an 80 x 50 px rectangle and color it with light red (1). In the Transform panel, enter 10 px in all four Corner Radius fields to get the rounded corners (2).
Draw a small triangle shape right at the bottom (3) and then, while both shapes stay selected, press Unite in the Pathfinder panel to merge them into a single shape (4).
Step 2
Let's create the symbol for the new follower. Start with an 11 x 11 px circle filled with white, and then draw a small 15.5 x 6 px rectangle under it. Round only the top corners by 4 px using the Transform panel, and the symbol is ready (1).
Take the Type Tool (T) and write “1” or the number of your choice using the Sniglet Font, with a size of 27 pt. Give it a white fill and also a 0.75 pt Stroke to make it thicker (2).
Step 3
Let's create the symbol for likes on your posts. Start with a 14 x 14 px circle filled with white (1). Use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to select only the bottom point and move it downwards a little to obtain a petal-like shape (2); then rotate this shape 20 degrees in the Transform panel (3). Go to Object > Transform > Reflect, check Vertical and hit Copy to obtain the second shape, and align them by making their bottom points overlap (4).
While both shapes stay selected, press Unite in the Pathfinder panel to merge them into the shape of a heart (5).
Finally, type a number next to the symbol using the same font and settings (6).
Step 4
Move the notification icons in the upper right side of the social media icons. You can keep the numbers as editable text so you can change them at any time, or you can expand them.
Congratulations! You're Done
The vector social media icons are ready. Now you have the knowledge to create other icons in the same style.
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