How to Create a Mouse Icon - Vandelay Design

Welcome back to another icon based tutorial, in which we’re going to take a quick look at the process of creating a little mouse icon, using nothing more than a couple of basic geometric shapes and tools.

So, assuming you already have the software up and running let’s jump straight into it!

Tutorial Details: Mouse Icon

Program: Adobe Illustrator
Difficulty: Beginner
Topics Covered: Compositional Construction, Shape Alignment, Grid Positioning
Estimated Completion Time: 20 Minutes

Final Image: Mouse Icon

Step 1

As we do with all our new projects, we’re going to start by setting up a New Document by heading over to File > New (or by using the Control-N keyboard shortcut), which we will then adjust as follows:

Number of Artboards: 1
Width: 64 px
Height: 64 px
Units: Pixels

And from the Advanced tab:

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

Creating the new document in Illustrator

Step 2

As soon as we’ve finished setting up our project file, we can start working on the actual icon, and we will do so by creating the colorful background using a 56 x 56 px circle, which we will color using #ffe05c and then center align to the underlying Artboard using the Align panel’s Horizontal and Vertical Align Center options.

Creating a circle that will be the background of the icon

Step 3

Add the mouse’s main body using a 24 x 40 px rounded rectangle with a 12 px Corner Radius, which we will color using white (#ffffff) and then horizontally center align to the larger background, positioning it at a distance of 5 px from its bottom anchor point.

Step 4

Give the shape an outline using the Stroke method, by first creating a copy (Control-C) of it, which we will paste in front (Control-F) and then adjust by flipping its Fill with its Stroke using the Shift-X keyboard shortcut and then changing its color to #36354c. Once you’re done, set the Stroke’s Weight to 2 px, making sure to select and group the two shapes together using the Control-G keyboard shortcut.

Step 5

Add the vertical separation line using a 16 px tall 2 px thick Stroke (#36354c) with a Round Cap, which we will position at a distance of 2 px from the mouse’s upper outline segment.

Adding the separation line for the top of the mouse

Step 6

Add the little scroll wheel using a 4 x 8 px rounded rectangle (#b1b1b5) with a 2 px Corner Radius and a 2 px thick outline (#36354c), which we will group (Control-G) and then position to the center of the vertical separation line.

Step 7

Create the little cable segment using a 12 px tall 2 px thick Stroke line (#36354c), which we will align to the mouse’s top anchor point as seen in the reference image. Since we’re pretty much done working on the actual mouse, you can select and group all of its composing shapes together afterwards using the Control-G keyboard shortcut.

Step 8

Finish off the icon and with it the project itself, by masking the mouse in order to constrain the cable to the background. To do this, simply create a copy (Control-C) of the underlying background, which we will paste in front (Control-F) and then with both it and the mouse selected simply right click > Make Clipping Mask. Once you’re done, don’t forget to select and group (Control-G) all of the icon’s composing shapes before finally hitting that save button.