Having a company mascot is a great way to make your business memorable, relatable and cheerful. Though mascots can look a little childish, they can help ‘humanize’ mundane companies and give businesses more personal appeal towards their target audience. Learn how to make one in this Adobe Illustrator mascot tutorial.
Adobe Illustrator Mascot Tutorial
Who would forget Ronald McDonald or Felix the cat from Purina? Heck, back in the day I even had a floppy disk with a Felix the cat animation on it. He would pop up on my screen and chase my mouse all day – and I loved it.
That’s why today I will show all the do-it-yourselvers among us a few basic Illustrator skills which will help you create your own mascot!
Meet Edgar the green owl, Junior the blue owl – yes he’s big – and Greg the bear. Today we will recreate Greg, but no worries, you can apply the exact same skills I’m about to teach you to create Edgar and Junior.
Adobe Illustrator Mascot Tutorial: Let’s get to it!
Step 1. Let’s start by creating Greg’s body. Select and hold the Rectangle Tool, then hover down to select the Ellipse Tool. Create a nice big circle in the center of your Artboard. Greg’s got a nice brown fur coat, so I’m also adding a warm brown color to the Fill.
Tip: Hold SHIFT to create a perfect circle with your Ellipse Tool.
Step 2. Greg is going to need a pair of ears though…Let’s create two smaller circles and give them the same brown Fill.
Tip: Holding ALT while selecting your object will duplicate that shape. That way you can drag objects more easily and accurately than when you’d copy paste them.
Click on your Selection Tool (the black cursor on the top left). Press ALT first (notice the black and white cursors). Then select your object, hold and drag. That’s it!
Step 3. …and Greg’s gonna need arms and legs too! For that we will use the Pen Tool.
Before we start this step of the Adobe Illustrator mascot tutorial, there are a three main things you need to know about the Pen Tool:
#1 It might act like it’s possessed and wiggle all over the place.
#2 But always remember: the Pen Tool doesn’t lead you, you lead the Pen Tool, but you need to think ahead.
#3 And you can always edit your design afterwards with the Anchor Point Tool and the Direct Selection Tool.
Grab your Pen Tool, let’s have fun!
Select your Pen Tool and click once on your Artboard. That tiny blue square is your Anchor Point.
Tip: Always think ahead when you’re placing Anchor Points. Placing Anchor Points too close to each other can make it very difficult to create a nice smooth line. But placing Anchor Points too far from each other can make it tough to capture small details (although its possible to edit those afterwards).
Step 4. Now create another Anchor Point a little further away. This time click on the Artboard and hold. Then, gently move your cursor away from the Anchor Point.
Your line curves more as you move your cursor further away from the anchor point and a straight blue line appears with two more anchor points on each end (its handles). These handles act as a guide and help you position your next Anchor Point. You can also use the handles to adjust the curve of your line.
If you’re happy with the curving of your line, then create another Anchor point. And don’t forget to hold!
Tip: Stay on the Pen Tool when you’re creating shapes. If you switch between tools, you won’t be able to connect your Anchor Points anymore. You can fix this issue by clicking and holding your last Anchor Point, then release it and create another Anchor Point: they’ll magically connect once again!
Greg’s arm looks like a skinny eggplant! Complete his arm by working your way back to the first Anchor Point. I’ve highlighted the Anchor Points and handles so you can see how I created his arm.
Tip: If you can’t seem to get the right shape, simply undo (CTRL + Z) and create another Anchor Point. Then move your cursor while you hold or let go and select the Direct Selection tool (white cursor) to move the Anchor Points and handles.
Step 5. I’ve spotted a few blemishes on Greg’s arm, but we can fix that right up! Select your shape with the Direct Selection Tool. You can move your anchor points and handles with this tool. Notice how both handles move together. However if you want to move one handle at a time, go to your Pen Tool and move down to Convert Anchor Tool Point.
Tip: The Convert Anchor Tool is really handy if your design has sharp turns or angles. You can also access the Convert Anchor Tool by pressing ALT while you’re on the Direct Selection Tool.
Awesome! Pat yourself on the back and give yourself an atta boy or girl, cause this was the hardest part of the Adobe Illustrator mascot tutorial.
Step 6. I reduced the size of Greg’s arm, rotated it a little and stuck it to the side of his body. To create his other arm, duplicate the first arm, then right click on the copy and select Transform > Reflect. Check the Vertical box and press OK. Stick that arm to the other side of his body!
Tip: You can rotate selected objects by hovering over a corner till a double sided cursor appears. Then hold and turn!
Step 7. Now Greg has a pair of arms! Time to make his legs, and it’s dead simple: duplicate his arms, rotate them, and use the smaller ends for his legs. Position the legs to fit Greg’s body!
He’s aliiiiiive! Well, almost.
Step 8. Greg’s gonna need eyes as well! Again we’ll use the same shape we used for the arms and legs. Don’t believe me? Let’s have a look.
Duplicate Greg’s arms or legs and decrease the size. You might want to stretch and rotate them to resemble emoticon-like eyes. Position his eyes, and add a darker shade of brown to make them stand out from his body.
Isn’t he cute already?
Step 9. Next we’ll do Greg’s nose! There are a few ways you can do this, I normally use the Pathfinder or the Clipping Mask. I’ll show you how to use the Pathfinder Tool now and the Clipping Mask a little later on.
First, create a circle and two squares. Add a different Fill color to your squares, so the Pathfinder can easily distinguish them from the circle later. Then select both squares, right-click and go to Transform > Rotate. Enter 45 degrees and press OK.
Tip: To select multiple objects at once, simply hold SHIFT and click on each of them.
Step 10. Drag your squares to the center of the circle. Place a corner of each square exactly on the center of the circle.
Then drag the bottom of one of the squares to match up with the other one.
When you’re done go to Window > Pathfinder.
Step 11. Select all three objects and then click on Minus Front in the Pathfinder Tool. That’s Greg’s nose!
Step 12. Let’s not forget his mouth! Now that you know how to use the Pen Tool, use it to draw a nice curved line. Then go to Stroke and change it to 5pt. Duplicate and reflect like we dit before. Then resize if necessary and place his mouth under his nose.
Tip: you might need to reselect your line with the Selection Tool (black cursor) for the Stroke option to appear.
Greg really looks like a bear now!
Step 13. And just for the finishing touch: Create a circle that covers Greg’s belly. I’m giving him a light orange color. Next, select the circle that we used for his body. Duplicate it and place it exactly over the original, covering his eyes, nose and mouth. Then while the big circle is selected, hold SHIFT and select the orange circle as well. Right-click and choose the option Make Clipping Mask.
Then create two small circles with the same color for his ears.
And there you have Greg!
Now you are well-equipped to make your own mascot! See if you can recreate Edgar and Junior…or get started and make your very own. Thanks for taking this free Adobe Illustrator mascot tutorial.
