In this tutorial, you will learn how to draw a simple cute compass icon in Adobe Photoshop using tools such as Pen
(Pen Tool), Rounded Rectangle 
(Rounded Rectangle Tool) and Rectangle
(Rectangle Tool). You will also learn how to connect basic shapes to get more complex shapes from them. And finally, you will see how to add a long shadow to your icon. Let’s get started.
Download the archive with materials for the lesson
1. Preparation of the canvas
Step 1
Create a new document in Photoshop. To do this, go to File> Create (File> New), or just press the key combination Ctrl + N. Set the document size to 500 * 500 pixels.
Step 2
Click on the icon Add adjustment layer (Add Adjustment Layer) at the bottom of the palette Layers (Layers). Select an option Colour (Solid Color).
Step 3
Choose a light red color (# db687b).
Step 4
Double-click the created adjustment layer. In the dialog box that appears Layer Style (Layer Style) activate the property Pattern overlay (Pattern Overlay). Use the pattern shown in the source materials. Install blending mode (Blend mode) Multiplication (Multiply), opacity (Opacity) reduce to 20%.
Step 5
Change layer name to The background (background). I propose to rename each layer to make it easier to determine their purpose.
2. Draw the base of our icon
Step 1
First of all, we need to create a foundation for our future icon.
Set as primary color (foreground color) # 3ab2cb. Activate the tool Rounded Rectangle (Rounded Rectangle Tool), and set the rounding radius for it to 30 pixels.
Holding down the Shift key, click the canvas on the canvas and drag the cursor so that the shape is obtained, as in the screenshot below (holding Shift will help draw the square, not the rectangle).
Step 2
Next, double click on the shape and activate the property Gradient overlay (Gradient Overlay). Select a gradient from black to white. Decrease opacity (Opacity) up to 30% and change the blending mode to Overlap (Overlay).
Step 3
Create a new layer and place it above the layer with the base of our icon. With the Ctrl key pressed, left-click on the layer with the bottom of the icon. This will allow you to create a shape selection that matches the shape of this base. Next, you need to right-click and select the option Stroke (Stroke). In the dialog box that appears, set the color: dark blue (# 1d6b80), and also set the stroke width to 2 pixels.
Step 4
Add a layer mask to the stroke layer and fill it with black. Paint the bottom of the mask with white so that the stroke is visible.
Step 5
Repeat the procedure done in Step 3. Ie add a new layer, put it above the base of our icon. With the Ctrl key pressed, left-click on the layer with the bottom of the icon. This will allow you to create a shape selection that matches the shape of this base. Next, you need to right-click and select the option Stroke (Stroke). The difference in this step is that here we take a lighter shade of blue (# 88d8ea), and the stroke thickness will be 1 pixel.
Step 6
Next, add a layer mask and fill it with black to hide our stroke. Now we need to paint the upper part in white so that the upper part of the stroke is visible (translator’s note: using a white brush, we unmask the part of the stroke that we want to make visible). The combination of a light stroke at the top and a dark one at the bottom will add a three-dimensional effect to the base of our future icon.
3. Draw the figure of the compass itself
Step 1
Draw a circle with the tool Ellipse
(Ellipse Tool), then draw a smaller circle and be sure to mode Subtract the figure area (Subtract Front Shape). The result should be a figure in the form of a ring (as in the screenshot below). As for the color of this ring, set it to white (# e4ffff).
Step 2
Now we need to add a triangle at the top of our ring. To attach it to our ring, you must activate the mode Add to the shape area (Combine Shapes).
Step 3
Add another such triangle to the bottom of the ring.
Step 4
Duplicate the two created triangles, then rotate them 90 degrees (as shown in the screenshots below).
Now we have triangles pointing in four directions.
Step 5
Repeat the process of creating triangles. Only this time the triangles should be smaller. Rotate them 45 degrees.
Step 6
Double click on the layer with our compass, we will open the dialog box Layer Style (Layer Style). In it we activate the following properties: Gradient overlay (Gradient Overlay) and Shadow (Drop Shadow). The parameters of these properties are shown in the screenshots below.
Gradient overlay. Blend Mode – Multiplication.
Shadow. Blend Mode – Multiplication.
Step 7
Add a smaller ring on top of the previously created shape. Set the color for it (#eaeded).
Step 8
Add a triangle shape as shown in the screenshot below.
Continue adding the same triangles as shown in the bottom image. This figure will allow you to create the illusion that the figure of our compass is voluminous, not flat.
Step 9
Double click on the layer with the shape created in the previous step, activate the dialog box Layer Style (Layer Style) and select the property Gradient overlay (Gradient Overlay). Blend Mode – Multiplication.
For the gradient choose style Linear (Linear) with color transition from gray (# d7d7d7) to white (#ffffff).
Step 10
Add a new layer and make sure it is located above all the other layers. With the Ctrl key pressed, click on the shape created in the previous step. As a result, we get a new selection based on this shape. Next, click the right mouse button and select the option Stroke (Stroke). Set the thickness to 1 pixel. location: inside (Location: Inside), color (#eeefef).
This will give us a thin stroke line around the perimeter of our shape.
Step 11
Add a mask to the layer of this shape and fill it with black. Next, working on the mask, paint over white several areas of the stroke to make them visible.
Step 12
Let’s make our compass figure more realistic by adding a shadow under it. Add a new layer and place it under the figure of our compass. Pressing the Ctrl key, click on the compass shape layer to create a new selection. Next, go to Editing – Fill (Edit> Fill). Select content (Content) the black (Black) and click OK, so that the selected area is filled with black color.
Step 13
Remove selection by pressing the key combination Ctrl + D. Next, go to Filter – Blur – Motion Blur (Filter> Blur> Motion Blur). Set the blur angle to -45 degrees.
Step 14
To soften our shadow, use a filter. Gaussian blur (Gaussian Blur). We go to Filter – Blur – Gaussian Blur (Filter> Blur> Gaussian Blur). The blur value is 2 pixels.
Step 15
At the moment, this is not the shadow that we want. To fix this, add a mask to the layer and then just paint over the unwanted parts of the shadow on the upper left side. We only need a shadow on the right side of our figure. For clarity, look at the image below. Just make sure you lower the opacity to make our shadow softer.
Step 16
Now let’s add an arrow to the center of our compass. Start by adding a rectangle, then apply a transformation to it (Control-T). First, rotate it 45 degrees, then squeeze it so that it looks like the shape of a compass needle. And finally, turn it again.
Step 17
Double click on the layer with the arrow and apply the following properties: Internal glow (Inner Glow), Gradient overlay (Gradient Overlay) and Shadow (Drop Shadow) with the parameters shown in the screenshots below.
Internal luminescence: Blend Mode – Normal.
Gradient overlay: Overlay mode – Multiplication.
Shadow: Blend Mode – Multiplication.
Step 18
We want half the arrow to be white and half red. To achieve this, we just need to duplicate the layer with the arrow (Ctrl + J), and then delete the styles of this layer. Set this layer as Clipping mask (Clipping Mask). Take the tool Pen (Pen Tool), click on the lower point of our arrow (copy) and delete this point.
Step 19
Add a small circle to the center of the arrow. Double click on the layer with the circle and then apply to it Internal glow (Inner Glow), Gradient overlay (Gradient Overlay) and Shadow (Drop Shadow) with the parameters shown in the screenshots below.
Internal luminescence: Blend Mode – Normal.
Gradient overlay: Blend Mode – Normal.
Shadow: Blend Mode – ?Multiplication.
4. Add a shadow
Step 1
Create a new layer and place it between the layers with the compass and its arrow. Draw a polygonal selection, as shown below, using the tool Pen (Pen Tool), and then fill this selection with black. Decrease Opacity (Opacity) layer up to 20%. Next, with the Ctrl key pressed, click on the layer with the base of our icon and add a mask. Now, the shadow will be visible within the bottom of the icon.
Step 2
To make our compass illusion more believable, we need to add more shadows. Create a new layer between the compass and the arrow. Paint over black the places where the arrow touches the compass shape (from the bottom).
Step 3
Add another layer and then another light shadow behind the arrow. To do this, take the tool Brush
(Brush Tool), install Rigidity (Hardness) at 0% and Opacity (Opacity) reduce to 5%. Draw a shadow behind the arrow.
Step 4
Add a new layer. This time we will add highlights of our icon. Draw the corners of the icon in white. Lower the opacity level of this layer (select experimentally).
Repeat this step, drawing light highlights on various parts of our icon, until it stops looking too flat.
Step 5
Now, let’s add a shadow to the bottom of the icon. Create a new layer and place it under the layer with the base of the icon. Click on the layer with the base, do not forget to hold down the Ctrl key. Fill the selection with black.
Step 6
Press Ctrl-D to deselect. Soften the shadow with a filter Gaussian blur (Gaussian Blur).
Step 7
You can duplicate the shadow layer (Ctrl-J) if you are not satisfied with the result and want the shadow to be more saturated. If, on the contrary, the shadow appears to be too dark, then the opacity of the layer can be reduced.
And finally, the final result!
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and you were able to understand the technique of creating flat icons with a long shadow.
