Inkscape for Beginners - Flat Style Map Marker/Location Logo Tutorial Video

so in today's tutorial I'm going to show
you how you can use Inkscape to create a
flat style map marker sort of logo like
you see here as you can see here this is
kind of like a map marker and it's
indicating a place and I'm gonna show
you how to create this using Inkscape so
let's get started let's go ahead and
open up a new document and this should
be your view when you get started let's
go ahead and click on the align and
distribute menu to open that up and then
let's make sure you have last selected
chosen from that menu and then from
there we're going to go over to the Edit
objects colors gradients and Stroke
we're gonna click that and open up that
menu and then we're gonna go to view and
make sure you have custom selected and
then we're gonna go to zoom we're gonna
zoom in one to one then we'll go to file
document properties and let's uncheck
these two boxes and close that out so
the first thing we'll want to do is
create a polygon so you've come over
here to the stars and polygons button
click on that and from this menu bar up
top here click on the polygon button and
corners we want six corners so go ahead
and click on six and then the other two
input values are supposed to be zero so
once you have that set bring your cursor
over to the canvas over here hold ctrl
and shift and just click and drag to
create your polygon mind-set it white I
got to color that in okay so you should
your should be something like this I'm
actually gonna delete that here we go
you want to set it up something like
this right here you want these corners
being perfectly straight up and down
like that okay and once you've done that
let's click on the arrow and let's
right-click this and go to duplicate and
we'll turn that blue and then holding
ctrl and shift click on the bottom
corner here
and just click and drag this in make it
a little bit smaller like that and then
we'll right click this will go to
duplicate will turn that green and then
we're going to come up here to where it
says snap to custom nodes we're gonna
turn that on and we're gonna take this
and we're gonna drag this up here so you
want this bottom left corner to snap
onto this top left corner like
and then we're gonna right-click this
green one and make another copy of it
I'm gonna duplicate and we're gonna
bring this one down here so it snaps
under that corner and now you can come
up here to the snap to custom modes you
could turn that off and then you hold
shift and click on the other green
polygon so you have them both selected
and go to path Union and then pressing
your shift key click on the blue the
blue polygons in the middle and then
let's go to path intersection okay and
after that let's click on the red
polygon let's right-click on that let's
go to duplicate and let's turn that
black and let's lower that to the bottom
by clicking this button right here lower
selection to the bottom and then hold
ctrl and shift and click on one of these
arrows just to bring it out to about
there make it about that big it's just
gonna be a border so that should work
alright and once that's done just click
and drag over this whole thing and let's
just bring it over to the right we're
gonna we're just gonna leave that alone
for a minute we're gonna create our next
thing so let's go over to the circle
click on that hold ctrl and click and
drag on the screen to create a perfect
circle like that and then come back to
our arrow over here let's click on that
and up here let's click on this lock
icon and come over to the width where it
says W let's erase whatever numbers are
in there and write it in 150 just like
that okay now we're gonna go and create
a square so click on the create
rectangles and squares and hold ctrl and
create a perfect square just like that
now let's go back to the arrow and let's
make the the width of this one 50 as
well just type in 150 and hit enter and
they should do that and let's turn that
let's turn that red and let's hold shift
and click on the circle so you have them
both selected and let's Center it up on
the vertical axis and the horizontal
axis now we're gonna click off the
screen to deselect them let's next click
on the square and come up here to where
it says lower selection in one step
we're just gonna lower it beneath that
circle
just like that and we're gonna click and
drag over the whole thing and click on
it a second time to bring up the
rotation handles and while holding your
ctrl key click and drag so it rotates
like this you want these corners going
perfectly up and down like that all
right now let's let's deselect
everything and click that button and
then let's click on this circle and then
right-click it and go to duplicate and
then while holding shift click on that
that a blue that red square in the
background and go to path difference and
then go to path break apart and let's
deselect everything and let's go and
delete these three corners right here
let's click on the first one press the
Delete key on your keyboard delete that
or you can just right-click on the you
just right click on it and go to delete
that works as well and the next thing
we'll do is let's click on this circle
let's right-click on that let's go to
duplicate and let's hold ctrl and shift
and click and drag one of these corners
to bring it in
we'll make it about that big and then
afterwards click on this little red
corner down here then hold shift and
click on the the larger black circle and
we're gonna go to path Union ok so after
that let's right-click on this this new
red shape here that's gonna be our map
marker let's duplicate that let's turn
that black and let's lower that two
steps so we're you go up to where it
says lower selection one step you click
that twice and you come over to the
stroke paint tab and let's click the
blue button to turn that on and stroke
style we're gonna give that a 15 point
strokes and just type in one 5 and hit
enter do a 20 point stroke actually to 0
and hit enter
maybe we wanted a little thicker than
that since white with a 20 so once it's
set to 20 just go to path stroke to path
and then path break apart path Union
just like that ok now let's click and
drag over this whole thing and let's
group it together by clicking the group
selected objects button and let's bring
it over here
bring it on top of our little polygon
box that we created bring it on top of
it like that and then hold shift and
click on any one of these either the red
or the black polygon either ones just
click on one of those and go to Center
on vertical axis just like that and
let's click off the page to deselect
everything and then click on just our
map marker let's hold the ctrl key and
click on this top arrow and just drag it
out we want to make this a little bigger
we want the map marker to be the focal
point of this of this logo so say about
that big works all right now let's click
and drag over the whole thing let's
shrink this down a little bit let's hold
ctrl and shift and then just click and
drag on one of the corners make this a
little smaller
okay now let's ungroup everything click
that button once the ungroup selected
objects click that once and then let's
come over to this little circle in the
middle let's click on that come over to
the opacity slide that all the way to
the right and let's turn that white and
then we'll come to the map marker we'll
slide that all the way to the right it's
already red but we could choose a nicer
shade of red than that I think we can go
with something like that whatever you
want to do you know choose whatever
shade you'd like I personally like this
shade right here and then let's click on
the black border behind it let's click
on that and let's bring the opacity all
the way up and let's turn that white now
let's click on this little blue object
in the center here we'll bring the
opacity all the way up for that and
we'll turn that white and then click on
this this red polygon in the background
click on that bring the opacity all the
way up to the right and let's turn that
let's pick like a nice shade of blue for
that something like yeah that works
we'll do that and then final was finally
let's click on this black polygon in the
background
let's bring the opacity all the way up
and let's turn that white so I'm going
to turn that white let's click and drag
over the whole thing let's
it together with the group selected
objects button and then let's
right-click it and go to duplicate and
let's ungroup it and go to path Union so
you should end up with it'll turn white
what you're gonna want to do is turn
that black and then let's lower it one
selection you click that button once and
then come over to the stroke paint tab
let's click the blue button to turn that
on let's give that a let's try a ten
point stroke we'll see what ten looks
like maybe we'll go with 15 ok yeah
we'll do 15 and once you've done that
let's go to path stroke to path path
break apart path Union and press the f7
key to bring up your dropper tool you
press f7 it's gonna bring up this color
dropper and let's click on this blue
part right here we're gonna make that
the same color blue that the that uh
polygon in the middle is so after you've
done that go back to our arrow and we
could actually go over to the fill tab
over here and make this a lighter shade
of blue just to add a little bit of
contrast between that and the polygons
in the middle maybe something like that
yeah I think that works alright so once
once that's done let's click and drag
over the whole thing let's group it
together and let's draw a circle so come
over to the circle tool hold ctrl and
click and drag create a nice big circle
like that you come over to the stroke
tab and turn that off just click the X
button and we're gonna make that I'm
gonna make that a shade of orange I
think maybe yellow orange see how that
looks okay we'll start out with like
that shade of yellow and go over to the
fill tab and you could play around the
colors making any color you want I'm
gonna go with that something like that
deeper orange so once you've created
your circle come back over to the arrow
and let's lower it down one selection
and then let's hold shift and click on
our little logo in the center there and
let's Center that up Center on the
vertical axis and on the horizontal axis
and let's deselect everything
and now you could play around with the
the size of this circle right here I
think this is a little too big there's
too much padding in here for my liking
so I'm gonna hold ctrl and shift and
click and drag to make this a little
smaller it's something like that maybe
alright yeah that works now what we're
gonna do is we're gonna give this a
little uh like a drop shadow effect that
you see in like a lot of flat style
icons and stuff I'm going to show you
how to do that right now bring your
cursor up to the top of the screen over
here you see where this little ruler is
once you bring your cursor over that
ruler you're gonna see a little black
arrow sliding around alongside it bring
your cursor all the way to the top right
side of that arrow and click and drag
and it's gonna bring out this line kind
of like this and place that line right
on the top edge of the blue border right
there and let's go back up there and
grab another one so go ahead and the top
right border let's click and drag that
out and let's connect that right to the
right to this back corner right here
we're gonna put that right in the corner
and then we're gonna go to our bezzie a
pen or two click on that and we're gonna
start down here or it's gonna snap to
this blue it's gonna snap to this blue
line automatically you're gonna click on
that and just bring it all the way up
here and snap it onto that point up at
the top and then bring it down to the
point at the bottom and click on that
and then bring it back down here click
and then bring it over here to connect
it together now let's turn that let's
turn that black and let's turn the
stroke off of that you click on the
stroke paint tab and click X and then
come back to the arrows click on that
and let's lower this one selection and
then we're gonna click on the circle
we're going to right click that and go
to duplicate and then hold shift and
click on that black shape we just drew
so you have them both selected and go to
path intersection now we can go over
here to a path city we're gonna slide
this down a fair amount about that much
I'd say and after that hover your cursor
we're gonna get rid of these
now in order to do that you're gonna
hover your cursor over the line and once
you'll know it's it's you'll know it's
directly over it once the line turns red
so once the line turns red leave your
mouse there and press the Delete key and
that's gonna get rid of that
oops accidentally got rid of the drop
shadow okay so make sure before you do
that deselect everything so once you
have everything D selected bring your
mouse over the line until it turns red
and then press Delete and we do the same
thing over here see now it's red I lost
it there we go now it's red this could
be a little tricky sometimes it's very
it's very it's like a fine point you got
it you got to land it on so all right so
that's gone now what we can do now is we
can draw a box over this we're gonna use
that as the background something like
that some kind of rectangle let's click
the arrow and let's lower that to the
bottom and then let's bring the opacity
all the way up and let's press f7 to
bring up your dropper and we're gonna
make that the same shade of orange that
this circle is and click on that but
we're gonna come over to the fill and
we're gonna make this a little lighter
actually we're dulling this up a little
bit maybe something might even bring it
off that shade yeah I'll do something
like that all right so after you've done
that you could press the f1 key to get
back to your arrow that's another
shortcut to get to the arrow if you
don't wanted to keep clicking on things
over here you could learn these little
shortcuts so f1 f-7s how you bring up
the drop or f1 so you bring up the arrow
and you'll learn these things as time
goes on so once you have your arrow
let's click on the orange circle let's
right-click on that go to duplicate we
could turn that white and let's lower
that once twice three times and then
hold ctrl and shift and just click and
drag it out like that and just to give
it like a nice white border and then we
could take this rectangle and Center it
up on there something like that and then
we're finished that's how you can create
a like a flat style map marker a
location sort of logo using Inkscape so
if you have any questions just let me
know and thank you for watching