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 up the dimensions, and then select Pixels as Units and RGB as Color Mode. Make sure that Align New Objects to Pixel Grid is not checked.
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 the Basic Oreo Icon
Step 1
Grab the Rounded Rectangle Tool and draw the first shape with the dimensions shown. Use dark brown as the fill color (1).
While the shape of the icon stays selected, go to Effect > 3D > Extrude & Bevel and apply the settings indicated (2).
Step 2
With the icon shape still selected, go to the Appearance panel and add a New Fill under the first one. Use white as the fill color. Next, go to Effect > 3D > Extrude & Bevel again and apply the settings indicated.
Press the More Options button to see the entire window. Move the existing light very slightly downwards and change the settings as shown on the right side. Press the New Light icon to add another one, and move it to the middle left side. Use the same settings, but increase the Light Intensity to 100%. Hit OK and you’ll get the cream filling, but you won’t be able to see it yet.
Go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform, type 95% in the Scale Horizontal field, and then type 20 px in the Move Vertical field. Hit OK and this will bring the cream filling downwards.
Step 3
While the icon shape stays selected, go to the Appearance panel and add a New Fill at the bottom. Use dark brown as the fill color. Apply the 3D effect using the settings shown, and then apply the Transform effect. As a result, you will get the second biscuit at the bottom.
3. How to Create the Top Oreo Design
Step 1
Use the Polygon Tool to draw a triangle with the dimensions shown. Then select only the top anchor point with the Direct Selection Tool (A) and move it 8 px downwards by pressing the Down Arrow key eight times. The new triangle is the blue one (1).
Now, go to Effect > Stylize > Round Corners and apply a Radius of 5 px (2); then select Expand Appearance from the Object menu (3).
Step 2
While the rounded triangle stays selected, go to Object > Transform > Move and type -18 px in the Position Vertical field. Hit Copy and you will get another triangle above. Do not release this second triangle, and choose Flip Vertical from the fly-out menu of the Appearance panel (1).
Copy and Paste in Front (Control-F) these two triangles and Rotate them 90 degrees using the Transform panel. As a result, you will get a new pair of triangles (2).
Fill the top and bottom shapes with the same color (blue), fill the left and right shapes with a different color (pink), and finally, draw a 4 x 4 px circle in the center filled with a third different color (red) (3). The colors will be important later in the tutorial.
Step 3
Draw four 5 x 5 px circles filled with the same red color, and then turn them into semi-circles by deleting the right and left anchor points respectively. Arrange them as shown in the image below and use the Align panel to make sure they are symmetrical.
Use the Rectangle Tool (M) to draw a square using the semi-circles as guides, and then Group (Control-G) all the shapes. This will be the main part of the pattern brush (1).
Make a copy of the group and delete the two semi-circles from the left side. This will be the Start Tile of the pattern brush (2).
Make another copy of the group and delete the two right semi-circles. This will be the End Tile of the pattern brush (3).
Drag the Start Tile and the End Tile into the Swatches panel to save them, and make sure to remember which one is which.
Step 4
Drag the main part of the brush into the Brushes panel and choose New Pattern Brush. This tile will be the first one in the Options window. For the Start Tile and the End Tile, select the correct one from the list; then type a name for your brush and hit OK.
Step 5
Draw a small rounded rectangle on your artboard filled with green, and then drag it into the Brushes panel to save it as a New Pattern Brush. You can name it Oreo Edge Pattern Brush.
Step 6
Make a copy of the icon shape and remove all the existing appearances and effects. It should only have the brown fill color. Copy and Paste in Front (Control-F) this shape, remove the fill color, and stroke it with the Oreo Edge Pattern Brush.
Open the Stroke Options window and change the Scale and Spacing settings (1). Next, go to Effect > Path > Offset Path and apply an Offset of -2 px to bring the green edge slightly inwards (2).
Step 7
Make another copy in front of the brown rectangle; then go to Object > Path > Offset Path and apply an Offset of -13 px. You will get a smaller shape. Remove the fill color and give it a 4 pt orange Stroke. Press the Round Cap icon in the Stroke panel and check the Dashed Line option. Enter the dash and gap values indicated.
Step 8
Use the Pen Tool (P) or the Line Segment Tool (\) to draw a straight path at the top and bottom, and stroke them with the Oreo Squares Pattern Brush saved earlier. Adjust the length of the path so you have only four squares on each.
Next, draw two straight paths on the sides and apply the Oreo Squares Pattern Brush again. You should have only three squares per path this time.
Step 9
Draw an ellipse in the center (1) followed by the three paths above (2) and give them a 4 pt yellow Stroke. Also select the Round Cap option.
Now, grab the Type Tool (T) and write “YUMM” using the font Anja Eliane, size of 22 pt, followed by two small yellow triangles above and below the text (3).
Finish the Oreo design with more yellow triangles or other similar decorations around the ellipse (4).
Step 10
Select the four paths stroked with the Oreo Squares Pattern Brush and choose Expand Appearance from the Object menu to turn them from strokes into fills (1). Now, select one of the red circles using the Direct Selection Tool (A) and arrange four copies of it in the empty spots indicated by the arrows (2). Make more copies of the red circle and arrange one in between the orange dashed line (3).
Finally, select the green edge and choose Expand Appearance again to expand the Offset effect applied.
Step 11
At this point, the Oreo design is ready, and you can delete the brown rectangle. Drag everything into the Symbols panel, type a name, and hit OK.
Step 12
Let’s return to the Oreo icon and, while it stays selected, open the 3D effect applied to the top brown Fill attribute. In the Options window, press the Map Art button. On Surface 1 of the object, select and apply the Oreo design symbol saved. Hit OK and you should see the design on the top biscuit.
Step 13
Select the Oreo icon and choose Expand Appearance to expand all the appearances and 3D effects. Ungroup (Shift-Control-G) once and you should see three separate groups in the Layers panel. You can select and rename them to see which one is which. We have the “base biscuit” (1) and “cream filling” (2). Now, open the third group and find only the colorful Oreo design in there and drag it out at the top of the layer. Name what’s left of this group “top biscuit”.
Select the “Oreo design” group and go to Object > Clipping Mask > Release (Alt-Control-7) to remove the existing mask (3).
Step 14
Grab the Direct Selection Tool (A) and select only the green rounded rectangles in front of the icon and Group (Control-G) them. While the group stays selected, go to Effect > Warp > Shell Lower and apply a 5% Horizontal Bend. Hit OK and then go to Object > Expand Appearance. This will make the green border bigger in the front.
4. How to Recolor the Top Oreo Design
Step 1
Use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to select only one of the green rounded rectangles and go to Select > Same > Fill Color. As a result, Illustrator will select all the green shapes for you (1). Group (Control-G) them and fill them with the linear gradient shown at a 90 degrees Angle (2).
Step 2
Use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to select the orange dashed line which is a compound path (1), and fill it with the shade of brown indicated (2).
Step 3
Use the Direct Selection Tool (A) again to select only one of the red circles and go to Select > Same > Fill Color. Now that you have all the red circles selected, press Unite in the Pathfinder panel (1) and then Group (Control-G) them to keep things organized in the Layers panel (1). Fill all the circles with the radial gradient shown (2).
Step 4
Use the same technique to select all the yellow shapes in the center, and then Group (Control-G) (1). Fill the shapes with the radial gradient shown (2).
Step 5
Use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to select only one of the pink triangles, and go to Select > Same > Fill Color (1). Once you have all of them selected, Group (Control-G) and fill them with the linear gradient shown (2).
Repeat the same technique for the blue triangles (3).
Step 6
Select the entire “Oreo design” group, go to Effect > Stylize > Drop Shadow, and apply the settings shown.
Step 7
Let’s create a mask shape for the shadow that goes over the edges of the Oreo icon.
Open the “top biscuit” group in the Layers panel and find the rounded rectangle that is the top face of the icon and then Copy and Paste in Place (Shift-Control-V) to make a copy of it in front of everything (1).
Now, select the “Oreo design” group from the Layers panel and then Copy and Paste in Place (Shift-Control-V) to make a copy and delete the Drop Shadow effect applied earlier. Go to Object > Compound Path > Make (Control-8) to turn all the shapes into a single compound path (2).
Select the gray shape along with the red compound path and press Unite in the Pathfinder panel to obtain the mask shape (3).
Step 8
Select the “Oreo design” group along with the shape from the previous step, which should be in front, and set to stroke-none, fill-none. Then go to Object > Clipping Mask > Make (Control-7). Now the edges around the icon are clean and sharp.
5. How to Add Texture and Details on the Base Oreo Biscuit
Step 1
Use the Pen Tool (P) to draw a bunch of short vertical lines on the front border of the base biscuit and stroke all of them with the Tapered Blend Art Brush, weight of 1 pt. I’ve shown how to create this useful blend brush in the How to Create a Candy Monster Character tutorial (section 10). Group (Control-G) all the lines after you are done.
Step 2
Use the Pen Tool (P) to draw a path following the bottom edge of the base biscuit. Give it a 2 pt black Stroke and use Width Profile 1 in the Stroke panel. Next, go to Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur and apply a Radius of 2 px.
Step 3
Go to the Layers panel, find and select only the front border of the base biscuit (1), and then Copy and Paste in Place (Shift-Control-V) to make a copy of it. Press Unite in the Pathfinder panel to merge the shapes into one (2). Set the resulting shape to stroke-none and fill-none, and we’ll use it to mask the group of lines and the shading path from the previous step (3).
Step 4
Use the Pen Tool (P) to draw a few random paths on the front border of the base biscuit and stroke them with the Chalk Art Brush from the Brush Libraries Menu > Artistic > Artistic_ChalkCharcoalPencil, weight of 1 pt. Set all of them to Blending Mode Overlay (1).
Make a copy of the mask shape from the previous step and use it again to mask these paths (2). As a result, you will get some texture on the base biscuit (3).
Step 5
Go to the Layers panel, find and select the top shape of the base biscuit, and then Copy and Paste in Place (Shift-Control-V) to make a copy of it. Go to Effect > Texture and apply the Grain effect; then set it to Blending Mode Soft Light and 10% Opacity (1).
Copy and Paste in Front (Control-F) the same shape and remove all existing appearances. While this new copy stays selected, also select the shape with the Grain effect applied to it and go to Object > Clipping Mask > Make (Control-7) (2). Move the resulting group right above the “base biscuit” in the Layers panel.
6. How to Add Texture and Details on the Top Oreo Biscuit
Step 1
Use the Pen Tool (P) or the Line Segment Tool (\) to draw a bunch of straight paths above the “top biscuit” and stroke them with the Chalk Art Brush. Use the shade of brown indicated as the stroke color (1).
Group (Control-G) all these paths and set the entire group to Blending Mode Multiply and 20% Opacity (2).
Step 2
Copy and Paste in Front (Control-F) the group of paths, keeping the same appearances but setting the group to Blending Mode Screen and 20% Opacity this time.
Step 3
Go to the Layers panel, select the “top biscuit” group, and then Copy and Paste in Place (Shift-Control-V). Press Unite in the Pathfinder panel to merge all the shapes into one (1).
Select the “Oreo design” group and then Copy and Paste in Place (Shift-Control-V) to make a copy of it in front of everything. Remove the Drop Shadow effect and go to Object > Compound Path > Make (Control-8) (2).
Now, select the newly obtained blue and orange shapes and press Unite in the Pathfinder panel to obtain the shape that we need (3).
Step 4
Fill the shape obtained in the previous step with brown, and apply the Grain effect using the same settings as for the “base biscuit“. Set the Blending Mode to Soft Light and the Opacity to 10% (1).
Make a copy of the same shape in front of everything, and set it to stroke-none and fill-none. While this copy stays selected, also select the two groups of lines and the shape with the Grain effect applied to it, and go to Object > Clipping Mask > Make (Control-7). As a result, you will get clean edges all around the “top biscuit” (3).
Step 5
Use the Pen Tool (P) to draw a path following the front edge of the “top biscuit” but slightly above it (1), followed by another path right on the edge of the “top biscuit” (2). Give them a 2 pt black Stroke and use the Width Profile 1 in the Stroke panel; then apply a 2 px Gaussian Blur. As a result, you’ll create some shadow between the “top biscuit” and “cream filling” (3).
7. How to Add Details to the Oreo Cream Filling
Step 1
Let’s start with the shadow under the “cream filling” group. Draw a path following the bottom edge of the filling and send it behind it. Give it a 2 pt black Stroke and use Width Profile 1. Apply a 1 px Gaussian Blur.
Step 2
Draw a few random black shapes of different sizes and then drag them into the Brushes panel to save them as a New Scatter Brush. You can name it Crumbs Scatter Brush (1).
Grab the Pencil Tool (N) and draw a random circular path over the “cream filling” and stroke it with the newly saved brush. Open the Stroke Options window and change the settings as shown or until you get the desired look (2).
When you are happy with the look of your crumbs, select Expand Appearance from the Object menu and then set the resulting group to Blending Mode Overlay (3).
Step 3
Go to the Layers panel, select the “cream filling” group, and make a copy of it in front. Press Unite in the Pathfinder panel to merge it into a single shape. If necessary, also go to Object > Compound Path > Make (Control-8).
Step 4
Now, select the group of crumbs along with the shape obtained in the previous step, which must be in front and set to stroke-none, fill-none, and go to Object > Clipping Mask > Make (Control-7).
8. How to Create the Shadow Under the Oreo Icon
Select the “base biscuit” group from the Layers panel and then Copy and Paste in Place (Shift-Control-V). Move the copy to a New Layer under the Oreo icon (1). Press Unite in the Pathfinder panel or go to Object > Compound Path > Make (Control-8) to obtain a single shape (2). Select dark brown as the fill color and apply the Drop Shadow effect twice to obtain the shadow (3).
