INFOGRAPHIC SERIES - Message in a Bottle

Message in a bottle uses a combination of cool tricks and the Live Paint feature as well as a few nifty tips with the appearance panel. 

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Start the bottle with a rectangle. 

Select the top 2 points with the Direct Selection Tool and pul them in to round the top. 

Hover over the Corner Widget Target and OPTION + CLICK on it to cycle through the corner styles to get to the flat corners. 

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Create another rectangle on the top portion of the original rectangle for the neck of the bottle. Select both shapes. 

Use the Pathifinder Unite Tool to add both of the shapes together. 

Select the 4 middle points with the Direct Selection Tool and pull them in to round the edges. 

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This will give the bottle a rounded look. 

Add a rectangle for the neck of the bottle. 

Draw a rectangle for the cork. 

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Use the Free Transform tool, in perspective mode to pull the lower 2 handles into the middle to taper the shape. 

This will create the cork. 

Place the cork on the bottle. 

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To create the paper scroll, go HERE on my blog to see how it's done. This uses the Spiral Tool and Live Paint to create the rolled paper look.

Fill the bottle with a lighter color, place the scroll on the bottle and set the opacity of the scroll to 50% to make it look like it is in the bottle.

Rotate the bottle and contents 45°. Draw a line for the water waves. 

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Apply a Zig Zag effect under Effect>Distort & Transform. 

This will create a wave look. Outline the path under Object>Path>Outline Stroke.  

Add a white stroke around the wave shape. Set the stroke to the outside under the Stroke Panel. 

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Setting the stroke to the outside will add to the stroke beyond the edge of the wave and not interfere with the wave itself. 

Open the Appearance Panel under the Window Menu and open the Stroke section. Set the Opacity of the stroke to 65%. This will only make the stroke transparent, not the fill. 

Duplicate the waves and you have a message in a bottle, floating in the waves.