Jason Hoppe - Infographic Blog - Jason Hoppe Adobe Certified Expert & Adobe Certified Trainer

INFOGRAPHIC SERIES - Snowy Weather

1/8/2018

It's cold out there! So here is a snow storm icon with unique snowflakes. Create as many as you want to show a flurry or a storm. Stay warm.

Start the cloud with a rectangle.

Pull in all 4 of the corner widgets to round the ends.

Repeat the process with smaller rectangles and overlap the new shape 1/2 over the lower shape.

Create a third rounded rectangle. Select all three, use the Pathfinder Unite mode to create one shape.

Add a 30pt stroke, remove the fill color.

Use the Scissor Tool and click at the bottom of the cloud in two locations. Use the Direct Selection Tool to remove the cut section from the scissor tool. Round cap the ends in the Stroke Panel.

Create a star. Draw the star and use the UP arrow to create more points.

Draw a line and circle from the star.

Add lines to the line. Group all the lines and circle. Do not group the star with the other items.

Select the grouped items. Choose the Rotate Tool and OPTION + CLICK in the center of the snowflake (shown with the red +). OPTION + CLICK will place the rotation point in the center and open the Rotate dialog box.

Snowflakes have 6 sides so the angle is 360° divided by 6. You can type ANY equation in the box, this is the calculator. Click COPY (don't click OK) to copy the set 60°.

Once you have rotated/copied the first set use COMMAND + D to duplicate the last rotate command until you have all 6 arms of the snowflake. Select all the elements and group them together.

You can create any type of arm for each snow flake with some simple shapes.

Longer arms will overlap as the unit is rotated around the center.

Try simple lines and shapes to see what the outcome will be,

These simple shapes can turn into a cool snowflake.

Same method each time. Create an arm, group all the elements in the arm together. Rotate the arm around the center at a 60° angle. Duplicate the rotation and a snow flake emerges.