INFOGRAPHIC SERIES - TAG WITH DROP SHADOW

Here is a quick way to create and edit a drop shadow effect in Illustrator. And make it a bit fun as well.

---

Start with a rectangle, fill it with a color, no stroke.

Using the Pen Tool, add a point on the left side, directly in the middle. Use you Smart Guid to locate the position, and then click to add a point.

Select the newly added point with the Direct Selection tool, hold SHIFT and use your left arrow to move the point out to the left.

Use the Direct Selection Tool to select the three left points, this will show the Live Corners. Pull the targets in toward the middle of the rectangle slightly to round the edges.

---

Draw a circle and place it in the tip on the left. 

Select both the circle and shapes, use the Pathfinder Mode to Minus Front.

Result will leave a hole in the tag.

Select the tag and choose object>Path>Offset Path.

---

Set the inset to be a negative number to inset the path inside the shape.

The result will give you a smaller inset shape, inside the tag.

Fill the inset shape with a contrasting color.

Duplicate the tag and fill it with black, no stroke

---

Chose the black shape, under the Effect menu, choose Blur under the Photoshop Effects section, then choose Gaussian Blur.

Set the Blur to 50.

Here is the result.

To edit the Blur Effect, open the Appearance panel under the Window Menu. Click on the Gaussian Blur link to edit the blur, don't go under the Effect Menu and choose Gaussian Blur or will add a 2nd blur on top of he first.

---

Use the Curvature Tool, select the right edge and push the center in. Choose the bottom and push the center up. Pull the lower right corner down slightly, all with the Curvature Tool.

Move the drop shadow to the back and position it behind and slight to the right of the tag. Adjust the opacity as needed. 

Take the Pencil Tool and draw a bit of string, add a darker stroke to it. 

And there you have a finished tag. Adjust the shadow to make it look like more of a curl if needed, or lighter or darker.