Web Development: How to Use an SVG Color Font to Create a Logo Design in Illustrator

How to Use an SVG Color Font to Create a Logo Design in Illustrator

Final product image — What You'll Be Creating

In the following steps, you will learn how to create a circle logo design for a tailor using an SVG font in Adobe Illustrator.

What You Will Learn in This Logo Design Tutorial

How to create a New Document in Illustrator
How to add text on a path in Illustrator
How to use SVG color fonts in Illustrator
How to edit and stylize an SVG calligraphy font in Illustrator
How to change the color of an SVG font in Illustrator

For more inspiration on how to adjust or improve your final circle logo design, you can find plenty of resources at GraphicRiver.

What You Will Need

You will need the following resources in order to complete this circle logo design:

Bluesky SVG font
Robinson font

1. How to Create a New Document and Set Up a Grid

Hit Control-N to create a new document. Select Pixels from the Units drop-down menu, enter 850 in the width and height boxes, and then click that More Settings button. Select RGB for the Color Mode, set the Raster Effects to Screen (72 ppi), and then click Create Document.

Enable the Grid (View > Show Grid) and the Snap to Grid (View > Snap to Grid). You will need a grid every 10 px, so simply go to Edit > Preferences > Guides & Grid, and enter 10 in the Gridline every box and 1 in the Subdivisions box. Try not to get discouraged by all that grid—it will make your work easier, and keep in mind that you can easily enable or disable it using the Control-" keyboard shortcut.

You can learn more about Illustrator's grid system in this short tutorial from Andrei Stefan: Understanding Adobe Illustrator's Grid System.

You should also open the Info panel (Window > Info) for a live preview with the size and position of your shapes. Don't forget to set the unit of measurement to pixels from Edit > Preferences > Units. All these options will significantly increase your work speed. Now that everything's prepared, let's see how you can use an SVG calligraphic font and how to change the color of an SVG font in this circle logo design.

2. How to Use and Edit an SVG Calligraphy Font

Step 1

Pick the Type Tool and open the Character panel (Window > Character). Select the Bluesky SVG font and set the size to 200 px. Simply click on your artboard and type in the "Silky" piece of text.

Step 2

Let's replace some of the characters from the "Silky" text with different glyphs. Make sure that the Type Tool (T) is still active, and select only the "k". Once it's selected, you will get small previews with the SVG font glyph alternatives for that character. Select the fourth option, and the style of your selected character will change as shown in the second image.

Step 3

Keep focusing on your piece of text and select the "k" character. For a larger preview with the whole SVG font glyph collection available for this SVG calligraphy font, open the Glyphs window (Type > Glyphs). Replace the current design of that "y" character with the SVG font glyph shown in the following image.

Step 4

Make sure that your piece of text stays selected, and open the Align panel (Window > Align). Set the alignment to artboard, and then click the Horizontal Align Center and Vertical Align Center buttons to easily move your selection to the center of the artboard.

3. How to Create the Main Logo Shape Around the SVG Calligraphy Font

Step 1

Pick the Ellipse Tool (L), hold down the Shift key, and create a 350 px circle—the grid and the Snap to Grid feature will make it a lot easier.

Open the Gradient panel (Window > Gradient). Make sure that your shape stays selected, fill it with the linear gradient shown in the following image, and remove the stroke color.

Center this circle using the same Horizontal Align Center and Vertical Align Center buttons from the Align panel, and then send it behind the text (Control-[).

Step 2

Make sure that your circle stays selected, focus on the Appearance panel (Window > Appearance), and add a second fill using the Add New Fill button.

Select the new fill and drag it below that other fill. Set its color to black (R=0 G=0 B=0), lower the Opacity to 30%, and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -20 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Drag the Move-Vertical slider to 40 px, click OK, and go to Effect > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Enter a 15 px Radius and click OK.

Step 3

Make sure that your circle stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel (Window > Appearance).

Select the stroke, set its color to white (R=255 G=255 B=255), and then click that Stroke piece of text to open the Stroke fly-out menu. Increase the Weight to 10 px and check the Align Stroke to Outside button.

4. How to Stylize the SVG Calligraphy Font

Step 1

Select your "Silky" piece of text and focus on the Appearance panel. Add a new fill and drag it to the bottom of the panel. Select it, set the color to white, and then go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a 10 px Offset, set the Joins to Round, and click OK.

Step 2

Select your "Silky" piece of text and add a copy in front (Control-C > Control-F).

Select the copy and go to Object > Expand Appearance. Make sure that the resulting group stays selected, open the Pathfinder panel (Window > Pathfinder), and click the Unite button. Fill the resulting shape with black and then remove that unnecessary piece of text from the Layers panel (Window > Layers). Only keep the original "Silky" piece of text.

Step 3

Make sure that your black shape is still selected, and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -5 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Drag the Move-Vertical slider to 25 px, click OK, and then go to Object > Expand Appearance.

Step 4

Select your blue circle and add a copy in front (Control-C > Control-F).

Select this copy along with that black shape, and click the Intersect button from the Pathfinder panel. Move the resulting shape behind your "Silky" text (Control-[), lower its Opacity to 75%, and change the Blending Mode to Soft Light.

5. How to Add Text on a Path

Step 1

Using the Ellipse Tool (L), create a 260 px circle and center it using the same Horizontal Align Center and Vertical Align Center buttons from the Align panel. The appearance attributes of this new shape don't matter as you're simply going to use this shape as a path to type on.

Make sure that this new shape stays selected, pick the Type on a Path Tool, and go to the Character panel.

Select the Robinson font, set the size to 32 px and the tracking to 200. Simply click on the edge of your selected circle and add the "- TAILOR SALON -" text. Set its color to white and switch to the Direct Selection Tool (A). Use that center bracket to drag the text as shown in the second image.

Step 2

Using the Ellipse Tool (L), create a 280 px circle and center it. Again, don't bother with the appearance attributes of this shape. Make sure that it stays selected, switch to the Type on a Path Tool, and lower the tracking to 100 in the Character panel.

Click on the edge of your selection and add the "- ESTD 1991 -" text. Switch to the Direct Selection Tool (A) and move that center bracket to the inside of your circle to move your text to the inside. Drag the text as shown in the second image.

6. How to Create a Stylized Needle

Step 1

Pick the Rectangle Tool (R) and create an 870 px square. Center it and then fill it with the linear gradient shown below.

Step 2

For the following steps, you will need a grid every 5 px. Just go to Edit > Preferences > Guides & Grid and enter 5 in the Gridline every box.

Pick the Rectangle Tool (R), create a 15 x 530 px shape, and fill it with white. Focus on the bottom side of this new shape and pick the Direct Selection Tool (A). Select both anchor points and go to Object > Path > Average. Check the Both box and click OK.

Step 3

Move to the top side of this white shape and make sure that the Direct Selection Tool (A) is still active. Select both anchor points and enter 8 px in the Corners box from the control panel.

Switch to the Move Tool (V), select this entire white shape, and go to Effect > Warp > Bulge. Enter the attributes shown in the following image, click OK, and then go to Object > Expand Appearance.

Step 4

Using the Rectangle Tool (R), create a 5 x 40 px shape and place it as shown in the first image. Make sure that it stays selected, go to the control panel, and enter 2.5 px in the Corners box.

Select this rounded rectangle along with that white shape, and click the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel.

Step 5

Rotate that needle shape and place it as shown in the following image.

Step 6

Pick the Ellipse Tool (L) and create a 320 px circle. Fill it with black and center it.

Select this new circle along with that needle shape and open the Transparency panel (Window > Transparency). Click the Make Mask button and then uncheck that Clip box. In the end, things should look like in the third image.

Step 7

Pick the Pen Tool (P) and add two oblique paths where the needle enters and exits the logo, as shown in the following image.

Add 3 px stroke for the top path and a 2 px stroke for the bottom path. Set the color to white and apply Width Profile 1 from the Profile drop-down menu.

7. How to Change the Color of an SVG Font in Illustrator

Step 1

Once added, you might want to know how to change the color of the SVG font. It can be done in two simple steps. Select your "Silky" piece of text, focus on the Appearance panel, and add a second fill using that same Add New Fill button.

Select this new fill, set the color to black, and drag it to the top of the panel. This will not change the appearance of your text as it should. In order to make that fill visible, we will use a little trick. Make sure that your black fill is still selected, and go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Set the Offset to 0 px and click OK. This will not change the span of the fill, but it will make it visible. Now that you can see this black fill, change its Blending Mode to Color.

Step 2

Make sure that your "Silky" piece of text stays selected, and keep focusing on the Appearance panel.

Select the black fill and duplicate it using the Duplicate Selected Item button. Select the new fill, change its Blending Mode to Overlay, and set the color to R=158 G=85 B=185 or any other color that you may prefer for the text.

Congratulations! Your Circle Logo Design Is Complete!

Here is how it should look. I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial and can apply these techniques in your future projects. Don't hesitate to share your final result in the comments section.

Feel free to adjust the final design and make it your own. You can find some great sources of inspiration at GraphicRiver, with interesting solutions to improve your design.

Popular SVG Color Fonts From Envato Elements

Envato Elements is an excellent resource for SVG color fonts that can help you create Illustrator text effects in a few seconds. Now that you know how to change the color of an SVG font, all you need is the right font. Here's a short list with some of the most popular SVG color fonts:

Chocolate SVG Font

Why waste time creating complex chocolate text effects when you can use this soft and realistic color SVG font? Download the chocolate SVG font and type your chocolate-covered characters in an instant.

Ice Age SVG Font

Ice Age is a chilling and realistic SVG font, guaranteed to bring power to your design projects. Use its capital letters, numbers, and punctuation marks to create bold titles, headers, or other text elements.

Futuristico SVG Font

Looking for a vibrant and abstract SVG font? Combining colorful geometric shapes with slim lines and symbols, Futuristico delivers a captivating color font. Save time and create Illustrator text effects in an instant.

Chocolate Cake SVG Font

Looking for a bold and solid SVG font with a unique feeling? Download this cake color font and you won't be sorry. It's suitable to use for many occasions, and it will definitely catch the eye of your clients.

Newport Tracks - Color SVG Font

This warm and colorful font comes with three color palette options: one beautiful pastel color variation and two minimal greyscale variations (light and dark). Use this font to add a subtle note of color to your design. Now that you know how to change the color of an SVG font in Illustrator, you can easily adjust the color tone of this SVG font.

Pizza SVG Font

Pizza is a bold and realistic color font, perfect for adding strong characters to your pizza store website or any food-related web project.

Bouqet Flower & Watercolor SVG Font

This color SVG font comes in two versions: a real flowers font and a watercolor flowers font. These beautiful flowers can be used in a variety of projects and designs, such as wall art, text effects, elegant branding, websites, digital media, wedding cards/invitations, packaging, merchandise design, and much more.

Candy SVG Font

Candy is a vibrant SVG calligraphy font, perfect for adding dynamism and character to branding projects, wedding stationery, magazine layouts, advertising graphics, text effects, and so much more. It comprises 26 characters, numbers, and punctuation marks, with an additional collection of 26 SVG font glyphs.

Cookie SVG Font

Cookie is a sweet and realistic SVG font, suitable for various design projects. It has only capital letters, numbers, and punctuation marks that look great in both web and print design. It comes with all it takes to create unforgettable Illustrator text effects.

Querins SVG Brush Font

Give your designs an authentic handcrafted brush feel. This color font is perfectly suited to signatures, stationery, logos, typography quotes, magazine or book covers, and more.