How to Create a Christmas Package Design in Illustrator

In this tutorial we will create a modern vector package design for your holiday bundles, product ads and more.

Difficulty: Advanced
Completion time: 2 hours
Tools: Illustrator CS5

Resources:

- christmas illustration from vectorious.net

Christmas Package Design Final Image Preview

STEP 1

Grab the Rectangle Tool (M) and click on the canvas. Type in the dimensions below.

STEP 2

Grab the Rounded Rectangle Tool, click on the canvas and input the settings below. Also make it a different color.

STEP 3

Grab the Selection Tool (V), select both shapes and click the “Horizontal Align Center” and “Vertical Align Top” buttons on the top menu bar.

STEP 4

In the Pathfinder window (Window > Pathfinder), hit the “Merge” button.

STEP 5

Go to Object > Ungroup (CTRL+SHIFT+G). Select the top right corner and hit Delete.

STEP 6

Select the red shape, grab the Eyedropper Tool (I) and click on the black rectangle. Select both shapes and hit the “Merge” button in the Pathfinder window (Window > Pathfinder).

STEP 7

Hit SHIFT+X to switch the Fill to Stroke and make it a bright color.

STEP 8

Grab the Rectangle Tool (M), click on the canvas and type in 184 px and 498 px. Also make sure it has a bright Fill color.

STEP 9

Go to View > Smart Guides (CTRL+U) to toggle Smart Guides view and align the shapes as shown below.

STEP 10

CTRL+click outside the artwork to deselect and check the accuracy of your aligning. This is how it should look like.

STEP 11

Open the “christmas illustration” from vectorious.net. Resize it to the dimensions shown below and move the tree to the right and make it smaller.

STEP 12

Grab the Selection Tool (V) and select the text, then hit Delete.

STEP 13

Select all artwork (CTRL+A) and go to Object > Group (CTRL+G). Copy it (CTRL+C), go back to our document and paste it (CTRL+V).

STEP 14

Grab the Pen Tool (P) and draw a shape similar to mine.

STEP 15

Open the Gradient window (Window > Gradient), create the gradient shown below and apply it to the shape created in the previous step. Use the Gradient Tool (G) to adjust the positioning of the gradient. Make it look like below.

STEP 16

With the shape still selected, toggle the Stroke window (Window > Stroke) and apply a white stroke with the settings shown in the image below.

STEP 17

Go to Object > Expand. Hit OK.

STEP 18

Select the shape group, copy it (CTRL+C) and paste it to back (CTRL+B).

STEP 19

With this shape selected, change the fill color to pure black.

STEP 20

Go to Object > Path > Offset Path, use the settings below and hit OK.

STEP 21

Hit “Merge” in the Pathfinder window (Window > Pathfinder).

STEP 22

Select the two red shapes, hit CTRL+SHIFT+] to bring them to front and place them over the christmas illustration, like below.

STEP 23

Select the illustration and the shape above it and go to Object > Group (CTRL+G).

STEP 24

Select the shape group, copy it (CTRL+C) and paste it to front (CTRL+F). Hold SHIFT, select the left rectangle and click “Crop” in the Pathfinder window (Window > Pathfinder).

STEP 25

Select the original shape group and the second red shape and click the “Crop” button again.

STEP 26

Grab the Perspective Grid Tool (SHIFT+P) and click-drag to create these three planes.

STEP 27

Click-drag the points shown in STEP 26 to create a perspective similar to mine.

STEP 28

Grab the Perspective Selection Tool (SHIFT+V) and click-drag the right cropped shape near the right plane.

STEP 29

Select the right grid (from the cube in the top left corner).

STEP 30

Click-drag the shape onto the plane and place it like below.

STEP 31

At this point, it should look like this.

STEP 32

Do the same for the other shape: Select the plane from the cube, grab the Perspective Selection Tool (SHIFT+V) and click-drag it onto the plane. Place it like in the image below.

STEP 33

At this point, your image should look like this.

STEP 34

Grab the Rectangle Tool (M), click the canvas and create a rectangle of 500 x 2 px and place it as shown below.

STEP 35

Zoom in to the top side of the rectangle, grab the Path Tool (P), hit “+” and add an anchorpoint in the middle of the top segment.

STEP 36

Grab the Direct Selection Tool (A), select the middle anchorpoint and click-drag it while holding SHIFT until you see an apparent intersection with the sides of the cropped shapes.

STEP 37

Use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to align the other two anchor points.

STEP 38

In the Transparency window (Window > Transparency), set Blending mode to Overlay.

STEP 39

Select the entire artwork (CTRL+A) leaving out the rectangle from STEPS 34-38 and go to Object > Group or right-click > Group (CTRL+G).

STEP 40

Copy the shape group (CTRL+C) and paste it to back (CTRL+B).

STEP 41

Set the Foreground color to black, hit “Merge” in the Pathfinder window (Window > Pathfinder). Hit “Merge” 3 times if you still have a stroke present.

STEP 42

With the merged shape still selected, press the “Down” arrow two times. This will nudge the shape two pixels.

STEP 43

Select the shape group, copy it (CTRL+C) and paste it to front (CTRL+F).

STEP 44

With the copy still selected, grab the Eraser Tool (SHIFT+E), hold ALT and click-drag like below. Erase so you’ll have only a tiny strip. Do the same for the right side.

STEP 45

Grab the Selection Tool (V), select both shapes and click the “Recolor Artwork” Button on the top menu bar. This recoloring doesn’t select whites, so click the small rectangle near the white color bar to include it too.

STEP 46

Hit the “Edit” button and click the “Link Harmony Colors” button. It looks like a broken chain.

STEP 47

Set the “B” bar (blacks) to 70% and hit OK.

STEP 48

Grab the Perspective Grid Tool (SHIFT+P) and select the right plane from the perspective cube in the top left corner.

STEP 49

Grab the Rectangle Tool (M) and draw a rectangle like below.

STEP 50

In the Color mixer (Window > Color), give it a light blue tint. Use the settings below.

STEP 51

Grab the Perspective Selection Tool (SHIFT+V) and select the left plane – click the left side of the perspective cube.

STEP 52

Grab the Rectangle Tool (M) and draw a rectangle like below. Grab the Eyedropper Tool (I) and click the previous rectangle.

STEP 53

Select the first rectangle, copy it (CTRL+C) and paste it to front (CTRL+F). In the Gradient window (Window > Gradient), create the gradient shown below and apply it to the first rectangle. Use the Gradient Tool (G) to adjust its position.

STEP 54

In the Transparency window (Window > Transparency), SET Blending mode to Hard Light.

STEP 55

Repeat STEPS 54-55 for the other rectangle.

STEP 56

Select the small rectangle from the edge, hold ALT and click-drag downwards to create a copy. Hold SHIFT while dragging to make an orthogonal positioning: drag until the bottom side reaches the bottom-most point of the reflection rectangles.

STEP 57

With it still selected, grab the Eraser Tool (SHIFT+E), hold ALT and click-drag to erase the part that overlaps the original shape.

STEP 58

Grab the Perspective Grid Tool (SHIFT+P) to bring up the 3D planes, grab the Perspective Selection Tool (SHIFT+V) and select the bottom plane.

STEP 59

Grab the Rectangle Tool (M) and draw a rectangle like below.

STEP 60

In the Gradient window (Window > Gradient) and apply to it the gradient below.

STEP 61

In the Transparency window, set Blending mode to Multiply and Opacity to 30%.

STEP 62

Do the same for the other two sides.

Done!

You can download the source file from here:

  christmas-box-vectorious-package-design-tutorial.zip (1,004.3 KiB, 358 hits)

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