In this video, you'll combine a series of simpler shapes using the Shape Builder tool and pathfinder effects to complete this logo.
If you want to follow along, you can open this practice file for this tutorial.
And to make sure you see everything, choose View, Fit All in Window.
You'll start by combining these circles here using the Shape Builder tool to create the centerpiece of the logo.
With the Selection tool selected, drag across the circles to select them.
To zoom in a little bit, press Command + on Mac OS or Control + on Windows a few times.
Now, to combine these shapes in different ways you'll use the Shape Builder tool which lets you combine or remove parts of shapes you select.
So, select the Shape builder tool in the Tools panel.
To combine parts of these circles together, start from here and drag to here, and then release.
You just combine those parts of the circles into one shape.
Now to continue combining, drag from this newly combined shape to the remaining shapes like you see here.
Now you can also remove parts of shapes with the Shape Builder tool.
To remove these parts of the circles, press the Option key on Mac OS or Alt key on Windows.
You should see a - sign next to the pointer now, which means any shapes you drag across or click will be removed.
So, move the pointer here and with the key held down, drag through the remaining shapes.
Release the mouse button and then the key.
You now have a single shape for the center of the logo.
To drag your new shape into the center of the yellow circle down here, Select the Selection tool and drag the shape down by its edge.
Next, to remove the front shape you just created from the yellow circle, using a different option called pathfinder effects.
To select the circle and the shape you created, drag across to select them.
You can now see some of the pathfinders in the Properties panel on the right.
To remove the front shape from the circle permanently, click Minus Front here.
It essentially subtracts the front shape from the yellow shape behind.
Now, to finish the center part of the logo, drag this small white shape into place.
Then to keep all of these shapes together, you'll group them.
So, drag across all the objects, and click the Group button in the Properties panel.
To see everything on this our board, choose View, Fit Artboard in Window.
The remaining content on the right here needs to be combined in different ways.
You'll explore some other pathfinders to finish it.
Here, you'll see two circles and a rectangle behind them.
All these shapes will become the headband of some headphones.
So, select the circles by dragging across them to remove where they're overlapping each other, so only the grey area you see remains, click the Exclude option in the Properties panel.
Now you'll use the rectangle to remove the bottom half of the circle.
Drag across both shapes to select them and to see more Pathfinder options, click More Options in the Pathfinder section in the Properties panel.
There are a lot you can try.
In this case, the rectangle is behind the circular shape or it's the back shape.
So, click - Back to remove the rectangle shape from the circular shape.
Press the Escape key to hide the pathfinder options in the panel.
Now, the three circles here are supposed to become the earpieces for the headphones.
What you'll do is you'll actually divide these up so that you can get the pieces you want.
So, drag across all the shapes to select them Click More Options in the Pathfinder section of the panel to see some more options.
To divide the shapes where they intersect, click divide.
Press the Escape key to hide the Pathfinder options in the panel.
Applying the divide Pathfinder shapes makes them a group.
So, if you want to select individual objects, you'll need to on group them.
So, click to select the group again if you need to.
Then click the ungroup button in the Properties panel.
Then click in a blank area to deselect the shapes and drag the center shape away from the others.
And to remove it, press Backspace or Delete.
You can then select each of these smaller shapes and press Backspace or Delete to remove them.
To finish the headband, drag the shape over this artwork.
Drag across both objects and to keep them together, click the Group button in the Properties panel.
To finish the logo, choose View, Fit All in Window, and drag the artwork over here onto the artboard on the right.
Once the artwork is on the artboard, zoom into it by pressing Command + on Mac or Control + on Windows a few times.
You can then drag the shapes into their final positions.
Using the Shape Builder tool or pathfinder effects, you can easily take simpler objects and create more complex artwork from it.
So, try experimenting a bit with other simple shapes you create to try and come up with something creative as an alternative for the center of the logo.
