How to create a flat design of real people in

Adobe Illustrator
In this tutorial we will be turning real people into a flat design in the program Adobe Illustrator.
This will be a step by step tutorial.

Step One : Creating the File

1. The first thing we are going to do is set up a new file in Adobe Illustrator (File > New).
Here are your settings:

Preset Details:
Name: Real People Flat Design
Width: 792 px
Height: 612 px
Artboards: 1

Advanced Settings:
Color Mode: RGB Color
Raster Effects: High (300ppi)
Preview Mode: Default
Step Two: Choosing a Reference Image

1. Your reference image needs to mainly be focused on people. It can be as many people as
you want but know: the more people you have, the longer this tutorial will take. This
needs to be a high resolution image as well. Here is my image:
 2. Once you have your image. Drag and drop it into your file.

Step Three: Creating your Flat Design

1. Starting with the furthest boy on the right, I am going to start my outline. Using your Pen
Tool (P), outline him with no color except for a black stroke. You are going to make a
new shape anytime you want to change the color.

2. Now that he is outlined, go into the layers panel and group (CTRL G or Command G for
Mac users) or hold the Shift key while clicking on all of your outlines. Name this group
Boy 1.
3. Next I am going to do the same thing to each person in the picture. Remember to
continue to group and name those groups. Remember to save your work after every
group. This will make sure that you still have your work even if something happens.
Halfway through with the layer names:

Fully done:
4. Go into the layers panel (Window > Layers) and lock every layer except for boy number
one. This will help with our next step. To do this click the gray area beside the eye shape
in the layers panel.

5. Make sure you are clicked on the Boy 1 layer. For this step I like to ungroup (Command
or CTRL Shift G) the shapes to make it a little easier. Now we are going to use the
Eyedropper Tool (I) to color this image. Click on the hair shape and choose the
Eyedropper Tool. One you have chosen the eyedropper tool, find the main color of the
hair on the original image and click it. This will color the hair shape that you clicked the
color that you selected.
6. Continue to do this for each shape in the original Boy 1 group. Here is what it should
look like:

7. Go back into your layers panel (Window > Layers) and re-group all of the now colored
shapes and name that group Boy 1. Lock this layer and unlock the layer named Boy 2.
8. Repeat steps 5-7 to get this same look for each person in the original image.
Halfway through:

Fully Done:
9. Now that your people are done, delete the reference picture that is underneath everything
and unlock all of your groups.

10. The first thing you are going to notice is that you will have some gaps. I am going to fill
these in by using the Pen Tool (P) to create the shapes to fill these gaps in.
Step Four: Creating the Logo

1. Now that you have all of your people created, this next step will be optional. I
chose people who are in a boy group, because of this, I am going to add their logo
to the top of the page. This is their logo:

2. Drag and drop your image into illustrator. Create a new layer by pressing the
square with a + in the middle of it in your layers panel. Drag the image into this
new layer and name the layer Logo. Name the first layer People. Lock and hide
the People layer.

3. Take your Pen Tool (P) and start tracing your logo with any color stroke that is
not black or red and no fill color so you are able to see what you are drawing. We
will change the colors later. Make shapes out of each letter in the logo. This will
make it much easier to complete.
4. For the S, a, y, k, and the d, you will need to “cut out” the whole in the main
shape. For each letter, choose the main outline and the hole outlines and then go
into the Pathfinder Panel (Window > Pathfinder) and select the exclude button.
This will cut out the holes where needed. Then select the correct fill color for each
letter. Then delete the reference image.

5. Make the People layer visible and unlock it. Adjust the logo to fit the final
product. This is what mine looks like:
Step Five: Creating a Background

1. Hide the People and Logo layer and lock them both. Add a new layer the same way you
did for the logo layer. Name this new layer Background and pull it underneath the other
two layers.

2. Using the Rectangle Tool (M), make a rectangle that is 792 X 612 px. Make sure it has a
black stroke.

3. Once you have your rectangle, open up the Gradient Panel and make a linear gradient
with these colors: Left: #003240
Right: #25686e
4. Unlock the People and Logo layers and make them visible and then you are done!