Photoshop is great to use for creating quality icon designs. In this tutorial, I will teach you how to make a professional, shiny, clean graduation hat icon. The techniques in this tutorial will help you graduate to the next level in icon design.
Step 1
First of all, create a new document and fill it with a light grey (#d6d6d6).
Step 2
Let's make the base of the icon using the Rectangle Tool. The color doesn't matter for now. This is going to be used just for orientation.
Step 3
Rotate the shape using the Transform Tool (Command/Ctrl+T). Next decrease its height using the Transform Tool again.
Step 4
Now we need to set the middle of the shape. Use the shortcut (Command/Ctrl + R) to bring up the Rulers. Set up your guides as in the image below.
Step 5
Now go up with a guideline and set the top of the pyramid. Then duplicate the blue shape and move it up. Then set a guide at the top of the duplicated shape. Then you can delete that shape you just duplicated.
Step 6
Create the left side of the pyramid using the Pen Tool. Fill it with (#feb624).
Step 7
Create the right side of the pyramid, just as you did with the left side, but this time fill it with (#e49e11).
Step 8
Move the blue layer on top of the other layers. Next move it up as I did. Then make it bigger using the Transform Tool.
Step 9
This will be the upper part of the hat. Name it ""Top part"" and fill it with this color (#ffd931). Then duplicate it.
Step 10
Name the duplicate of the ""Top part"" layer "border." Fill it with the color (#b14f00). Now move the "Top part" layer over the "border" layer.
Step 11
Make sure you have selected the border layer. Now press once on the Down Arrow key on the keyboard. This will move the layer one pixel down. Next while holding Option/Alt, press the Down Arrow key four times. This will duplicate the border layer four times.
Step 12
Now merge all those border layers. You can turn the guide lines off now, as we don't need them anymore. Go to View > Show > Guides and set them to not show.
Step 13
The shape of the hat is done. Now we need to make it look better. We will start with the top part. Select the "Top part" layer and create a new layer. This will place the new layer over all the rest of the layers. Select an orange color for the foreground. Command/Ctrl + Click on the "Top part" layer in the Layers Palette to make a selection. Then on the new layer you just created, using the Gradient Tool, Click and drag from up to down.
Step 14
Now we highlight the edges of the reflections more. We use the Pen Tool to do this, as you can see in the detailed shots below. Also, decrease the Opacity of this shape to 30%.
Step 15
Next we need to work on the right side of the pyramid. Make a selection of the right side of the pyramid. Make a new layer. Using the Gradient Tool, with this color (#e37a05), click and drag from left to right.
Step 16
For the left side we will use a different approach. Highlight the edges of reflections. Then decrease the Opacity of the shape to 30 percent. Look at the images below for details.
Step 17
Now we need to add a little more light to the left side. We do this by creating a new layer over the left side of the pyramid. Then make a selection of the left side of the pyramid. Use the settings below for the Gradient Tool. Then click and drag in the section I have pointed out in the next image. Finally set the Blending Options for this layer to Overlay.
Step 18
We will need to make a shadow for the top side. This shadow will cast onto the pyramid. Make a new layer and move it beneath the border layer. Name it "Shadow 1". Use the Pen Tool to make a selection like mine. Set the Opacity to 30%.
Step 19
Go to the top part and in the middle of it make an orange circle (#c54400). Then make it smaller and decrease the height with the Transform Tool, as you did in Step 3.
Step 20
Now make a shape that looks something like this using the Pen Tool.
Step 21
Make a small blue circle at the end of the shape we just made.
Step 22
This is going to be the last thing we do to the hat. Here we will use the Pen Tool and the Brush Tool. Start by opening a new layer behind the blue circle you just created. With the Pen Tool, make sure that Path is selected and draw a path like the image below.
Step 23
Use the settings below for the brush and this color (#ee4c05).
Step 24
And now with the Pen Tool selected, right-click on the path and select Stroke Path.
Step 25
Repeat the previous step, but each time you make a new stroke make it on a new layer. Also, use different colors. Here you can use the same effect I used in my Valentines tutorial here on PSDTUTS.
Step 26
You can Merge all these layers you used to make this shape that I call Mot. All we need to do now is make the Mot shadow.
Step 27
The last things we need to do now are add more highlights, make it shinier, make a reflection for the hat, make a shadow for the hat, and make a nice background. Review the images below for the directions for each step. I only use the: Brush Tool, Pen Tool, and Gradient Tool.
Conclusion
You can simply change the color of the icon in a few seconds. Go inside the hat folder that you want to change the colors to. Double-click on the layers of the shapes you want to change and select your colors. It is the same technique that I used in the Apple Remote tutorial here on PSDTUTS. View the final image result below.
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User Comments
( ADD YOURS )frky April 11th
wow, really good tutorial
( )b00m April 11th
angular body but nice
( )Wouter April 11th
wow long but not easy tutorial
( )Ryan April 11th
I imagined the body of the hat to look more flexible and rounded. Good tutorial for vector practices though.
( )Billy April 11th
This tutorial would work well if people had square heads.
( )Kajuah April 11th
Ryan; it’s a tutorial, if you want you can round the shape off or use a cylindular design
I really liked this, thanks
( )Josh April 11th
Definitely a great tutorial for beginners with the pen tool. Simple practices like this, with a great result, really help manage the beast that is the “Pen Tool.”
( )Ben Griffiths April 11th
Awesome, thanks
( )Haris Siddiqui April 11th
Thankz Bud
( )Adel April 11th
This is soooooo coool
( )thanx guys for this awesome tut.
Germán April 11th
:-/
( )Lamin Barrow April 11th
Those are really cool icons.
( )jo April 11th
( )Sean Farrell April 11th
That was great, who would of thought it would take that many steps to create something so simple but yet so beautiful! I love it, and its great for my little bros graduation invite. Thanks!
( )Mikkel/MikBeck April 11th
Very nice
Maby not so easy to understand for new “photoshoppers”, but i like the tutorial 
Thumbs up!
( )Sean Farrell April 11th
one more thing to note.. and just to reiterate, awesome awesome tut.. but dont you think the tassle could have been made not so fuzzy/frayed like? and add then since everything else has a shadow.. add a shadow to it? just a suggestion! dont let it take away from this glorious tut.
( )Sean Farrell April 11th
it kinda looks like a dustbunny or dingleberry or something.. hahaha i crack myself up
( )Abhijeet April 11th
very nice and usefull thanks
( )kos kalak April 11th
great tutarial my man Constantine
( )Constantin Potorac April 11th
Thank you guys and I am happy you liked it.
Sean Farrell: I admit the tassel is kinda funny. I think I overdone it.
( )lawrence77 March 7th
very good work!
( )giackop April 11th
good one constantin!!
( )Constantin Potorac April 11th
Thank you Giacomo
( )Ali April 11th
good tutorial!
but when is the website layout tutorials comin?
( )Constantin Potorac April 11th
Soon. I am very busy here with a lot of stuff.
( )Enes Kaya April 11th
yeah, i like it
( )Shane April 11th
Very good tutorial Constantin – you have obviously put a lot of effort into it, and the result shows through very well.
Thanks for posting.
( )Daniel April 11th
very nice icon! and great tutorial. Thanks a lot constantin!
( )Tim April 11th
Nicely done. However, a best practice would be to design icons in Illustrator. Once you scale that down, those crisp edges will blur. There’s nothing in this that can’t be easily done in vector.
( )ps3 blog April 11th
nice article i love everything 3d
( )Mark April 11th
Good for learning photoshop techniques, but when would you need to make a hat!!! lol
( )Kakumei April 11th
When I saw this tutorial, I was thinking I could probably do it. (Because it didn’t look that hard)
I started off fine and was doing okay for a while. I messed up a little bit, but I tried to make it look as good as I could and moved on. Then when I got done, it actually came out pretty good looking! :O
I was making this with my own school colors. (Gold and Purple as you can see in this link) I also did my tassel differently. I just used my pen tool and set my colors and stroked the path with a 1 pixel stroke. I changed some of the steps to stuff I thought would be easier or look better to me.
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i99/hitomikanzaki88/GraduationHat.jpg
( )jerry April 11th
more tuts from vaclav !
( )Aminur Rahman [aka Tom R] April 11th
now this is technique..
( )Eric April 11th
Can I still graduate if I don’t have a square head?
Great tut!
( )Joefrey Mahusay April 11th
Cool Icon, Great tut Constantin. Thanks for sharing on this.
( )Jonathan Solichin April 11th
Pretty cool icon. In time for graduation eh? IMO the tassel needs a shadow as well. But that’s just me.
( )jayhan April 11th
That’s a cute and professional looking icon. love the way you execute the highlight and shadows
( )Mikkel April 11th
The is an okay tutorial, but it has some mistakes I really don’t like.
The hat is isometric, there isn’t no perspective in it at all. That makes it look wierd. It would have bee so much cooler if you had shown how to do it in persective.
The biggest mistake thought is the light direction. It’s is changing within each part of the hat! You’ve made the highlight on the front of the top, but the right side has the lightest area to the right – it should be to the left. Then you make the shadow from the top, which has a light source from behind and to the left! Why?? And finally the mot has got a light source from the front left side. It doesn’t make sense.
I really find it sad when a so respected website makes such a “bad” tutorial. It shows everybody how to do it, but it’s filled with rookie mistakes, which the whole PS community will copy…
( )Constantin Potorac April 11th
Great job Kakumei.
( )Harry April 12th
Awesome tut!
( )Jin Y April 12th
Technique and effects are good. but the Hat looks wrong. it’s dis-proportioned. also perspective is wrong. but that’s just a matter of drawing skill, not so much so with photoshop.
( )Saswata April 12th
yeah the bottom part shud b rounded!
( )gr8 tut nevertheless…
Ars'lan April 12th
Man Looking at the final image in the beginning was looking too easy, but while experimenting the steps taught me some awesome techniques. Thanks a lot Potorac.
( )ps3 blog April 12th
love everything 3d in photoshop i am still trying to perfect my 3d skills in photoshop but this has defo been a help
( )Mark Abucayon April 13th
wow that is simple but very superb really great job nice tut.
( )likenota.com April 16th
very nicely done tutorial.
( )oleg April 16th
shadow must have a color
not just transparanse black
where is perspective?
imho
PS sorry for my english
( )Stanley April 16th
ANOTHER GREAT TUT
( )Kakumei April 17th
Thanks Constantin! I tried my best at it. I am not very good with PS but I am trying out every tutorial I can so I know how most of the stuff works.
( )suresh April 18th
it really good keep it up
( )Constantin Potorac April 18th
Nice to hear that Kakumei. Keep trying and I am sure you will get to a better level.
( )haxan April 29th
Simply awesome
really like it.
( )fdl.ir April 29th
very good article.
( )thank you.
Nicolas June 4th
The images are not showing
and FF in Mac OSX freezes because it keeps on trying to lad the images. I’d really like to follow this tutorial, please fix it soon 
( )xiaobaov2 June 6th
wow,coooool
( )armgod December 5th
Wow，I like it
( )Myname April 16th
why isn’t it rounded? i mean the body,
( )saurabh shah June 8th
wow ! looks awesome … gonna try on this now
( )angga priatna August 30th
good job bro.. i hope we can join together…
( )jmarreros October 1st
thanks Constantin, good tutorial
( )Sheikh Naveed November 16th
HMMMMMMMMMM NICE
( )