A "Cup" of Cake Icon Set
There is a saying, "There is always room for dessert". Why do individuals still have so much appetite to eat a dessert after a full meal? You finish a big meal and feel full but once you see a dessert, immediately the desire to consume this overcomes the "fulness" that was felt and before we know it, we are wanting to experience the satisfaction that comes from eating it.
Desserts, especially cakes, please both the eyes and our taste buds because of its many colors, textures and different flavors packed within it. Cakes are pieces of arts, as it shows the creativity of the baker and we can see the amount of efforts that were put into creating such a masterpiece. When I was asked to create a set of twelve icons, I was immediately drawn to wanting to try to reflect the feelings I get when I see beautiful cakes.
My goals were to create different pieces of cakes with vibrant yet subtle colors (less saturations) that show excitement with soft touches which are added by using no strokes on the icons. I wanted individuals to see these icons and awake their sense of taste that comes from their memories of tasting the different flavors in cakes. My icons are designed to bring out the excitement of wanting a cake that individuals have had before.
Sketching Process
I wanted to keep the cakes simple. I tried sketching the normal piece of cake that we are all familiar with which is a triangular shaped cake. I first sketched the shape out in different angles to see which would be best to represent my cakes. As I sketched, I realized that I wanted something different because these were too "normal". I did not want a basic cake that everyone saw and would pass by if they saw it by the windows of dessert shops. So I started asking myself, "what if the cake was more circular"? I tried to draw the cake like it was in a circular shape. After a few sketches, I then asked, "what if the cake was in a liquid form?" and continued different sketches. After a few more sketches, I decided to do a cake in a cup but it was not going to be a cupcake. These cakes would be in glass-like cups where we could still see and appreciate the beautiful layers and colors of cakes.
The first few icons I designed had very simple looks with some fun colors. But they felt a little flat and did not show any depth or texture. I tried to avoid using the pen tool because I was struggling with the anchor points not being in the correct spots and this always put the paths in a very weird position. So I used a lot of rectangles where I rounded the corners and added a lot of different simple shapes together like ovals and circles.
I received great constructive feedbacks from my peers on the parts I could improve. I realized that the cylindrical shape I had of the cakes felt a little too straight so I went ahead and gave it more depth by making it rounder. To make it more alive and realistic, I was suggested to add some highlights on the top of the cake and especially with the glass. This highlight on the glass created more depth for my glass cups. I also needed to make the icing/cream on the top of the cake a lot more pleasing and appetizing. The drips I added felt so stiff and not cohesive to the round characteristics my icons were showing. The edges of the drips were sharp so I went in and combined the shapes with the shape builder tool after which I was able to round the sharp corners. It created a more flowy look for the drips and the cakes were looking better.
Final Icon Set
After implementing the different feedbacks I received, I was ready to explore with many colors and tried to add different shapes to the cakes to give it more texture and depth. Although I was using such variety of colors in this icon set, I wanted to make sure that the colors were in harmony all together and things were still kept simple.
My final twelve cups of cake icons really brings out the beautiful colors and layers that cakes have. The design brings out the excitement we feel when we see desserts, especially cakes and it makes your tummy hungry for one.
