How to Create a Donut Illustration in Affinity Designer

In this tutorial, we will create a vector donut illustration in Affinity Designer using basic shapes. The inspiration for this donut illustration tutorial came from a recipe I saw for creating unicorn rainbow donuts. But, you can make your donut design a different color if you want. Now, let’s begin the tutorial.

Step 1

The first step in setting up this donut illustration in Affinity Designer is to create a new document. Go to File > New. Next, select Web. The document size doesn’t matter. However, I chose FHD (Full High Definition) 1920 x 1080. Then, click Create.

Step 2

In the Toolbar (at the top), make sure you have your Snapping turned on.

Step 3

Go to the Tools Panel and grab the Ellipse tool. Hold CTRL + Shift and draw an ellipse onto the document. I made the ellipse 560px x 560px, but you can make it whatever size you want.

Step 4

With the ellipse selected, press CTRL + J to duplicate the ellipse (or right-click on it and select Duplicate). You should have 2 ellipses in the Layers Panel.

Step 5

Now, select the duplicated ellipse. Hold CTRL + Shift and make it smaller (I made it 200px x 200px).

Step 6

Next, select both ellipses. Go to the Boolean Operations Panel and click Subtract.

Step 7

With the donut shape selected, press CTRL + J (or right click on it and select Duplicate) to duplicate the shape.

Step 8

Then, give the duplicated shape a different fill color (The color doesn’t matter at this point. We just want to be able to tell them apart.) by going to the Swatches Panel. Double click the fill color to make the Color Chooser appear.

Step 9

Select the duplicated donut shape. Hold CTRL + Shift. Stretch the shape to make it slightly larger than the original.

Step 10

Go to the Tools Panel and select the Rectangle tool. Draw a rectangle halfway through the duplicated donut shape. Make sure you extend the bottom part of the rectangle past the bottom of the donut shape.

Step 11

With the rectangle selected, hold Shift and select the duplicated donut shape too.

Step 12

Next, go to the Boolean Operations panel and select Subtract.

Step 13

After that, go to the Tools Panel and select the Node Tool. Select the nodes at the end of the donut half (hold Shift to select more than 1 node).

Step 14

Now, hold Shift and drag those selected nodes slightly down. Next, select the node at the top of the donut half. Then, hold Shift and drag that node slightly up. Adjust the sides of the donut half if you need to. You want to make sure that the donut half shape is over the original donut shape.

Step 15

Go to the Tools Panel. Next, select the Ellipse tool. Then, draw some ellipses on the ends of the donut half. Make them varied sizes and position them differently.

Step 16

Now, select both the donut half and the ellipses. Once you select them, go to the Boolean Operations panel. Click Add.

Step 17

With the donut half selected, go to the Swatches panel. Double click on the active fill color and change it. You can give the donut half a color of your choosing. For the tutorial, I chose #4FFCF4.

Step 18

Select the actual donut shape. Go to the Swatches panel. Give the shape the following fill color#F8BA73.

Step 19

Next, select the donut shape. Press CTRL + J (right click on it and select Duplicate) to duplicate the shape.

Step 20

Select the original donut shape (the one on the bottom). Hold CTRL + Shift and make it slightly smaller than the duplicated shape. Then, give the original shape the following fill color#F9C78F.

Step 21

Now, go to the Tools Panel. Grab the Pen tool. Take the pen tool and draw/outline the inner part of the donut (the duplicated shape).

Note: If you need to change the direction of the node handles. Hold the ALT key. This will also change the node from a Smooth curve to a Sharp curve.

Step 22

Once you have your shape drawn, go to the Tools Panel and select the Node tool (Press the A key for a shortcut).

Step 23

Now, select the new curve you created. Go to the Swatches panel and give it the following fill color#04F2F7.

Step 24

Select the duplicated donut shape (the bigger donut shape). Press CTRL + J (or right click and select Duplicate) to make a duplicate of it. You don’t have to name yours. I just did it for the tutorial.

Step 25

Next, take the new duplicated donut shape and drag it above the half donut shape in the Layers panel. You can do this by selecting it. Then, go to the Toolbar at the top and click Move Forward One.

Step 26

Next, take the new duplicated donut shape and drag it above the half donut shape in the Layers panel. You can do this by selecting it. Then, go to the Toolbar at the top and click Move Forward One.

Step 27

Go to the Tools Panel and grab the Pen tool. Draw a shape on top of the first duplicated donut shape where it meets the icing of the donut. Then, go to the Swatches panel and give the new curve the following fill color#F7AD5A.

Note: Go to the Tools panel and select the Node tool if you need to make any adjustments to your nodes. Also, you can hold the CTRL key, and then the Pen tool will change to the Node tool. Thus, allowing you to adjust the nodes.

Step 28

Now, go on the opposite side of the donut. Take the Pen tool and draw the same shape on the other side and give it the same fill color# F7AD5A. You can add nodes as needed.

Step 29

Next, go to the Tools panel and select the Rounded Rectangle tool. Draw a rectangle on part of the donut’s icing. With the rectangle selected, go to the Context toolbar. Then, set the Corner percentage to 50%.

Step 30

Resize the rounded rectangle and make it smaller to resemble a sprinkle.

Step 31

Next, give it a different fill color (#FCACE8) by going to the Swatches panel.

Step 32

After that, select the sprinkle shape. Press CTRL + J to make a duplicate of the shape. Then, give it a different fill color (#9D83ED).

Step 33

Do the previous steps a few times giving each duplicated sprinkle a different fill color. Then, rearrange the sprinkles on different areas of the icing of the donut.

Finally, we’ve finished the donut illustration in Affinity Designer. Let’s move on to the bonus part of this tutorial, the coffee cup! Continue watching the video to follow the steps to create the cup.

Here’s what the final image should look like after completing both the donut and the coffee illustrations

If you’ve enjoyed this tutorial, check out this Affinity Designer tutorial on how to create a car icon.