In this tutorial I will show you how to make a book UI icon for games or other projects in Blender.
Modeling
I will be using a circle to begin making the book
I add a circle with 24 vertices – rotating it around the X-Axis by 90-degrees
In edit mode, I delete most of the vertices on the right-side – this will be the spine of the book
I select the top and bottom vertices and extrude them out along the X-Axis
I then extrude these vertices a second time along the X-Axis
I select all of the vertices and use the E + S keys, I add some thickness
I select the outer vertices of the covers and scale them by zero along the X-Axis
I select all of the vertices and extrude it back along the Y-Axis
I select all of the interior vertices and use the F-key to add a face to each side of the book – this will be the pages of the book
I add a horizontal edge to the longest page face – moving it back along the X-Axis
I then add a bevel with multiple cuts to add a bend to the pages
I add an edge loop to the smallest parts of the spine
I move the edge along the Z-Axis
I can then add a bevel to make these parts of the book – separating the spine from the front and back covers
I add a curve object and rotate it around the Z-Axis by 90-degrees
In edit mode, I scale and move the curve into place for the bookmark
I move the vertices to give the bookmark an interesting shape
Under the object data properties tab, I change the resolution preview to 4 so the mesh won’t be so dense
In object mode, I right-click and convert the curve into a mesh
In edit mode, I extrude the vertices along the X-Axis
I add a center loop cut and use it to shape the bookmark
*In edit mode, I use ALT + E to scale the pages
I select the pages and use the P-key to separate them
I do this with the front cover and back cover as well
UV Unwrapping
Under the UV editing workspace, I select the inner- and outer curves of the spine and one horizontal edge along the bottom
I select the object, right-click and select “mark seams”
I then use the U-key to unwrap the object
I select the pages and select the two vertical edges
I select the object, right-click and select “mark seams”
I then use the U-key to unwrap the object
I select the front cover and select the front vertical edges, the horizontal top and bottom edges, and one edge along the back
I select the object, right-click and select “mark seams”
I then use the U-key to unwrap the object
I repeat these steps for the back cover of the book
For the bookmark, I can simply unwrap it
I make a new 2K UV map
I select all of the objects and in edit mode, I unwrap everything onto one UV map
I turn on the UV sync option
I select the bottom page face and rotate it into position
I repeat this process for each of the islands – this will help when I use another program to paint the textures
Once I have everything separated and in the correct orientation, I move and scale everything to fit within the UV space
I select all of the objects and under the UV menu, I select “export UV layout”
Textures
I used Adobe Illustrator to make my textures but you can use Photoshop, Krita, Affinity Designer, GIMP, etc. – whatever you have access to and feel comfortable using
I won’t bore you with the details of how I did the texture but I will take you through the general process
The important thing to remember is to place your texture on layers beneath the exported UV
When you do save this texture, make sure to turn the UV layer off so it won’t show up on the model
For the front cover I add a simple dark blue color – with a darker shader on the front cover that is facing the pages
I also add this same blue to the edges of the front cover
I made a simple decorative piece with a gold color to add to the front cover
For the back cover, I added a darker shade of the blue I used on the front cover
I also made a slightly darker shade for the very bottom of the back cover
The blue color was also added to the edges of the back cover
For the spine, I used the same blue as the front cover
I used the darker shade on the bottom face of the spine
I also added some blue and gold decorations
I add a red color for the bookmark
I then used the pen tool to add a gold decoration to the bookmark
I also added a rectangle to act as a shadow to the top of the bookmark
For the pages, I used the gradient tool to make a gradient for the pages
I used the pen tool to add some page indicators
In Blender, I add an image texture node and open the texture I just exported