We will create this twisting colorful icon graphic in Adobe Illustrator today. Use the shape tools and pathfinder to build the base of the shape first. Then, start applying transparent gradients and layer blending modes to build the edges of the shape and each facet of it. We will use a special gradient trick to create a spinning rainbow gradient, and much more!

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These are my recording notes from the time of making this video:

Make a donut base shape. (with copies of each shape.)

Create initial two swoosh shapes. 440x375px for the top shape.z

Add first gradients to copies of the swoosh shapes. (Overlay)

Change the color of the base donut shape. Duplicate the shape and add a white—black gradient set to Overlay.

Duplicate the donut shape and move up to just below the swoosh gradient shapes. The gradient should be the inner shadow of the shape. Use a black-white-black radial gradient. Set the layer to Overlay and adjust the opacity.

Duplicate the base ellipse shape and swap the fill and stroke. Make the stroke 300pt and apply the colorful gradient around the stroke. Drag this into the layer stack to look good.

Change the color of each handle to red, orange, green, blue, and the same red we started with.

#ce2951 — #e5ab05 — #32ba45 — #677fd3 — #ce2951

Duplicate the donut shape and add a dark-to-light gradient set to Overlay near the top of the layer stack to darken the bottom of the donut shape.

Duplicate both top swoosh shapes and get rid of the fill. Add a 4pt white stroke and align the stroke to the outside of the shape. Tweak the corners with the Direct Selection tool to get the strokes to fade off the shape a little more. Group the stroke shapes and add a radial gradient mask to the center to fade the strokes off of the edges if needed.

Duplicate the donut shape and both swoosh shapes and pull them to the top. Use the divide pathfinder to cut into four swoosh shapes. Get rid of any tiny paths that get created along the way.

Add a shadow gradient to each of the four swooshes to add some depth to the ring. (Overlay)

Duplicate those swooshes and add a highlight gradient to each of the four swooshes. (Color Dodge)

Tweak and adjust and play with the object until it looks right.