Create a depression in a circle

Question

I am new to blender and trying to create an iPhone like model. This is what I have done so far:

^{Sorry about the black background I don't know why it exists :/}

I have successfully added:

1. The white body (mesh cube) of the iPhone.
2. The blue screen as a mesh plane.
3. The volume button (mesh cube) on the right.

I want to create a circular button on the iPhone body near the bottom. As you can see in this image:

the button is slightly depressed towards the bottom. I want to achieve similar effects.

So, I first inserted a Bezier curve and then converted it to mesh object using Alt+C. I have tried using Extrude (both individual and region) but they didn't work. This is my wireframe (without extrude):

My question:

Please explain how to depress the circle towards the bottom in the z-index?

Solution: Better way, Easier way

Answer 1

1. Start with a plane and add loops around the general square area that will contain the button.
2. Add additional loops to subdivide the square. These loops will provide additional vertices for our circular button.
3. Use Inset Polygon to create a smaller square area. Use LoopTools Circle to turn the insetted quads into a perfect circle.
4. Move the central vertex of the circle down in the Z-axis. This will create the depression.
5. Add definition by creating further edge loops around the circle.
6. Add a Subdivision Surface modifier and your done.

The resulting topology is all quads and neatly subdivides.

Answer 2

Create a UV-sphere, and remove all vertices you don't need. If you want you can lessen the depression by scaling it in the z-axis. Then rotate so that it aligns with your model.

Answer 3

Ok, so I finally understood how to do this project:

1. Create a UV sphere. Remove its top vertices in edit mode.
2. Change its depression by scaling in the z-axis.
3. Position it over the iPhone body, on the place where you want the depression to be.
4. Use the Knife Project tool to create a hole in in the iPhone body.
5. Translate in the z-axis to make button completely fit in the hole.

The result is a neat button with shadows also!