Create and assign a material

1. To create a new material asset in your project, from the main menu or the Project View context menu, select Assets > Create > Material.
2. To assign a shaderA program that runs on the GPU. More info
   See in Glossary to the material asset, in the InspectorA Unity window that displays information about the currently selected GameObject, asset or project settings, allowing you to inspect and edit the values. More info
   See in Glossary window use the Shader drop-down menu.

Assign a material asset to a GameObject

To render a GameObjectThe fundamental object in Unity scenes, which can represent characters, props, scenery, cameras, waypoints, and more. A GameObject’s functionality is defined by the Components attached to it. More info
See in Glossary using a material:

1. Add a component that inherits from Renderer. MeshRenderer is the most common and is suitable for most use cases, but SkinnedMeshRenderer, LineRenderer, or TrailRenderer might be more suitable if your GameObject has special requirements.
2. Assign the material asset to the component’s Material property.

To render a particle systemA component that simulates fluid entities such as liquids, clouds and flames by generating and animating large numbers of small 2D images in the scene. More info
See in Glossary in the Built-in Particle System using a material:

1. Add a Renderer Module to the Particle System.
2. Assign the material asset to the Renderer Module’s Material property.