In today’s tutorial, we are going to create a stylish and minimal design typography poster for the letter B using some simple texture overlays and photoshop filters to create some stunning looks…
Final Image Preview
Before you start take a look at the final image you will be creating.
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Materials Needed:
Step 1: Create a new document
Open a new document in photoshop of size 800 by 1200 px using the default settings.
Generally i assume that we use an A3 document size with a resolution 300 ppi for creating a poster, since this tutorial is only for learning purpose, you can use your own resolution and size aspects.
Step 2: Background
Fill the background layer with black color using Edit->Fill and select Foreground color (Shift + F5). Before that please ensure that the default colors are used by pressing D, this will set the default foreground and background colors to black and white respectively.
Step 3: Add Noise to the background
Add some noise to the background layer using Filter->Noise->Add Noise. Set the amount to 2, choose Gaussian for the distribution and select the Monochromatic option.
Step 4: Render Fiber
Now we are going to create the letter B. For that create a new layer , we name the layer something like vertical bar for future reference and fill it with black and render some fibers using Filter -> Render ->Fibers using the variance as 16.0 and strength as 4.0
Step 5: Resize the vertical bar
Then resize the layer using Ctrl/Cmd + T to preferably the size shown above. This will form as the left side of the letter B.
Step 6: Making the bend part
Duplicate the vertical bar layer and name it as “bend part”. Now rotate the layer to change the bar from the vertical orientation to horizontal, use the Edit->Transform->Warp or by pressing Ctrl/Cmd + T and switch to warp mode.
Give 100% for the Bend settings and choose “Arc” as the Warp mode.
Step 7: Placing the arc structure
Now resize, rotate and place the arc like structure by the side of the vertical bar to get the upper part of the letter b as shown in the image below. Note that this layer will go below the vertical bar layer. Please ensure that you drag it down in the layers panel below the vertical bar layer.
Step 8: Duplicate the arc structure
Duplicate the arc like structure layer using Ctrl/Cmd + J or Layer->Duplicate Layer and place below the upper one so as to give the look of the letter B.
Step 9: Drop shadow
Now apply some drop shadow settings for the layers comprising the letter ,the vertical bar and the two arc structures using the settings, Distance=10, Spread=30 and Size=10.
Step 10: Add a gradient light
Create a new layer called “gradient light” and select the Gradient tool by pressing G, select the default Foreground to Background option and choose Radial for the gradient and make sure you check the Reverse option since we want white as the centre for the gradient. Now drag a small gradient from the centre of the document like the one above.Now change the blending mode of the gradient light layer to Soft Light.
Step 11: Add shadows
Create a new layer called shadows above the gradient light layer and use a soft brush of radius 200 px with 50% opacity and use black as the color. Now paint some spots with the brush here and there over the vertical bar and bend part layers of the letter more specifically over the edges of the letter and at the center. Change the blending mode the shadows layer to Darken.
Step 12: Making the border
Create a new layer called border for the poster border. Select the canvas by pressing Ctrl/Cmd + A or Select->Select All. Now transform the selection using Selection->Transform Selection, decrease the width and height of the selection to 97% and 98% respectively.
Creating smooth borders
For creating smooth poster borders, first you have to select the whole canvas and then resize the selection approximately smaller than the original, then smooth the selection and finally inverse the selection and fill it with a border color in a new layer, you can create subtle border looks by adjusting the blending mode of the border layer.
Here comes the important part, normally we see posters having some smooth corners around their borders, we are also going to make ours like the same, for that you have to smooth the selection using Select->Modify->Smooth. Give 10 for the radius.
Now inverse the selection using Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + I or using Select->Inverse. I think now we got the poster border. Please ensure that we are still working on the border layer, if not click on the border layer, and fill with a 50% grey color from the swatches or you can use any color of your choice, it doesn’t matter much, please see to that your border color blends well with the poster.
Step 13: Adding a texture
Here comes the final part for adding texture to our poster. You can use any texture image of your choice. I am using a grey paper texture. You can download it from here.
Open the texture image and select all using Ctrl/Cmd + A and copy and paste it on our document. Stretch it so that it fills the canvas.
Now change the blending mode of this texture layer to Overlay.
Conclusion
We’re finished! Hopefully you’ve picked up a few new techniques and had fun while doing so. Please share any of your personal creations in the comments for others to see! You can view the final image below or view a larger version here.