You The Designer » Tutorials

How to Make a Smokin’ Nightclub Flyer

Geno Arguelles — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:00:11 +0000

Nightclub flyers are a staple of club events and parties. Like other promotional tools, they should provide the who, what, where and when of the event. But in addition to providing the essentials, nightclub flyers are supposed to be eye candy that attract guests and help whet their appetite for the upcoming party. With these pointers in mind, we tried our hand at designing a nightclub flyer. Check it out!

For this design, we used different shades of neon pink and violet on top of a black background.

We positioned the title of the event near the center of the print and made sure that it had a distinct font size and color.

We picked an illustration that gives a preview to the type of mood guests can expect during the event.

We’ve placed the sponsors at the bottom of the print. A few inches above them are the featured performers of the event.

Need practice creating nightclub flyers, or want to do a Photoshop exercise? Follow our lead and recreate this night club flyer from scratch using Adobe Photoshop CS5.

Tutorial Assets

Dancing girl

Vector dancing girl silhouette

Abstract lights

Step 1

Create a new document and copy the settings below.

Now double click the layer, hit OK and name it “Background.” Afterwards, add a gradient to it by double clicking “Background”.

Check the Gradient Overlay and copy the settings below.

Using the pen tool, trace around the picture of the girl and paste it on the background.

Step 2

We’ll then add more color to the background. Create a new layer (Ctrl+Shift+N) and name it “dots.” Select brush tool (B) and start putting big and small dots on the background. Make sure that you set the Hardness to 0 and Brush opacity from 10% to 40%. Use these colors for your brush: Violet=EA00FF/ Blue=004CBD

After combining the two layers, this is how it should look like.

Step 3

Create a new layer (Ctrl+Shift+N) and add a backlight by selecting brush tool. Use the same shade of Violet=EA00FF and set the opacity to 100. This time, set the Blending Mode to “Linear Dodge (Add).”

To make the light brighter, add a smaller white brush on top of the violet brush then set the Blending Mode to “Linear Dodge (Add)” Linear Dodge illuminates the base color and reflects the blend color.

Scatter the light more by repeating the process above. Try to experiment with different sizes and opacities. Afterwards, lower the saturation of the girl by -40 (Ctrl+U). This is what we came up with.

Step 4

Open this image of abstract lights in Illustrator and paste it to your artwork in Photoshop. Paste (Ctrl+V) it and choose “Pixels.”

Desaturate it by pressing Ctrl+Shift+U.

“Send Backward” by pressing “Ctrl [" several times until you're one layer above "background."

Erase the edges of the abstract lights. Use 0 (zero) hardness of eraser tool so it'll blend with the background effectively.

Step 5

And now for the fun part! Add a light streak around the girl's body. Create a new layer and name it "light streak." Select Pen tool (P) and make sure you select this icon (refer to image below) on the upper left part of Photoshop.

Draw a swirly line around the girl's body.

Select a white brush (B) [10 px; 0% hardness] with a 100% opacity. Right click and apply the setting below.

Again, select Pen tool, right click and click Stroke Path.

Choose “Simulate Pressure” on the checkbox and hit “OK.”

By now, you should have a white line spiraling around the girl. Delete the path by pressing “Delete” on your keyboard. Your artwork should look something like this.

Add more glow to that swirl by double clicking “light streak” layer and following the settings below.

Now erase some parts of the light streak by using the Eraser tool (E).

Remove the lower part of the girl’s body using the Eraser tool with 50% opacity.

Step 6

Add some nice silhouettes of dancing people behind her. Use Illustrator to cut this part out.

Paste the image to Photoshop and position the silhouettes just like in the image below. Name these layers “girl silhouette left” and “girl silhouette right.” Afterwards, select the two layers by clicking the second layer while holding “Ctrl.” Press Ctrl+[ several times until you’re above “dots” layer.

This is how it should look like now.

Step 7

The initial design is finished. Now we’ll add some important information about the event.

Using the Pen tool, draw a triangular shape on the upper left part of your design.

Next, draw a rounded rectangle above the girl’s arms.

Use the setting below.

For the text: just click “T” and start typing using “Arial” as your font.

Lower Kerning to -80.

Add some effects on the event title by double clicking that layer and following these settings.

The event title should look like this.

Make sure to include the name, date, featured performers and location of the event on your design. And don’t forget to add the sponsors near the bottom of the flyer.

And there ya have it!

For questions, suggestions and any reactions regarding this tutorial, please leave a comment. Thank you!

Surreal Photo Manipulation Tutorial – YTD Exclusive

Geno Arguelles — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:00:40 +0000

A surreal artwork, as its name suggests, is characterized by elements and situations that are dreamlike or out of this world. It would require someone to have a wide (or wild) imagination to come up with a Surrealist inspired concept. And it takes a whole lot of skill and practice to be able to execute these ideas into a great work of photo manipulation using Photoshop.

With the help of YTD resident graphic artist Geno, we have come up with a step by step photo manipulation tutorial featuring his latest surrealist inspired artwork. Follow our lead and recreate this cool example of surreal photo manipulation.

-The YTD Team

Stock Photos and Other Tutorial Assets

Step 1

Let’s start by creating a new document in Photoshop. Create new (CTRL+N).

Select U.S. paper then rotate the canvas 90 degrees (Image > Image Rotation 90 degrees CW).

Step 2

Drag the image of the girl to the canvas and isolate it using the pen tool. Set the feather to 1.5 pixels.

Step 3

Surround the girl with the image of the sea. Press CTRL+U and set your background (the sea) to -180 hue and -60 saturation. For the girl, set the saturation to -70. So it should look something like this.

Step 4

We will then use the dodge and burn tool to make the image pop more. Start by dodging all the lighter parts of the image and make sure to adjust the brush size according to the size of the highlighted part. Use midtone, but limit the exposure to 5-10 percent. Just be patient and stroke it as if you were holding a real brush. Do the same for the burn tool and work on the dark parts of the image.

DO NOT overdo it! Ideally, this is how the artwork should like at this point.

Step 5

To make you work truly surrealistic, you have to play around with the image of the girl by liquifying it until it attains a deformed shape. Just experiment with the tools on the liquify section by going to Filter > Liquify and try out whatever tool you like (Bloat tool, Push left tool or Mirror tool).

You’ll also need to darken the girl’s image a little bit. Just drag the curves down a bit as shown in the image below.

By now, you should have the core of your artwork in place.

Step 6

You still have a lot of space to play with here. So how about adding some floating objects? Mirrors would be perfect.

Add details to each mirror. First, create a mirror effect for the eye using the polygonal lasso tool (press “L”). Just trace around the area you would like to reflect.

Duplicate it (CTRL+J) then press Transform (CTRL+T). Afterwards, right click and click “flip horizontal.”

Once more, right click it and choose “distort.” Fit the image inside the frame.

How about adding a creepy hand that reaches out from inside the mirror?

Again, lower the saturation to -60 and apply dodge and burn.

Lastly, copy a portion of the sky background and place it under the frame.

Step 7

Add yet more detail! Place a tiny keyhole on the girl’s forehead. Position it right at the center of her forehead.

Name the image ”keyhole,” then double click that layer and check gradient overlay. Just follow the settings shown at the image below (click to enlarge).

Click “CTRL+J and CTRL+[” and double click that layer (keyhole copy). Check color overlay, color it white (“ffffff”), then uncheck gradient overlay. Press both the down arrow key and left arrow key twice and you’ll come up with this image.

To make the hole look genuine (and not resemble a giant mole), just draw a tiny hook like shape inside the primary keyhole layer.

Double click that layer and copy the settings shown below.

Add a rotten apple on the girl’s head and repeat the dodge and burn method.

Step 8

Add a back light to the artwork.

Go to layers panel. Select the top layer and create a new layer (SHIFT+CTRL+N)–name your layer “backlight.” Choose a soft white brush, set capacity to 10-15 and start painting around the areas that you wish to illuminate.

This is how it should look like afterwards.

Step 9

For this next step, we will tweak the details a bit to make them blend with the dreamlike atmosphere.

Make the frame look like it’s melting. Select the smudge tool, set the strength to any percent you like and smudge the bottom edge of the frame while holding “shift” key. Holding the shift key will make a straight vertical smudge. Try to play with different brush sizes and strength levels to achieve best results.

Add ravens on the frames and liquify the hands to make them look they’re trying to grab something. Turn this dream into a nightmare.

Step 10

Make the artwork more gloomy. Draw a teardrop underneath the girl’s eyes.

Go to the layers panel. Set the fill to 0% and set the layer style to these settings. (click the picture to enlarge)

At this point, the teardrop looks flat. So we’ll have to add a glimmer effect on the edge of the teardrop by creating a new layer (SHIFT+CTRL+N). Click brush tool with 0% hardness. Hit CTRL+T, right click, then warp it to the shape shown below. Repeat the process for the right eye.

Finally, place a caged key parallel to the girl. As you may have realized by now, this artwork is full of symbols. But none will be as powerful as this final piece you have added.

Step 11

For the finishing touches, we’re going to tweak the colors of the artwork a little bit. Flatten image (CTRL+F) first then go to Image > Adjustments > Shadow/Highlights and follow these settings.

Duplicate layer (CTRL+J) then change the blending mode to “Soft Light.”

Go to filter > Other > High Pass and set the radius to 4 pixels. Flatten the image before going to Layer > New adjustment layer > Gradient map. Choose this gradient.

Just set the capacity to 7% and you’re done!

Again, here’s the finished product.

We hope you liked our Surreal Photo Manipulation Tutorial–the first of a series of tutorials we’re planning to publish here at YouTheDesigner.

32 Brilliant Poster Design Tutorials In Photoshop

Prakash Ghodke — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 15:30:23 +0000

Posters are great avenues to showcase one’s creativity. They allow artists to express themselves in countless ways. Unlike other print media, posters do not limit designers with certain layouts and design requirements. You can even use any design element that you wish.

One popular way of creating awesome poster designs is through Photoshop. In today’s post, we have compiled 32 brilliant poster designs and links on how they were done. We’re pretty certain you’ll learn something new even if you’re already a seasoned designer. Feel free to follow the respective sources and leave a comment below if there are any poster design tutorials you want to share.

You The Designer » Tutorials

How to Make a Smokin’ Nightclub Flyer

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Surreal Photo Manipulation Tutorial – YTD Exclusive

Stock Photos and Other Tutorial Assets

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Step 8

Step 9

Step 10

Step 11

32 Brilliant Poster Design Tutorials In Photoshop

Make a Retro Space Themed Poster in Photoshop

Making a Superhero Movie Teaser Poster

Design the Pirates of the Caribbean Movie Poster

Creating a Spectrum Poster Design in Photoshop

Design a Swiss Style Music Festival Poster in Photoshop

Create a Black Swan Inspired Movie Poster

Design a Vintage Style Swissair Travel Poster In Photoshop

Design a Simple Textured Typographic Poster in Photoshop

Make a Vintage Planetary Landscape Poster in Photoshop

Create a Wild Western “Wanted” Poster in Photoshop

How to Create a Mysterious Poster Design with 3D Text

Design a Grunge Vintage Poster in Photoshop

How To Create a Vintage Style Zombie Movie Poster

Create Abstract Poster Effects

Create a Retro Sci-fi Movie Monster in Photoshop

Create a Stylish Grunge Poster with 3D Typography in Photoshop

Design a Grungy, Rock & Roll Gig Poster

Design a Retro Styled Poster

Create a Futuristic Portrait Poster in Photoshop

Create a Remarkable Poster with Decorative Elements

Combine Stock Photography to Create an Abstract Poster Layout

Master Retro Poster Design

Create a Retro Urban Gig Poster in Photoshop

Inception Poster with Repousse in Photoshop CS5

Create a Fantastic Abstract Fan Poster

Create Punk Poster Art

How to Design a Geometric Poster in Photoshop

How to Create an Intense Movie Poster in Photoshop

Create a Mix Retro and Vector Poster in Photoshop and Illustrator

Create a Stylish Retro Futuristic Poster in Photoshop

Create a Refreshing Beer Themed Poster Design in Photoshop

Design a Classic Serif Poster

Must-Learn Photo Manipulation Tutorials You’ll Enjoy Checking Out

How to Create a Steampunk Style Illustration in Photoshop

Money Style Illustration in Photoshop

Spirit Dove

Painting Liquid Figures

Create an Intricate Mythological Statue

Create a Surreal Photo Manipulation

The Dancer – Dynamic Liquid Splash Effect

Trap Your Friends in a Jar Using Photoshop

Create a Burning Effect

The Fourth Kind

Photo Manipulate a Falling Angel

Create a Divine Angel Montage in Photoshop

Making of a Sexy Humanoid

Water Effect Photo Montage

Checkmate

Create a Cosmic Love Goddess With Photoshop CS5

Create an Incredible Fantasy Photo Manipulation

Design a Spectral Photo Manipulation

Creating a Smoke Fading Effect

Create a Funky Perspective of a Model Riding Digital Volume

Grunge Stone Woman Photo Manipulation in Photoshop

Transforming the Image of a Girl into a Milk Figure

Creating a Sexy Mechanical Pin-Up Girl

Create a Face Paint Dripping Effect

Deserted