Post pobrano z: How to Create a Design-Inspired Photo Manipulation for Twitter/Facebook Banners

Are you an aspiring designer with a special gift? Show off your levitation skills with a photo manipulation. Make a creative banner you can apply to all your social accounts.

In this tutorial, we’ll learn how to build a designer-inspired photo manipulation using a few stocks and 3D objects in Adobe Photoshop.

Get inspired! Find more amazing design resources on Envato Market.

See a larger view of this banner.

Tutorial Assets

The following assets were used in the production of this tutorial:

• Designer Stock #1
• Designer Stock #2
• Camera
• Molecule
• Laptop
• Plant
• Wood Table
• Gray Background
• Cue Ball
• Facebook Charity Cover Set

1. How to Use 3D Objects

You can make any object levitate easily in Photoshop. And the best way to do it is to take advantage of 3D objects.

3D objects generate still images of the angle you desire. I can make the office plant, for instance, fall off the table in this manipulation (for more dimension) by choosing a good angle.

So before you get started, take a good look at the stocks we’ll be using. In order to make this scene work, I’ll need a few 3D assets from Envato Elements.

For a more in-depth look at how I use 3D objects, check out this tutorial:

• Photo Manipulation
  How to Create a Forest Self-Portrait Photo Manipulation in Adobe Photoshop
  Melody Nieves

Once you’re ready to get started, download all the angles you’ll need for each 3D object.

Here are the specific views I’ll be using in this tutorial.

1. Camera
2. Molecule
3. Laptop
4. Cue Ball
5. Plant

Hit View 360 Render for each object and try your best to match these angles. Then download them with your subscription.

Now that we have all the resources, let’s get started!

2. How to Build the Manipulation

Social media banners, especially the ones on Twitter, are stretched wide. If you use a normal photo for the banner, it gets compressed pretty badly and cropped even worse.

Here are some possible scenarios I’d hate to go with in headers #1 and #2.

Normal photos just won’t crop well.

For this manipulation, I’ll be warping the scene to make something similar to a panorama shot like in #3.

This will allow me to bypass some of the cropping problems by creating an entire composition from scratch that stretches, or pans from one side of the banner to the other.

To do this, I’ll need to take the original Designer Stock and break it apart. Then I’ll rebuild the scene with the main character and other elements using a few new stocks for filler.

Step 1

Create a New Document in Photoshop at 1500 x 500 px.

Copy and Paste Designer Stock #1 onto a New Layer towards the middle of the banner. Make ample room for the other details.

See how much space we have to fill?

Step 2

Let’s break the image apart. Remove the designer first.

Select the stock and use the Polygonal Lasso Tool (L) to make a selection. Then hit Control-J to Paste the selection onto a New Layer above it. Add a Layer Mask and refine the edges of the designer with a Hard Round Brush.

Step 3

Next, I’ll remove the main computer. We’ll create an entirely new background with just these two pieces from the original stock.

Follow the same steps as before to remove the computer. Add a Layer Mask and refine the edges.

1. Use the Polygonal Tool (L) to select the computer.
2. Control-J to Paste it onto its own New Layer.
3. The stand might get awkwardly cut here. Use the Polygonal Tool (L) again to select it, and then switch to the Move Tool (V) to center the stand more. In future shots, you’ll see that I painted over the hand and pen with colors from the computer using the Brush Tool (B).

Step 4

Let’s start building the composition again with the new pieces. Hide the computer layer.

Since the model gets cut off, we’ll rebuild him using a different photo from this stock series.

Make a selection of the designer from Designer Stock #2 and Copy and Paste it onto a New Layer beneath the designer layer. Add a Layer Mask to refine the edges and position him to match up with the old photo.

Step 5

Create a simple wooden desk.

1. Select the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) and make a selection of the wood from this Wood Table stock. Copy and Paste it onto a New Layer below the designer layer. Hold Control-T to Free Transform and Skew the perspective of the wood for a much longer desk.
2. Position the desk as shown. Continue to adjust the perspective if necessary.

Note: This desk will be skewed to help the panorama vibe. But feel free to create your own desk setup.

Step 6

Unhide the computer layer.

Use the Free Transform Tool (Control-T) to make it smaller. Position the computer in the center of the desk. Don’t worry about any rough edges—we’ll clean them up later.

Step 7

Let’s add a background. Copy and Paste the Gray Background onto a New Layer.

Flip it by going to Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal.

Then resize it and position it behind the computer.

Add a slight blur. Select the layer and go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur, adding a Radius of 2.5 px.

3. How to Make 3D Objects Levitate

Step 1

Now that the majority of our scene is built, we need to add the levitating objects.

First, add the Molecule.

Copy and Paste the molecule angle you’ve downloaded onto a New Layer above the rest. Use the Free Transform Tool (Control-T) to rotate the angle and place it floating next to the designer.

Add a Layer Mask to remove the parts of the molecule that would be covered by his arm. This will help create more depth of field.

Step 2

Move on to the other 3D objects.

Next, we’ll add the Camera, Laptop, and Cue Ball.

Follow the same steps as before. This time, position the camera below the designer’s eye level. Then add the laptop on the right.

Balance everything out with the cue ball on the far left. Then go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and add a Radius of 4 px.

Step 3

The last 3D object we’ll add is the Office Plant.

Extract the plant and Paste it onto a New Layer above the rest. Free Transform (Control-T) to Rotate the angle so that the plant appears to be falling off the desk.

Add a slight Gaussian Blur of 2 px.

Looking great so far!

4. How to Adjust the Lighting and Colors

Now that the majority of our objects are set in place, we can add Adjustment Layers and more to fix the colors, light, and shadows.

Here is our composition so far.

Step 1

Let’s begin with the lighting.

Create a New Adjustment Layer of Curves above all the others.

Adjust the curve for the RGB Channel as shown. Make the overall scene darker.

Step 2

Next, add a New Adjustment Layer of Color Lookup.

Set the 3D LUTFile to 2Strip.look and the Layer Blend Mode to Hue. Lower the Opacity to 60% for a much warmer tone.

Step 3

Now add a New Adjustment Layer of Selective Color.

Add the following adjustments for the Greens, Reds, Whites, and Neutral colors.

Here’s the result so far.

Step 4

The entire lighting of the scene has been adjusted for a more sunset appearance, so now we have to tweak the lighting of some objects individually—starting with the man.

Select the designer 2 layer. Set a new Curves Adjustment Layer as a Clipping Mask to the designer. Adjust the curves for the RGB, Green and Blue Channels as shown.

Try to match the lighting of his body from the original photo.

Step 5

Next, set a New Adjustment Layer of Hue and Saturation as a Clipping Mask to the molecule.

Adjust the values as shown for a darker molecule. This will create a slight silhouette appearance.

Step 6

Do the same for the camera.

Set a new Adjustment Layer of Hue and Saturation as a Clipping Mask to the camera. Adjust the values as shown for a darker look.

Step 7

Now darken the laptop.

Set a New Adjustment Layer of Curves as a Clipping Mask to the laptop. Adjust the curves for the RGB, Blue and Green Channels as shown below.

5. How to Finish the Manipulation

Great job so far!

To finish up this manipulation, we’ll continue to tweak the lighting while adding smart brand elements for your website.

By changing the screen, you can switch out the photo for your website screenshot for better marketing appeal.

Step 1

Let’s customize the screen!

We need to trace over the grass photo so we can swap it out for different websites.

Select the Pen Tool (P) and set it to Shape. Trace over the grass field photo with a white sold Fill. Then Right-click and go to Define Custom Shape. Name the new shape Screen.

By creating a new custom shape of the computer screen, you’ll have it in your preset shape settings for the future, whenever you want to switch the photo.

Then Right-click the screen shape layer and go to Convert to Smart Object.

Turning this shape into a smart object means we can update the website screenshot at any time.

Double-click the smart object and Paste a screenshot of your website onto a New Layer. It will appear at the wrong angle at first, so make sure to use the Free Transform Tool (Control-T) to adjust the perspective.

Here, I used the Envato Tuts+ main website.

Then use a Layer Mask to mask out the bottom right window from your screenshot.

Step 2

Next, customize the laptop screen.

Here I’ll use the Envato Elements website. Follow the same steps as before. First, create a new custom shape, and then Convert it to a Smart Object. Update the smart object with a website screenshot at the right perspective. If necessary, apply a blur.

This one is a little tricky, so keep playing with the perspective until it works.

Here is the composition with both screens replaced.

Step 3

Great!

Once you’ve replaced the screens, we can concentrate on cleaning up these details.

Create a New Layer above the rest.

Clean up the line that separates the designer’s pictures. Set the Foreground Color to various parts of his skin, shirt, and outfit using the Eyedropper Tool (E). Then paint over those areas to blend the photos together with a Soft Round Brush (B).

Step 4

On that same layer, paint some shadows around the office environment.

Try not to over-complicate the shadows. Just choose a tone that is a shade darker than the colors in that area.

Use a mixture of Hard and Soft Brushes to paint shadows behind the computer behind the laptop, and on the desk.

Step 5

Brighten up the main computer screen.

Select the Custom Shape Tool (U) and select the screen shape you created earlier. Create a new shape that covers the website with a bright yellow color #e9efde. Then set the Layer Blend Mode to Overlay.

That should do the trick!

Continue working on the light.

Step 6

Create a New Layer above the rest. Set the Layer Blend Mode to Overlay. Use a Soft Round Brush with 30% Opacity to paint bright yellow #f6f9f2 around the screens, objects, and designer. Adjust the Layer Opacity as needed.

Step 7

Let’s start to wrap things up with a few more color adjustments. Give the scene a blueish tone.

Add a New Adjustment Layer of Selective Color above the rest.

Adjust the values for the Reds, Neutrals, and Whites as shown below.

For a slightly faded effect, add a New Adjustment Layer of Color Lookup.

Set the 3DLUT File to FoggyNight.3DL.

Then set the Layer Blend Mode to Lighten and the Opacity to 25%.

Step 8

Darken the table for a richer tone.

Add a New Adjustment Layer of Curves, and Right-click to set it as a Clipping Mask to the table layer. Lower the curve for the RGB Channel for a darker wood.

Step 9

Take this opportunity to make one last New Layer.

Use this layer to paint over any mistakes and add highlights or any remaining details. I mostly needed to fix the computer stand since it was originally cut off by the man’s hand.

Check out the final variations below!

6. How to Make Banner Variations

Now that you’ve got your Twitter/Facebook banner, how does it look?

Twitter/Facebook

Here’s the final result below. I applied it to my Twitter background (at a compressed size of 1252×417 pixels) to see it in action.

For Facebook covers, feel free to resize to 851×315 pixels. Crop if necessary.

Without Websites

Don’t want to change the screens? Here is the how the banner will look without the screen changes.

More Branding

Another variation you can take is to add additional branding. Here I added more Envato Tuts+ branding elements by using one of the PSD templates from this Facebook Charity Cover Set.

See a Larger Version

If you haven’t already, check out this larger version.

All Done! Great Job!

Social media banners are a fantastic way to show off your skills as a designer. Personalize any account with an intriguing banner to gain more influence.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial! Share your comments and results below.

For more photo manipulation tutorials like this one, check out these links:

• Photo Manipulation
  How to Create a Sci-Fi, Robot Photo Manipulation in Adobe Photoshop
  Melody Nieves

• Photo Manipulation
  How to Create a Vintage Portrait Photo Manipulation in Adobe Photoshop
  Melody Nieves

Post pobrano z: How to Create an Easy Ice Text Effect in Adobe Photoshop

This tutorial will show you how to use layer styles, with simple shapes and textures, to create an easy ice effect in Photoshop. 

This text effect was inspired by the many Layer Styles available on GraphicRiver, like this 3D Ice Cool, Freeze and Snow Effects Styles pack.

Let’s get started!

Tutorial Assets

The following assets were used during the production of this tutorial:

• Kornik font
• Textures – Golds, Whites, And Greys by snowmanjester
• Heavy Snow Texture by incolor16
• Free Pack 6000 photoshop gradients by Supertuts007 (Load the CSP True Sky Gradients.grd file.)

1. Create the Background Shape

Step 1

Create a new 1000 x 650 px document.

Step 2

Pick the Rectangle Tool, and create a rectangle that covers the bottom part of the document. Rename the rectangle layer to Ground.

Step 3

Create another rectangle that covers the upper part, and rename its layer to Back.

2. How to Style a Ground Shape

Double-click the Ground layer to apply the following layer style:

Step 1

Add an Inner Shadow with these settings:

• Blend Mode: Linear Burn
• Color: #9cb0be
• Opacity: 15%
• Distance: 0
• Size: 250

Step 2

Add a Gradient Overlay with these settings:

• Check the Dither box
• Blend Mode: Linear Burn
• Opacity: 20%
• Style: Radial
• Scale: 150%
• Create a Transparent to Fill Color gradient fill using Black on both sides.

Step 3

Click the + icon next to the Gradient Overlay tab to add another Gradient Overlay effect with these settings:

• Check the Dither box.
• Check the Reverse box.
• Use the shown Gradient fill from the CSP True Sky Gradients file.

Step 4

Click the first Gradient Overlay tab again, and then click-drag inside the document to move the gradient so that the light is near the upper part of the rectangle.

This is how the first rectangle should look.

3. How to Copy and Paste Layer Styles

Step 1

Right-click the Ground layer, choose Copy Layer Style, and then right-click the Back layer and choose Paste Layer Style.

Double-click the Back layer to uncheck the Reverse box in the second Gradient Overlay effect.

Step 2

This will style the back rectangle. If needed, move any gradient fills as you did before.

4. How to Adjust a Background

Step 1

Click the Create new fill or adjustment layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose Hue/Saturation.

Step 2

Change the Hue to -3, the Saturation to -25, and the Lightness to -20.

Step 3

Add a Gradient fill layer. Create a Transparent to Fill Color gradient fill using a Black color on both sides.

Then, change the Style to Radial and the Scale to 200, and check the Dither box.

Step 4

Change the Gradient layer’s Blend Mode to Soft Light.

Step 5

Place the Textures – Golds, Whites, And Greys image on top of all layers, rename its layer to BG Texture, and resize it as needed.

Step 6

Go to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate, and then change the BG Texture layer’s Blend Mode to Soft Light.

5. How to Create Text Layers

Step 1

Create the text in All Caps using the font Kornik.

Then, set the Color to #367497, the Size to 250 pt, and the Tracking value to 25.

Step 2

Duplicate the text layer, change the copy’s Fill value to 0, and then duplicate the copy layer.

6. How to Style the Original Text Layer

Double-click the original text layer to apply the following layer style:

Step 1

Add a Bevel and Emboss with these settings:

• Style: Emboss
• Technique: Chisel Soft
• Depth: 200
• Size: 10
• Uncheck the Use Global Light box
• Angle: 60
• Altitude: 50
• Gloss Contour: Sawtooth 1
• Check the Anti-aliased box
• Highlight Mode:
  • Opacity: 20%
• Shadow Mode: Screen
  • Color: #ffffff
  • Opacity: 80%

Step 2

Add a Contour with these settings:

• Contour: Rolling Slope – Ascending
• Check the Anti-aliased box.
• Range: 100%

Step 3

Add an Inner Glow with these settings:

• Blend Mode: Linear Light
• Opacity: 50%
• Color: #edf1f4
• Technique: Precise
• Source: Center
• Size: 90
• Contour: Gaussian
• Check the Anti-aliased box

Step 4

Add a Satin with these settings:

• Blend Mode: Screen
• Color: #afcbea
• Opacity: 50%
• Angle: 30
• Distance: 38
• Size: 50
• Contour: Cone – Inverted
• Check the Anti-aliased box
• Check the Invert box

Step 5

Add a Gradient Overlay with these settings:

• Blend Mode: Multiply
• Opacity: 70%
• Create a Fill Color to Transparent gradient fill using the colors #275c8d to the left and #274a71 to the right.

Step 6

Add an Outer Glow with these settings:

• Blend Mode: Soft Light
• Opacity: 50%
• Color: #b9dfff
• Spread: 20
• Size: 10
• Contour: Cove – Deep
• Check the Anti-aliased box
• Range: 80%

Step 7

Change the text layer’s Fill value to 20%.

7. How to Style the First Copy Text Layer

Double-click the first copy text layer to apply the following layer style:

Step 1

Add a Bevel and Emboss with these settings:

• Technique: Chisel Hard
• Size: 50
• Gloss Contour: Ring
• Check the Anti-aliased box
• Highlight Mode: Soft Light
  • Opacity: 50%
• Shadow Mode: Soft Light
  • Color: #f4ffff
  • Opacity: 70%

Step 2

Add a Contour with these settings:

• Contour: Cove – Deep
• Check the Anti-aliased box.

Step 3

Add an Inner Shadow with these settings:

• Blend Mode: Linear Burn
• Color: #8699a6
• Opacity: 100%
• Distance: 0
• Size: 35

This will style the second text layer.

8. How to Style the Second Copy Text Layer

Double-click the second copy text layer to apply the following layer style:

Step 1

Add a Bevel and Emboss with these settings:

• Technique: Chisel Hard
• Size: 50
• Uncheck the Use Global Light box
• Angle: -158
• Altitude: 64
• Check the Anti-aliased box
• Highlight Mode: Linear Light
  • Opacity: 50%
• Shadow Mode: Linear Burn
  • Color: #90abc8
  • Opacity: 100%

Step 2

Add a Contour with these settings:

• Contour: Cove – Deep
• Check the Anti-aliased box.

Step 3

Add a Texture with these settings:

• Pattern: Molecular
• Depth: 5%

Step 4

Add a Pattern Overlay with these settings:

• Blend Mode: Soft Light
• Pattern: Satin

Step 5

Add an Outer Glow with these settings:

• Opacity: 35%
• Color: #7ab6ef
• Spread: 20
• Size: 30

This will finish off the ice effect.

9. How to Create a Reflection

Step 1

Duplicate all three text layers you have, go to Layer > Merge Layers, and rename the merged layer to Reflection.

Step 2

Press Command-T to enter the Free Transform Mode, and then right-click the bounding box and choose Flip Vertical.

Step 3

Move the reflection text right below the original text, and hit the Return key to accept the changes.

Step 4

Right-click the Reflection layer, choose Convert to Smart Object, and then change its Blend Mode to Soft Light and place it below the original text layer.

Step 5

Go to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur, and change the Angle to 90 and the Distance to 10.

Step 6

Click the Add layer mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel to add a mask.

Step 7

Pick the Gradient Tool, set the Foreground and Background Colors back to Black and White, and select the Reflection layer mask’s thumbnail.

Choose the Foreground to Transparent fill in the Options bar, and make sure that the Linear Gradient icon is active.

Now hold the Shift key and drag from about over the top of the original text to right outside the document’s bottom, in order to fill the mask and hide the lower part of the reflection.

You might need to retry or repeat this step a couple of times in order to get a result you like.

10. How to Create a Simple Shadow

Step 1

Duplicate the original text layer, drag the copy below it, and rename it to Shadow.

Step 2

Right-click the Shadow layer and choose Rasterize Type.

Press Command-T, and scale the text down vertically to get the basic shadow shape.

Step 3

Use the Move Tool to reposition the Shadow below the text.

Step 4

Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur, and set the Radius to 10.

Step 5

Change the Shadow layer’s Blend Mode to Multiply and its Opacity to 70%.

11. How to Add a Snow Texture Overlay

Step 1

Place the Heavy Snow Texture image on top of all layers, rename its layer to Snow Texture, change its Blend Mode to Screen, and resize the texture as needed.

Step 2

Pick the Spot Healing Brush Tool, and make sure that the Sample All Layers box in the Options bar is unchecked.

Use a soft round tip to paint over unwanted spots and get rid of them.

Congratulations! You’re Done

In this tutorial, we created a simple background using shapes, layer styles, and adjustment layers. Then, we created three text layers, and styled all of them to achieve the ice effect.

After that, we created a reflection and a shadow for the ice text. Finally, we added a snow texture overlay to finish the effect off.

Please feel free to leave your comments, suggestions, and outcomes below.

Post pobrano z: How to Create a Cactus Text Effect in Adobe Illustrator

In the following steps, you will learn how to create a cactus text effect in Adobe Illustrator. For starters, you will learn how to set up a simple grid and how to create a pattern brush.

Moving on, you will learn how to create and save a pretty complex pattern. Taking full advantage of the Appearance panel, you will learn how to create the first piece of your cactus and how to save its attributes. Using two simple shapes and some effects, you will learn how to create the pots. Finally, for the background, you will learn how to apply a radial gradient a built-in pattern.

For more inspiration on how to adjust or improve your final text effect, you can find plenty of resources at GraphicRiver.

1. How to Create a New Document and Set Up Grid

Hit Control-N to create a new document. Select Pixels from the Units drop-down menu, enter 850 in the width box and 500 in the height box, and then click that More Settings button. Select RGB for the Color Mode, set the Raster Effects to Screen (72 ppi), and then click Create Document.

Enable the Grid (View > Show Grid) and Snap to Grid (View > Snap to Grid). You will need a grid every 1 px, so simply go to Edit > Preferences > Guides & Grid, and enter 1 in the Gridline every box and 1 in the Subdivisions box. Try not to get discouraged by all that grid—it will make your work easier, and keep in mind that you can easily enable or disable it using the Control-„ keyboard shortcut.

You can learn more about Illustrator’s grid system in this short tutorial from Andrei Stefan: Understanding Adobe Illustrator’s Grid System.

You should also open the Info panel (Window > Info) for a live preview with the size and position of your shapes. Don’t forget to set the unit of measurement to pixels from Edit > Preferences > Units. All these options will significantly increase your work speed.

2. How to Create a Pattern Brush

Step 1

Pick the Rectangle Tool (M) and focus on your toolbar. Remove the color from the stroke, and then select the fill and set its color to R=255 G=188 B=53. Move to your artboard and simply create a 25 x 14 px shape—the grid and the Snap to Grid should make it easier.

Step 2

Change the fill color to R=93 G=74 B=27 and pick the Ellipse Tool (L). Create the five squeezed circles shown below and place them exactly as shown in the following image.

Once you’re done, select all these new shapes and turn them into a compound path (Control-8).

Step 3

Pick the Rectangle Tool (M), create a 25 x 7 px shape, and place it as shown in the first image. Select this new rectangle along with your compound path and click the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel (Window > Pathfinder).

Step 4

Pick the Anchor Point Tool (Shift-C), focus on your brown shapes, and simply click the top anchor points as shown in the first image.

Select the yellow rectangle and remove the fill color.

Step 5

Select all the shapes made so far, open the Brushes panel (Window > Brushes), and click the New Brush button. Check the Pattern Brush box and click OK to open the Pattern Brush Options window. Type a name for your new brush, enter all the attributes shown below, and click OK to save your new brush.

3. How to Create a Pattern

Step 1

Using the Rectangle Tool (M), create a 50 px square and fill it with yellow.

Step 2

Using the Pen Tool (P), draw two simple paths and place them on the right edge of your yellow square as shown below. Make sure that both paths are selected and open the Appearance panel (Window > Appearance).

Remove the fill color, set the stroke color to R=93 G=74 B=27, and open the Stroke fly-out panel. Increase the Weight to 2 px and select Width Profile 1.

With one of these shapes still selected, open the Graphic Styles (Window > Graphic Styles). Click the New Graphic Style button to save the appearance of your selected path.

Step 3

Make sure that the two paths made in the previous step are still selected and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown below and click OK.

Step 4

Using the Pen Tool (P), draw five simple paths and place them on the top edge of your yellow square as shown below. Apply your graphic style from the Graphic Styles panel to all these paths.

Select only the second and the fourth paths from this set of new paths. Go to the Appearance panel and change the Weight to 1 px, and then go to the Graphic Styles panel and save a new graphic style.

Step 5

Make sure that the two paths made in the previous step are still selected and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown below and click OK.

Step 6

Using the Pen Tool (P), create the five paths shown in the first image and apply your first graphic style from the Graphic Styles panel.

Using the same tool, create the eight paths shown in the second image, and apply your second graphic style from the Graphic Styles panel.

Step 7

Select all your tiny brown shapes and go to Object > Path > Outline Stroke, and then turn the resulting shapes into a compound path (Control-8).

Step 8

Select your yellow square along with the brown compound path and click the Intersect button from the Pathfinder panel. Simply drag the resulting shapes inside the Swatches panel (Window > Swatches) to save them as a pattern.

4. How to Create a Graphic Style

Step 1

Disable the Grid (Control-„) and the Snap to Grid (Shift-Control-„).

Pick the Type Tool (T) and open the Character panel (Window > Type > Character). Select the Insaniburger font and set the size to 200 px.

Simple click on your artboard, add the „Cactus” piece of text, and set the color to R=78 G=174 B=99. Place your text as shown below, and then go to the Layers panel and lock it.

Step 2

Focus on the first letter of your text. Using the Pen Tool (P) or the Brush Tool (B), draw a simple path roughly as shown in the following image. Make sure that it stays selected and focus on the Appearance panel.

Be sure that there’s no fill color and select the stroke. Set its color to R=93 G=58 B=20, increase the Weight to 4 px, and select Width Profile 1 from the Stroke fly-out panel.

Step 3

Make sure that your round path stays selected, focus on the Appearance panel, and set the fill color to R=75 G=147 B=106.

Step 4

Make sure that your round path stays selected, keep focusing on the Appearance panel, and add a second fill using the Add New Fill button. Select it, set the color to R=78 G=174 B=99, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown below and click OK.

Step 5

Make sure that your round path stays selected, keep focusing on the Appearance panel, and add a third fill. Select it and set the color to white (R=255 G=255 B=255). Lower its Opacity to 30%, change the Blending Mode to Overlay, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown below, click OK, and go to Effect > Pathfinder > Add, and then go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -7 px Offset and click OK.

Step 6

Make sure that your round path stays selected, keep focusing on the Appearance panel, and add a fourth fill. Select it, apply your pattern from the Swatches panel, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown below and click OK.

Step 7

Make sure that your round path stays selected, keep focusing on the Appearance panel, and add a second stroke using the Add New Stroke button. Select this new stroke and apply your pattern brush from the Brushes panel, and then drag it below the other stroke.

With your round path still selected, go to the Graphic Styles panel and save a new graphic style.

5. How to Create the Cactus Text

Step 1

Using the Pen Tool (P) or the Brush Tool (B), draw a new path roughly as shown in the first image. Make sure that it stays selected and apply your last graphic style from the Graphic Styles panel.

Step 2

Make sure that the path made in the previous step stays selected, and focus on the Appearance panel. First, select the bottom two fills and replace the existing colors with the ones shown below, and then click the Transform effect applied for the top fill and adjust the Rotate Angle as shown below.

With this path still selected, go to the Graphic Styles panel and save a new graphic style.

Step 3

Keep focusing on the first letter from your text and draw more round paths along that letter, as shown below.

Step 4

Select those new round paths and apply the last two graphic styles from the Graphic Styles panel. Try not to have two paths with identical styles one after the other. Also, select these paths one by one, open the Transform effect applied for the top fill (in the Appearance panel), and adjust the Rotate Angle to match the orientation of the selected path.

Step 5

Select the smaller cactus pieces and focus on the Appearance panel. Open the Transform effect applied for the top fill, drag both Scale sliders to 50%, and click OK.

Step 6

Move on to the other letters from your text and follow the same techniques used for the first letter. First, create the round paths and apply the graphic styles, and then adjust the pattern rotation and the pattern scale for the smaller paths.

6. How to Create the Cactus Flowers

Step 1

Using the Pen Tool (P) or the Brush Tool (B), draw three simple paths as shown in the first image. Fill them with R=239 G=75 B=74 and add a 3 px stroke. Set its color to R=93 G=58 B=20, increase the Weight to 3 px, and don’t forget to select Width Profile 1. Once you’re done, save these attributes as a graphic style.

Step 2

Using the Pen Tool (P) or the Brush Tool (B) along with the graphic style saved in the previous step, add the cactus flower for the other letters. Once you’re done, go to the Layers panel, unlock your piece of text, and delete it.

7. How to Create the Pot

Step 1

Enable the Grid (Control-„) and the Snap to Grid (Shift-Control-„). For the following steps, you will need a grid every 5 px. Just go to Edit > Preferences > Guides & Grid and enter 5 in the Gridline every box.

Pick the Rectangle Tool (M), create a 75 x 20 px shape, fill it with yellow, and place it as shown in the following image.

Step 2

Using the Rectangle Tool (M), create a 65 x 40 px shape, fill it with blue, and place it as shown in the first image.

Switch to the Direct Selection Tool (A) and focus on the bottom side of this new rectangle. Select both anchor points, go to the control panel, and enter 20 px in that Corners box. Once you’re done, send this shape to back (Shift-Control-[).

Step 3

Select your yellow shape and focus on the Appearance panel. Replace the yellow with R=188 G=117 B=71 and then add a second fill. Select it, set the color to R=214 G=146 B=97, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown below and click OK.

Step 4

Make sure that your rectangle stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel. Add a third fill and select it. Set the color to white, lower its Opacity to 25%, change the Blending Mode to Overlay, and then go to Effect > Path > Offset Path. Enter a -8 px Offset, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown below and click OK.

Step 5

Make sure that your rectangle stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel. Add a 4 px stroke and set its color to R=92 G=59 B=28.

Step 6

Make sure that your rectangle stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel. Select the entire path (simply click that „Path” piece of text from the top of the panel) and go to Effect > Stylize > Rounded Corners. Enter a 5 px Radius, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Roughen. Enter the attributes shown below and click OK.

Step 7

Select your blue shape and focus on the Appearance panel. Replace the blue with R=188 G=117 B=71 and then add a second fill. Select it, set the color to R=214 G=146 B=97, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown below and click OK.

Step 8

Make sure that your bottom shape stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel. Add a third fill and select it. Set the color to white, lower its Opacity to 25%, change the Blending Mode to Overlay, and then go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the attributes shown below and click OK.

Step 9

Make sure that your bottom shape stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel. Add a 4 px stroke and set its color to R=92 G=59 B=28.

Step 10

Make sure that your bottom shape stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel. Add a new fill and drag it to the bottom of the panel. Set the color to black, lower its Opacity to 60%, change the Blending Mode to Soft Light, and then go to Effect > Convert to Shape > Ellipse. Enter the attributes shown below, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform. Enter the settings shown in the following image and click OK.

Step 11

Make sure that your bottom shape stays selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel. Select the entire path and go to Effect > Stylize > Rounded Corners. Enter a 5 px Radius, click OK, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Roughen. Enter the attributes shown below and click OK.

8. How to Multiply Your Pot

Step 1

Duplicate the two shapes that make up your pot and place the copies as shown in the first image. Using the Direct Selection Tool (A), select the anchor points highlighted in the first image, and drag them to the right as shown in the second image.

Keep focusing on these copies, select only the bottom shapes, and focus on the Appearance panel. Open the Transform effect applied to the top fill and the Ellipse effect applied to the bottom fill and adjust the settings as shown below.

Step 2

Create another four copies of your smaller pot, and place them as shown in the following image.

9. How to Create the Background

Step 1

Using the Rectangle Tool (M), create an 860 x 510 px shape, and fill it with R=195 G=224 B=177. Make sure that this rectangle covers your entire artboard and send it to back (Shift-Control-[).

Step 2

Open the fly-out menu from the Swatches panel and go to Open Swatch Library > Patterns > Basic Graphics > Basic Graphics_Textures.

Using the Rectangle Tool (M), create a new 860 x 510 px shape and place it on top of the existing rectangle, as shown in the following image. Fill this new shape with the USHS 22 Gravel Beach pattern, lower its Opacity to 50%, change the Blending Mode to Soft Light, and then go to Effect > Artistic > Film Grain. Enter the attributes shown below and click OK.

Step 3

Make sure that the rectangle made in the previous step is still selected and keep focusing on the Appearance panel. Add a second fill and select it. Lower its Opacity to 50% and change the Blending Mode to Overlay, and then apply the radial gradient shown below. Use the Gradient Tool (G) to stretch your gradient as shown below.

Congratulations! You’re Done!

Here is how it should look. I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial and can apply these techniques in your future projects. Don’t hesitate to share your final result in the comments section.

Feel free to adjust the final design and make it your own. You can find some great sources of inspiration at GraphicRiver, with interesting solutions to improve your design.