Print Design: Grunge Rock Poster
by Joey at 1:33 amMany tutorials are dedicated to building these grunge posters and text effects. In this lesson, we’ll go over some ideas for a potential rock concert poster. First, we must select an image that will help us set the background for our poster. In this case, we’re using a Photos.com picture located here.
With this lady singing loudly, it sets the energy of our poster. We want it to sing, literally. Now to give it a grungy, asphalt texture, we’ve selected a texture from GrungeTextures.com. Now we open both the original photo and the grunge texture together. Using the Move Tool, we select the texture and drag it on top of the original photo.
In order to get the grunge effect to overlay on the original photo, we use the layers palette and select the texture layer. Now, set the blending mode for the layer to Overlay, which will give you a result that looks similar to this.
As this is, the design looks pretty cool. It has a nice grungy feel to it. Now we must add text to it in order for it to be functional. In this case, we’re just going to add some random text for demonstration purposes. I have selected to use the font Swiss924 BT and have begun typing.
Because we want the text to have the same effect with the texture, we rasterize the type and place the layer between the original photo and below the texture. To colorize the text, we use the Burn Tool to give it some more texture and lighting effects. Now we have added some extra text explaining the reason for this poster. Again, it’s just random text for effect.
Now, duplicate the original photo, and place it on top of all the layers. We set the blending mode for this to Linear Dodge and create a layer mask. I want to give it some scatter brush effect, so I select my brush tool. To change the brush, we open the Brush Palette in the Window menu. From this point, we select a regular rounded brush and change the shape dynamics and scattering to develop different looks.
Now, we’re almost there. A lot is going on, and the text is getting difficult to read. So we add a drop shadow to it, giving it a blending mode within the drop shadow of Linear Dodge for both the main text and explainer text. This allows it to pop off the page and show up better. Now using some brushes downloaded from Bittbox.com, we add some simple effects, changing the blending modes, and we have our Rock ‘N’ Roll Poster. All of these can be changed to your liking. And while grunge has become something a lot of people have begun using in print design lately, a classic looking design always appeals to an audience too.
