01
SKETCH YOUR LETTERING
Start your lettering as a rough sketch to
resolve your composition and then scan and bring
into Illustrator for vectorising. Draw guides to help
keep the momentum and proportions of your
lettering consistent. Then, using your Pen tool,
digitise your type. Once you’re happy with the form of
your type, apply a 1 point stroke to create an outline.02
CREATE A SCATTER BRUSH
Create the scattered star brush by selecting
the Ellipse tool and clicking on the canvas to bring up
the Ellipse dialog box. Create an ellipse that is
4.2mm in diameter and drag and drop the shape into
your Brushes palette window. When presented with
the New Brush dialog box, select Scatter Brush.FROM SKETCH TO FINISHED
ARTWORKWORK IN
PROGRESSProgress 1: Apply a star brushProgress 2: Add glow effectsProgress 3: Make a reflectionCOMBINE ILLUSTRATOR WITH PHOTOSHOP TO CREATE A
NIGHTSKY LETTERING SCENE
CREATE ADVANCED
TYPE WITH PHOTOSHOP
T
eam up the power of Adobe Illustrator with
Photoshop’s superior finishing tools to
create a lettering illustration of stars in a
night sky. Illustrator’s easy-to-use brushes
and Photoshop’s ability to successfully replicate the
effects of lighting and distortion make these two
programs an unbeatable combo for achieving these
effects quickly and effectively. No additional plug-ins,
tools or software will be necessary in order to follow
this tutorial.
There is an assumption of a basic level of
knowledge with both software packages to carry outthe necessary processes involved. Although the
tutorial uses a custom script-based lettering
arrangement, the effects outlined can be achieved
from any style of lettering or vector-based shape in
the sky. All that is required is a vector path for the
stars to be scattered along. The elements contained
within this illustration are constructed across three
key stages; namely the creation of the type, the
background (consisting of the sky, other stars and
landscape on the horizon), and the foreground
(consisting of a reflected version of the prior two
stages to give the impression of a body of water).LUKE LUCAS
http://www.lukelucas.comOUR EXPERT
Luke Lucas is an award-winning
freelance creative from Sydney,
Australia. Magazines and advertising
agencies from around the world
commission him for his skill in
custom illustrative lettering and
typography design.SOURCE FILES
Included on FileSilo.co.uk/bks-609
is the layered PSD, the AI file of the
LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS star field and the displacement map.
DRAW A ROUGH SKETCH AND CREATE YOUR STAR BRUSH03
ADJUST BRUSH SETTINGS AND APPLY
Under the Scatter Brush settings, set the
Size and Spacing to Random. For Size, set the
Minimum Range slider to 10% and the Maximum to
35%. For Spacing, set the Minimum Range slider to
100% and the Maximum to 300%. Next, select OK
and apply the Scatter Brush to your lettering.@_lukelucasCREATE ADVANCED TYPE