Advanced_Photoshop_141_-_2015_UK_

WHICH OF THE PIECES IS YOUR

ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE?

The Starbucks one. I was looking at a vintage

reference book when I started sketching it and I

tried some new layout styles while sketching it out,

ultimately settling on what I had there. I had also

just created my chalk brush, which is still my most

realistic that I’ve made, so I made use of it playing

off of the Starbucks aesthetic.

SO, HOW DID THE IMAGE COME TOGETHER?

Starbucks had a contest to select someone to win

free coffee for 30 years. I happened to be on my

couch looking at a new book of vintage typography

when I saw the article pop up in my Facebook

[feed]. So I took inspiration from the book and set

In Photoshop, I rely on tool presets that I have
made from scratch (such as my chalk brushes), as
well as tools by Kyle T Webster (www.kylebrush.
com). The tools he’s created are fantastic and are
game changing. They helped my work jump up a
level when he first started releasing them. Because of
tools like that, my work is able to be created entirely
digitally and entirely in Photoshop.

WHAT SORT OF RESPONSE HAVE YOU HAD
ABOUT THE CLICKBAIT PROJECT?
Surprisingly people thought it was funny, and it
was picked up by Tumblr and featured on their
blog about a month or so after I started it. From
there it grew in followers from about a hundred to
close to 10,000 in a matter of a few days.

to sketching this in my sketchbook. When I go to

scan in my sketches, even though I have a good

scanner, I will often just take a picture with my

iPhone and send it straight to my computer and

then place it on a document in Photoshop.

Since Starbucks uses a lot of rustic elements

and chalkboards, I wanted to create this digitally

in a chalkboard style with a brush I made from

scratch myself that mimics how chalk adheres to

a chalkboard. That brush alone probably took me

10 hours to perfect and it’s one of my secret

weapons in the design world.

From there I went on to add in the signature

green that Starbucks uses and had fun with

shading and various effects that I achieved

through layers and layer masks.

Starbucks sketch

“Any parts where you can see through to the chalkboard (like in the top

banner) are where a layer mask was used to achieve the effect I wanted”

“I just start a rough digital sketch. From

there I began to build out the lettering in

Photoshop and as I continued, I added in

details and colour to the whole piece”

“I reference a lot of different vintage typography that I’ve found online, in old lettering books and any book that Louise

Fili has put out. Those books are an amazing resource for vintage typography and they’re sorted by styles!”

A digital sketch

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