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Technique

Photoshop and Illustrator CS3 or later

Who says type has to be plain to be bold? Tom Lane demonstrates how to draw on pattern work to add intricate detail to your type designs
For years Ive drawn inspiration from the artwork of ancient cultures. Back in 2002, whilst at university studying graphic design, I discovered some beautiful examples of ancient Greek pattern work, and from that point I was hooked. I had never spent much time trying to draw anything with such intricacy before, and at that time I certainly didnt know Adobe Illustrator very well. In the years proceeding, I learnt to draw the patterns accurately and built up my confidence until I was able to express myself with the skills I had developed. Which leads me nicely to this tutorial. Ive sketched out some elements for you to redraw in Illustrator, and these elements will be used to embellish the typographic element I have supplied on the disc and set the composition of the piece. Well then move into Photoshop where well add texture, colour and adjustment layers to give it that extra zing. Lets go!

Build type with flair

Tom Lane The multidisciplined, fiery headed gent at the helm of Ginger Monkey, devises exquisite and inspirational designs for an international client list that includes Sony Ericsson, Coca-Cola, Miller Beer and Mercedes-Benz. To see more of his work go to www.ginger monkeydesign.com

On the disc The files accompanying this tutorial can be located in DiscContents\ Resources\ Embellish

Time needed 10 hours Skills Drawing in Illustrator Using the Pathfinder palette Texturing elements in Photoshop Colouring in Photoshop Using adjustment layers

01

In Illustrator, create a new A3 landscape document. Go to File>Place and select the file mythicalelement.jpg from the disc. Before you select Place, check the Template box at the bottom left of the dialog box.

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Once the solid shapes are set, begin to add the detail on top with white strokes and filled objects. We need to switch the colours between no fill and black/white fill in the toolbar so we can see whats below and make adjustments. This will become second nature after a while.

04

When thats complete, make a copy of the wing and paste to the side of your Artboard. Open the Pathfinder palette. Select all the white solid shapes and the black solid shape below, and click Subtract on the Pathfinder palette. Click Object>Expand and check the Stroke box before subtracting in the Pathfinder palette.

05

For this particular piece we want solid surfaces we can add texture to later in Photoshop, so were going to draw the elements predominantly in black with white for detail. Select the Pen tool and choose a black fill from the toolbar.

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Begin to trace the wing shape to make it solid with black. Really focus on trying to make the lines flow with as few anchor points as possible. This will help create smoother lines.

03

Select all the objects forming the wing and click Add in the Pathfinder palette. For the next object we can use the Shape tool as well as the Pen tool to help build the structure. Again, use the Pathfinder palette to help build the objects.

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When youve drawn all the elements, give the ibis head a 2pt white stroke line around both the circle at the top and the shape that makes up the nose, ear and neck. The latter needs to be on top of everything except the eye. Select Object>Arrange and bring the objects forward or backward.

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Now we repeat Step 5 to finish the ibis head, so were left with a single object. Next, we move on to the griffin. Begin by drawing the basic outline as solid black with the Pen tool. Add the extra details (such as the spines on the griffins back) one at a time, then add the white detail.

Repeat Step 5 to turn the griffin into a single element. Now its time to move onto the pillar. Use the same techniques youve developed over the last few steps to build this element. Make sure to turn it into a single element once complete.

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Now open the file Mythologytext.eps from the disc. Start by copying and pasting the wing element behind the O in the middle. Youll need to adjust the size to fit; simply hold Shift and drag the corners of the bounding box to scale. Then add the head and the griffin.

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Now add the pillars to the two Ys and the L. Youll need to add some extra white shapes behind the pillar element to separate it from the character. Use the Pathfinder palette to subtract these new shapes from the character below. Refer to the Stroke palette once done, and select Align Stroke Outside.

Its time to add some details to the type. Begin by creating the lines for the pillars. Use the Rectangle tool to draw the vertical lines. Then, with the Pen tool, add little triangle nicks and spikes in black and white.

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Apply this technique to distress the rest of the characters. Ive supplied some smaller details as sketches on the disc, which you can use to add finishing touches. Be sure to Subtract and Add using the Pathfinder palette as you go.

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If you feel comfortable using the Pathfinder palette, begin turning the whole illustration into a single element by subtracting and adding elements. If not, copy and paste all the objects together into a new A3 landscape document in Photoshop. Go to Select>Colour Range and use the Eyedropper tool to select the black. Hit OK.

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A marquee should now be visible. On a new layer we hit Shift+Delete and fill this with black. We turn off the original layer below, and were left with just the black fill of our illustration. Open the file painttexture.tiff from the disc, copy it and paste it twice into the document.

Hide one of the paint textures and position the other over the ibis head and the griffin. Hover the cursor over the layer thumbnail in the Layers palette, holding Ctrl/Cmd. Click the thumbnail and a marquee should appear. Select>Inverse> Delete. Repeat for the second paint layer to cover the wing.

Now double-click your lower illustration layer and select an orange colour overlay. Set the opacity to 17%. Select the texture layer covering the wing, and select the third icon from the left (Add Vector Mask). Use a black-to-no-fill gradient to mask the edges of the image.

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Hover your cursor over the layer thumbnail of your lowest illustration layer and click whilst holding Ctrl/Cmd. On a new layer and within this selection, use the Gradient tool to darken areas of the illustration. Finally, use the Hue, Colour Balance and Levels adjustment layers to bring the colours closer together.

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