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Resources

Download HTML Enhanced Common Library

Final Image

Take a look at what we will be creating.

Preparation

There isn’t much preparation needed for this tutorial. All you need is Illustrator CS4 or CS5 and a beginning to intermediate knowledge of how to use the program.

Step 1

With the Line Segment Tool (/), create a path that is about 80 px tall. Make sure the new path has a 1 pt stroke and change the stroke color to an orange.

Step 2

With the line selected, choose Effect > Distort and Transform > Transform. In the Transform Effect dialog, change the number of copies to 6, select the bottom center reference point in the Reference Point Locator, and set the Angle to 60. Generating six copied will place one copy in front of the original. We want to do this so we will have a complete blend in the next couple of steps.

Step 3

With the transformed line selected, choose Object > Expand Appearance and Ungroup (Command +Shift + G). Change to stroke colors to primary (red, yellow, blue) and secondary colors (orange, purple, green).

Step 4

Select all the strokes and choose Object > Blend > Make (Command + Alt/Option + B).

Step 5

Create an ellipse within the blend with the Ellipse tool (L) centered over the blend. Select the ellipse and blend and choose Object > Clipping Mask > Make (Command + 7).

Step 6

Create another ellipse about half the height and slightly smaller width as the previous ellipse. Place it close to the top side of the masked blend. Change the fill of the new ellipse to a linear gradient and in the Gradient panel, change the Location to -90, change both colors stops to white, change the opacity of the second color stop to 0, and change the middle point Location to 30.

Step 7

Copy (Command + C) the highlight ellipse and Paste in Front (Command + F). Move and rotate the copy to the bottom side of the mask blend. Change the first color stop in the gradient to a light gray and set the Blending Mode to Multiply from the Transparency panel.

Step 8

Create another ellipse about the size of the main masked blend and fill it with a radial gradient. Make sure the first color stop in the radial gradient is black and the second is white. Squish the ellipse and place it behind all other artwork. Set the Blending Mode of the ellipse to Multiply and change the opacity to 50 percent.

Step 9

Now that we have the color wheel done, we can concentrate on the eyedropper. Create a rectangle with the Rectangle tool (M) about three fourths the height of the color wheel. Create another smaller rectangle about a fifth the height of the main rectangle and half its width and place at the bottom of the main rectangle.

Step 10

Select both rectangles and press the Unite button from the Pathfinder panel. Next, choose Effect > Stylize > Round Corners. In the Round Corner Dialog, change the Radius to 3 px. Next, choose Object > Expand Appearance.

Step 11

Copy (Command + C) the eyedropper shape and Paste in Front (Paste in Front). Create another rectangle that covers the bottom part of the eyedropper. Select the main copy and the smaller rectangle and press the Intersect button from the Pathfinder panel.

Step 12

Create a rectangle towards the top of the main eyedropper shape. Make the new rectangle about double the width and one sixth the height of the main eyedropper shape. Next, choose Effect > Stylize > Round Corners and in the Round Corner Dialog, change the Radius to 5 px.

Step 13

Create another rectangle slightly wider and about a fourth the size of the main eyedropper shape. Place the shape towards the top of the previous rectangle and round the corners 15 px.

Step 14

Select the top eyedropper shapes and go Object > Expand Appearance. Next, go Object > Path > Offset Path and in the Offset Path dialog change the Offset to -2 px. This value might be different depending on the original size of your shapes.

Step 15

Now that we have all the shapes done for the eyedropper, we can place them over the color wheel we already created. Creating the shapes and not filling in before we place the dropper makes it easier to see the white and transparency parts of the gradients when we fill them. So, place your eyedropper shapes over the color wheel at a 45 degree angle.

Step 16

First, select the smaller rectangle and its offset from the top of the dropper and go Object > Arrange > Bring To Front (Command + Shift + ]). Select the original top shapes (not the offsets) and fill with a linear gradient. Change the first color stop in the gradient to a dark gray and the second color stop to black. Change the Angle to -90 in the Gradient panel.

Step 17

Select the offsets of the upper rectangle shape and fill with a linear gradient. Change both color stop in the gradient to white. In the Gradient panel, change the opacity of the first color stop to 80 and the second to 0. Change the Angle to -90 and change the middle point Location of the gradient to 15.

Step 18

Select the main body of the dropper and fill with a linear gradient. For this gradient we are going to add three more color stop giving a total of five. Add these color stop by clicking right below the Gradient Slider in the Gradient panel. Once you added the color stop, change the first stop to gray, the next three to white, and the last one a dark gray. Change the Opacity of the first white color stop to 56 and change the Opacity of the third white color stop to 35. Change the Location of the first white color stop to 12, the Location of the second white color stop to 30, and change the Location of the third white color stop to 63. Change the Angle of the gradient to -45. Finally change the stroke to white and press the Align Stroke To Outside button from the Stroke panel.

Step 19

Select the shape at the bottom of the drop and fill it will a linear gradient. Change the first color stop to white and the second to a gray color. From the Transparency panel, change the Blending Mode to Multiply.

Step 20

Select the main small rectangle from the top of the dropper, Copy (Command +C), and Paste in Back (Command + B). With the copy still selected move it slightly down. Select the main dropper shape, Copy (Command + C), and Paste in Front (Command + F). Select both copies and press the Intersect button from the Pathfinder panel. Change the fill to a light gray color, change the Blending Mode to Multiply from the Transparency panel and slightly scale it to fit over the stroke of the main dropper shape.

Step 21

Select the main dropper shape, the main top shapes, and Copy (Command + C) and Paste in Back. With the copies still selected, press the Unite button from the pathfinder panel. With the Selection tool (V) move and rotate the new shape clockwise to create a shadow of the dropper.

Step 22

Create a ellipse the size of the color wheel, select the ellipse and shadow shape, and Intersect them.

Step 23

Select the new shape and go Object > Arrange > Send Backward (Command +[) until the shape is behind the original eyedropper shapes. Fill the shape with a linear gradient, change the first color stop to a dark gray, and the second color stop to a light gray. Change the Blending Mode to Multiply from the Gradient panel and you are all done!

Conclusion

That wasn’t too bad was it? This tutorial uses some pretty basic concept that can easily be applied to other vector illustrations, icons, and more. What can you come up with?

Final Image Preview

Take a look at what we will be creating.

Tutorial Details

• Program: Adobe Photoshop
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Estimated Completion Time: 3 Hours

Resources Used

The following resources were used during the production of this tutorial.

• Parquet Floor
• Water Droplets
• Water Splash 1
• Water Splash 2
• Grunge Textures Vol 1

Step 1

Let’s start by creating a new A4 document in Photoshop. Working with large files allows you to zoom in and focus your attention on small details, that can make the difference between a good and great design.

Step 2

Right-click on the background layer, in the layer palette, and apply a radial gradient using layer styles. Set the gradient from a #464646 to #202020.

Step 3

Download the grunge texture and drag it onto your canvas. Press Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + U to desaturate it and switch the layer blend mode to overlay with opacity 30%.

Step 4

Create a new layer between the background and the texture, grab a white soft (hardness 0%) brush, and paint some spots over the center of the canvas. Reduce the opacity until you’ve obtained a subtle light effect in the center.

Step 5

At this point I think the background is too light. A layer adjustment can help. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layers > Curves and put this layer at the top of the others. Create an anchor point on the curve and move it to the bottom as shown on in the screenshot below:

Step 6

Select all the layers created and group them (Cmd/Ctrl + G). Title the group “background”. It’s time to create the floor where to place the bottle. Create a new group and title it “floor”. As I always write in my tutorials, organization is fundamental while working with lots of layers, as in this case. There’s nothing more irritating than spending your time searching for a layer among thousands of untitled layers!

Download and paste in the parquet image. Press Cmd/Ctrl + T to activate the transform tool and squash the image to create the idea of perspective:

Create a new group and title it “clouds”. Create a new layer inside “clouds”, make sure to select black and white as the foreground and background color and go to Filter > Render > Clouds.

Step 8

Press Cmd/Ctrl + T to enlarge the cloud layer.

Step 9

Now switch the layer blending mode to screen and reduce its opacity to 20%.

Step 10

Grab the Eraser tool (E) and use a large soft brush to erase some areas of the cloud layer, in particular over the corners.

Step 11

You can add more cloud layers, that can be removed at any time in case their effect is obtrusive. Here is my result:

Step 12

Create the “bottle” group and paste in an image of a beer bottle (Google it and you’ll find tons of free images).

Step 13

Realism can’t be achieved without a correct use of light. Let’s suppose our light source is in the top-right area (in front of the bottle). If you are unsure about how to create shadows, try experimenting with the lamp on your desk and any type of object. Since the light originates from the right, use the burn tool (O) to darken the left side of the bottle.

Step 14

Using the Burn tool, with range “midtones” and “exposure” 80%, select the floor layer and create a shadow effect below the bottle. Darken the corners too. These dark areas will drive user attention to the center where the product is.

Step 15

To darken the corners a bit more, create a new layer and use a large soft black brush to paint over these areas. You can then play with the layer’s opacity until you’re satisfied with the effect.

Step 16

Create a new layer between the floor and the grunge background. Using the same black brush from Step 15, paint where the floor meets the grunge wall. This will create a sensation of depth.

Step 17

Now paste the water droplets image onto the canvas in a layer above the floor. Make it the same size as the floor.

Step 18

Set the layer blending mode to “darken” with 70% opacity.

Step 19

Switch to the “bottle” group. Select the bottle layer and duplicate it (Cmd/Ctrl + J). Apply a black color over lay to the bottle using a layer style. This layer will be used to create the bottle shadow.

Step 20

Move the black bottle below the original. Press Cmd/Ctrl + T to activate the transform tool, then hold down Cmd/Ctrl and move the transform handles to add perspective to the shadow.

Step 21

To complete the shadow, go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and enter a value of about 65 pixels. Reduce the opacity a little if you think it’s too strong.

Step 22

At this point we can play with colors. Cool colors will portray a sensation of freshness. Create a new gradient map layer (Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map) and add a gradient going from #1b4f03 to #28e30f. Set the layer blend mode to overlay with an opacity of 50%. Keep in mind that this gradient map will be always be on top of all the other layers.

Step 23

Create a new layer above the bottle and name it “splash effects”. Open the first water splash image in Photoshop and double click on the background layer to unlock it.

Step 24

In the channels window (Window > Channels), Cmd/Ctrl + Click on the red channel thumbnail to select water pixels (choose the channel with the strongest contrast with the background).

Step 25

Press Cmd/Ctrl + C to copy the selection, switch to your working document and press Cmd/Ctrl + V to paste it.

Step 26

Set the layer blending mode to screen and use the Eraser tool (E) to eliminate unnecessary areas of the splash.

Step 27

Use the same technique with the other water splash to add more detail to the composition.

Step 28

Create a new group above and title it “light sposts”. Set the group blending mode to color dodge and create a layer inside the group. Grab a white soft brush and click once over a detail you want to enhance (i.e. in the top-right area, near the cork). reduce the opacity if the effect is too strong.

Step 29

Add more light effects, but create them on different layers to have more control.

Step 30

A nice slogan can help to reinforce the concept behind the design, even if it’s already evident from the image. In this case, I’ve opted for an elegant font, Colaborate, with a gentle outer glow, to create a simple yet useful text effect.

Step 31

The composition is almost complete, but I think it needs some color adjustments. Create a new group immediately below the gradient map layer, and set the blending mode of the group to overlay. Create a layer inside the group, set a vivid yellow as foreground color, grab a soft brush and paint over the center area.

Step 32

Reduce the layer’s opacity to 20%.

Step 33

Create another layer and do the same, this time choose a bright blue and paint over the 4 corners.

Final Image

Reduce the opacity to around 30% and you’re finished! I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial and learned some new tricks about advertisement design. Here is the final result.

Video Tutorial

Screenshot

Video Tutorial

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Video Tutorial

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Credits

Models: Amanda Nørgaard and Natalia Vodianova.
Photographers: Jens Langkjaer and Hedi Slimane.

Video Tutorial

Screenshot

Video Tutorial

Screenshot

Credits

Model: Amanda Nørgaard
Photographer Jens Langkjaer

Video Tutorial

Screenshot