This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Diamond Effect
I originally saw the technique for creating diamonds in a book I bought in Japan. But it was still a little bit tricky figuring it out, because (a) the book used the Japanese language version of Photoshop, and (b) I don't read Japanese. Since then, I've seen the effect used numerous times in ads and on CD covers, and here we're using it as part of a fictitious hip-hop radio station logo.
- Step ONE. This particular effect requires you to create the original image at a very large physical size (like at least 11" x 8" at 72 ppi) in RGB mode. Press the letter “t” to get the Type tool and create your type (the font shown here is Serpentine Bold Oblique, from Adobe).
- Step TWO. You're going to apply a filter to your type, so you'll need to convert your Type layer into a regular image layer by Control-clicking (PC: Right-clicking) on the Type layer and choosing Rasterize Layer (as shown here).
- Step THREE. Go under the Filter menu, under Distort, and choose Glass. When the Glass dialog appears, increase the Distortion to 20, set the Smoothness to 1, choose Tiny Lens for Texture, and set the Scaling at 85% (as shown here). Click OK to apply a diamond pattern to your type (as shown in the filter preview window here). Next, you'll add a shadow inside your text.
- Step FOUR. Choose Inner Shadow from the Layer Styles pop-up menu at the bottom of the Layers palette. Increase the Opacity to 100% and increase the Size to 13. Don't click OK yet.
- Step FIVE. From the list of Styles on the left side of the dialog, click directly on the word Stroke. Increase the Size to 10, and Position to Center. For Fill Type choose Gradient. Click on the down-facing arrow next to the Gradient thumbnail, then choose the default Copper Gradient (as shown) from the Gradient Picker.
- Step SIX. Go to the list of Styles again, but this time choose Bevel and Emboss. Change the Style to Stroke Emboss, and increase the Depth to 1000%. In the Shading section, turn on Anti-aliased, set the Altitude at 30°, then click on the down-facing arrow next to Gloss Contour to bring up the Picker. From the Picker's pop-down menu load the set named “Contours” (then click Append). Choose the Contour named “Ring-Triple” as shown here.
- Step SEVEN. Click OK and the inner shadow (added for depth), copper gradient stroke, and the bevel effect on that stroke will all be applied simultaneously (as shown here). Now, you could stop right here (okay, you'd probably add a drop shadow, but that's all it needs). But to show the effect in action, you can continue and create a logo using this type.
- Step EIGHT. Create a new document (at a smaller size, like 7"x5") in RGB mode. Press “d” to set your Foreground color to black, then press Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) to fill the Background layer with black. Create a new blank layer, then get the Elliptical Marquee tool and draw an oval-shaped selection (like the one shown here). Click on the Foreground Color Swatch, and choose a red, then fill your selection with red by pressing Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace).
- Step NINE. Press Command-D (PC: Control-D) to deselect. Choose Stroke from the Add a Layer Style pop-up menu at the bottom of the Layers palette. Set the Size to 10, the Position to Inside, click on the Color swatch, then choose a bright yellow (like the one shown here) as your stroke Color. From the list of Styles on the left side of the dialog, click on Inner Shadow. Increase the Distance to 15 and the size to 13, then click OK to apply a shadow inside your red oval, and the yellow stroke around the outside.
- Step TEN. Hold the Command key (PC: Control key), go to the Layers palette, and click on the oval layer to put a selection around your oval. Go under the Select menu and choose Transform Selection. Once the bounding box appears, go up to the Options Bar, and for Width enter 90%, for Height enter 80%, then press Enter to shrink your selection.
- Step ELEVEN. Create a new layer, press “d” to set your Foreground color to black, then fill your smaller oval-shapped selection with black by pressing Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace).
- Step TWELVE. Click your Elliptical Marquee tool inside the black oval-shapped selection and drag the selection up and to the left (as shown here). Then press Delete (PC: Backspace), which knocks a hole out of your black oval, revealing the red oval on the layer below it. When you do this, it creates a Nike-like swoosh out of your once-black oval. Deselect by pressing Command-D (PC: Control-D).
- Step THIRTEEN. Go back to your diamond text document. Press “v” to get the Move tool, and click-and-drag your diamond text over onto your red, black, and yellow oval document. Your text will be too big, so press Command-T (PC: Control-T) to bring up Free Transform. Hold the Shift key, grab a corner point, and drag inward to scale the text down to size (as shown here). Press Return (PC: Enter) to lock in your transformation.
- Step FOURTEEN. Choose Drop Shadow from the Add a Layer Style pop-up menu. Turn off Use Global Light then set the Angle to 138°, Distance to 12, and click OK to apply a soft drop shadow to your diamond text (as shown). For the tag line, create your type using the same font, then choose Stroke from the Add a Layer Style pop-up menu. Set your Stroke color to yellow, and click OK.
- Step FIFTEEN. Now you'll add the station's call letters. Type in “KJAM” right above the number “9” in the logo, then set your Foreground color to yellow and your Background color to red. Then, choose Gradient Overlay from the Add a Layer Style pop-up menu. In the Gradient Picker in the dialog, make sure the very first gradient (Foreground to Background) is selected. Set the Angle to -90°. Then choose Stroke from the list of Styles. Change the Stroke Color to black and click OK.
- Step SIXTEEN. In the Layers palette, click on your diamond type layer. Although the copper gradient looked fine when the diamond type was on white, it looks all wrong when put over this black, red, and yellow logo. So, double-click on the word Stroke on your diamond text layer. Click on the down- facing arrow next to the Gradient thumbnail, then from the Gradient Picker's pop-down menu, choose Metals to load that set of gradients. Click on the Silver gradient shown here.
- Step SEVENTEEN. Click OK and your stroke gradient is changed to the silver metal (as shown here). If the call letters don't stand out enough, click on the call letters layer in the Layer palette, then choose Outer Glow from the Add a Layer Style pop-up menu. Set the Glow Color to white, Blend Mode to Normal, and increase the Spread to 38, Size to 15, and click OK
- Step EIGHTEEN. The final step is to scale the size of the Layer Styles down on your diamond text layer. Even though you scaled the dialog text down earlier, the effects you applied stay at the same size, so go under the Layer menu, under Layer Style, and choose Scale Effects. Lower the scale to 84% and click OK. The final effect is shown below.
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