Hello everyone, In this tutorial, I will share some techniques and tips for Retro-inspired designs.

I hope it helps!. let's have some fun!

▼Some of the techniques I share in my previous tutorials are helpful for this type of work. Check them out.

Inspiration | Moodboard

Before we start working its always a good idea to gather inspiration & references.

This is specially important when trying to create a desing inspired by older times.

Try to look for typograhy, colors, textures, composition, etc.

I cant share my moodboard for this pieces due to copyright but just gather as much usefull reference & inspiration before you start working.

1.Retro inspired poster | 3d outline text

I will create a poster inspired by old 3d text techniques & image manipulation inspired by Andy Warhol.

▼ [1] The base for the poster is a dark paper texture. Lets add text

■[1.1] Select the Text tool (shortcut T) Choose a font in the [Tool Property] palette. then click on the canvas and Type the main text for the poster. I typed Fruit power. Using white as color.

■[1.2] Press CTRL+T to Free transform the layer. Roughly Define Scale and position. we will change it later to match the final composition

 

▼ [2] Lets create the 3d outline text

■[2.1] Right-click the text layer & duplicate it. Then select the original one.

■[2.2] Activate the Border effect in the [Layer property] palette & set it as white. Select the Object tool. Then change the color to a Dark gray using the [Tool Property] palette.

■[2.3] With the Move layer tool position the outlined text behind the main one to create dimension.

■[2.4] keep duplicating the outline text and reposition to create the Retro 3d effect.

■[2.5] Group the layers into a folder then Duplicate the folder & merge selected to make it a single raster layer.

2. Text Color

▼ [1] Lets add color to the text

■[1.1] With the merged layer selected go to [Edit] > [Tonal correction] > [Gradient map]

■[1.2] Choose a gradient. This maps the values of the text to the colors of the gradient. I picked a yellow desaturated gradient.

■[1.3] Bring a copy of the original white text layer on top of the stack & change the color from the[Tool property] palette. I choose a darker yellow.

■[1.4] Group all the Main text layers into a folder and rename it for organization.

3. Fruit element

▼ [1] Add a photograph of the main elemnt of the poster behind the text. in this case i choose a pineapple.

■[1.1] With the element selected go to [Edit] > [Tonal correction] > [Gradient map]

■[1.2] Choose a black & white gradient to remove the color from the image.

■[1.3] Go to [Edit] > [Tonal correction] > [Level correction]

■[1.4] Play with the sliders to add contrast.

▼ [2] Add a Lines with the artistic filter

■[2.1] Duplicate the pineapple layer.

■[2.2] Go to [Filter] > [Effect] > [Artistic]

■[2.3] Choose lines only & play with the settings to achieve the line effect.

■[2.4] Hold alt & click the layer mask icon to create a maks filled with transparent. This hides the line effect for now.

▼ [3] Lets add some color.

■[3.1] Create another copy of the original layer. Pick a color, then go to [Edit] > [Convert to drawing color] This keeps the image edges and fills with the main color.

■[3.2] Lock the transparent pixels then with the polyline selection tool i created a selection around the leaves of the pinneaple. Fill it with another color.

■[3.3] Move the original layer on top of the colors & set the blending mode to "multiply"

■[3.4] Select the color layer & press CTRL+U to apply Hue/saturation/luminosity. Play with the sliders to modify the colors. Look at your moodboard for palette reference.

■[3.5] Group the layers into a folder. Then paint in the Lines effect mask to reveal the lines in some areas.

4. Finishing

▼ [1] Lets finish the poster with some details.

■[1.1] First add another text layer at the bottom . I created two copies one white on top and a color shadow.

■[1.2] Group the layers & name it for organization.

▼ [2] lets add a subtle blured glow

■[2.1] right click the top folder then select merge visible to new layer. This creates a merged copy of all the layers.

■[2.2] duplicate the merged layer & set the blending mode to screen. This brighten the image and desaturate the colors a little bit.

■[2.3] go to [Filter] > [Blur] > [Motion Blur] set the angle to 0 then play with the strength to achieve a subtle motion glow.

▼ [3] add color & tone correction

■[3.1] first lower the opacity of the glow layer to make it more subtle.

■[3.2] go to [layer] > [new correction layer] > [tone curve] and use the curve to change the overall tone of the poster.

■[3.3] go to [layer] > [new correction layer] > [hue/saturation/luminosity] and adjust the colors. Lower the saturation a little bit.

▼ [4] finish the poster with texture.

■[4.1] i added a dust & scratches texture on top.

■[4.2] set the blending mode to screen to remove the black from the texture & keep the details. Lower the opacity to make it less invasive.

Experiment with different textures & correcction layers.

▼ Here is the final result

Closing thoughts

I hope you enjoyed this short tutorial.

Combining simple techniques & tools we can achieve interesting results.

Remember to gather a lot of reference & inspiration. Try to avoid copying others work. Instead study the designs and try to uderstand the decisions taken by the creators. Some Retro designs were minimal & utilitarian while others were full of elements & bold graphics. Some had few muted colors but others are vibrant & saturated.

Learn about style trends & technical limitations and how the designers worked around that.

Be creative i have fun experimenting.

Thank you for watching. I will see you in my next tutorial.