[A] Introduction

Hey there, welcome to this tutorial! I'm AzzouBK and today I'll go through the process of how I Designed and Drew this Retro Ad Poster.

[B] General Information

Let's talk about the elements of a Good Retro Design.

First, it has to evoke a sense of Nostalgia, you can achieve that by using vintage objects and products. Even though Clip Studio Paint isn't that old, using an old PC and a floppy disk helped a lot in my example.

Here are some examples of vintage objects you might want to use.

Second, the Ad should portray emotions and feelings. For instance, A happy family enjoying the product. Or in my case, a happy beautiful lady.

The picture below is an example for an excited family!

Last point is that the Ad has to look Period Correct. If you're drawing a 50's Retro Ad that includes a person or two, search for how people used to dress up in the 50's.

As you can see, the hoodie does not go well with that hairstyle...

[C] Design

I Cannot stress this enough, you Must look for Good References. Knowing that, I have gathered a lot of design cues from different sources and mixed them together.

Design Tips:

-Include at least one person is a state of Awe, Surprise, Joy...etc. Also, try to show a sense of motion and action to emphasize their feelings. Keep in mind that it all depends on the emotions your product evokes.

-Use Bright flashy colors that instantly grabs the viewer's eye, but don't go extreme and always remember to reference from original Ads to get the period correct colors.

-Fancy Logos and solid word choices are key here. You must choose your words carefully haha. Retro Slogans are well thought of, so try to come up with something Witty and Original.

Here are a couple of sketches I did while trying to get a good composition and include all of the above.

[D] Drawing

After choosing a good design, Launch Clip Studio Paint and create a new file with the desired dimensions. I recommend going with a larger file size if you're planning on printing this.

Next step is to create a final detailed sketch as a guide for painting.

I had to change the PC design as well as the position of her hand, because I didn't like them...

I then laid down the base colors, each on a separate layer all above my sketch...

...And started rendering and adding details...

I then added a Background with visible brush strokes to make it look as if it's oil-painted.

Actually I spent quite some time experimenting with colors until I finally decided to go with Blue instead of Green because with the Green, the PC started fading into the background. And since the Blue color provides enough contrast with all elements it worked out quite nicely!

Here are some Tips for when you're painting:

-Use textured brushes for a realistic look. I used the default "Design Pencil" but you may also use the default Watercolor brushes as they work just fine.

-Never draw lines if you're aiming for a "Realistic" Retro Style, instead use soft and hard edges using color and color only!

-Use 3D models to help with anatomy, or Real life references by taking pictures with a camera.

-Use Clip Studio Paint's Decoration brushes for decorating clothes, such as the "Cutout lace" special brush. Or browse the Asset library to find useful textures like a Polka dotted pattern...etc.

[E] Typography

Typography can make or break a great Retro Ad Design. Thus, carefully choose a Strong and Memorable Slogan for your product that can last for ages. And use a font that best compliments your design.

For this example, I decided to stick with Clip Studio Paint's Logo and Slogan; because not only do they look smart and classy, they suit my retro design for this Ad.

The font I used is called "Britannic-T-Light" and it matches the one used in the original logo.

All I had to do is add a Border effect to make it stand out a bit more...

 

...And adjust the width of the text by going to Window> Sub Tool Detail. Make sure you have selected the Text tool beforehand.

[F] Effects

With the art side of things done, now's the time to make the Poster look even better!

Using a textured brush, I drew some reflections and shadows on the bottom, which looked great.

And In order to make the Poster look old, I downloaded an "Old Worn Paper" texture file from Clip Studio's Asset library.

Content ID: 1716504

...Located the file in the download folder then drag and dropped it above all layers. I then Resized the file until I was satisfied with the look of the texture...

...Then I've set the Layer Blending mode to "Multiply" and adjusted the opacity till it looked good.

After that I Rasterized the paper texture and cropped it.

And Done!

[J] Thank you

The End!

Thank you for reading, I hope this was useful.

If you have questions or need any help, feel free to DM me on Instagram: @azzoubk

Stay safe and have a Great day!