IRON
HERO Tutorial by David Occhino • David
Occhino Design • The
IRON HERO font
This is David Occhino from David Occhino Design and I'd like to share some cool ways to get that IRON HERO font to look like the example above. So, here are the steps in Illustrator and Photoshop that will get you there. I am assuming that you know your way around Illustrator and Photoshop, and know how to do the following:
- use layers
- create and use masks
- use filters
- use painting tools
- convert text to paths in Illustrator
- import Illustrator data into Photoshop
Let's get started.
1) Create a Photoshop file with the dimensions you'll need, then fill that with a creamy brown (R: 125 G: 90 B: 57):
2) Add Noise 70%, Uniform, Monochromatic
3) Add Motion Blur, Angle 45°, distance 57
4) Create a new layer with an image of sand, scale it to taste and pump up the levels a little.
5) Adjust the sand layer to overlay with Opacity of 20%. Then, combine the two layers.
6) Scale the layer to taste. I enlarged it about 200%.
7) Adjust the RBG levels to taste. I manually adjusted the levels to 40, 1.16, 255.
8) Apply Unsharp Mask, 33% with a Radius of 6.8 and Threshold of 0.
9) In Illustrator, use Iron Hero Outline, scale, then convert the text to paths and ungroup all lines. Select the interior lines and import into Photoshop to create a mask.
10) Back in Photoshop, apply the mask to the texture layer.
11) Paint cream highlights, some ruddy areas and a few random shaded areas.
12) Add a layer of white highlights, mottled areas and splotches. Opacity 26%.
Here's what you shoudl have at this point:
13) Create a layer and paint shadows for the lower left side of the letters. Opacity 64%.
And you have this:
14) Go back to Illustrator and import the outline vectors into a new Photoshop layer to create the outlines with a transparent background. Lock the pixels.
15) Using your artistic talent in Photoshop, paint this new layer with shadows, highlights and midtones to create this look:
And if you turn on all your layers, you should have this:
16) Back in Illustrator, select the interior text paths and expand them to taste to get a nice thin outline. Import this into Photoshop, lock the pixels, fill with gold, then put a bevel on it. Adjust this new layer to 36%.
And now you should have this:
17) Create a new layer with an image of marble, apply a mask to trim out the outside of the letters. Set the layer to Overlay with an Opacity of 36%.
Here's what you should have:
18) Create a new layer with an image of meteoritic rock (iron meteorites look best). try and get some nice highlights at the bottom because that's what will relly show up. Apply the same mask you used in Step 17. Erase a portion of the layer as in the example below. Then, set the layer to Color Dodge with an Opacity of 62%.
And now it should looks like this:
18) Create a new layer with an image of rock with large crystals. Apply the mask you created in Step 9. Then set the layer to Overlay with an Opacity of 12%.
The art should look like this:
19) Create a new layer and fill with a creamy orange. Apply the mask you used in Step 17. The, set the layer to Overlay with an opacity of 63%.
And your artwork should look like this:
Did this tutorial help you? What other tips would you like to see on my site? Drop me a line and let me know. And, if you would like me to design something for you at some point, check out my Graphic Design Services webpage and consider hiring me to do the work for you.
Thanks!
David Occhino