DISQUS

jared · 2 years ago

very well done, a great tutorial. please do more.

Tara · 6 months ago

This was awwwsome, and thanks so much for taking the time to put it together, more, more, MORE!!

jahmodi · 2 years ago

Sweet,nice tutorial.Can I use "Flash" instead for live tracing,seeing as I haven,t got illustrator?

Jeff · 2 years ago

@jahmodi - that'll work too I suppose.

Bob · 2 years ago

Man, you guys are the best! Keep the tutorials coming. I'm to get my boss to buy all of your Vectorpacks in the morning :)

Mario · 2 years ago

Great tutorial, I was planning to do something in a similar style for my band, so that's a nice inspiration.

I'd also like to have that "magic want tool" you are going on about. On second thought it's maybe just a typo *sigh* ;)

Anyway thanks again for the article.

dbdesignco · 2 years ago

Free-kin Kick ass.........the graphic breakdown was my favorite part. Never thought of doing it that way. Thanks.

dbdesignco · 2 years ago

And check out http://kuler.adobe.com/ it's a great color comp idea site.....if you didnet already know about it.

rietz · 2 years ago

Yah, that was like, "Take trite design convention #1, add Trite Design Conventions #2 and #3, and blamo."

Also, you didn't put The Fall Of Troy first because you like them more. You put em first, because the design problem here would have been to put the Deftones first (they certainly would have been the headliner). So instead of solving a design problem, you used a bad example of how to work-around your issue. It's obvious that if a promoter came to you with this project, that it would be rejected. He's more worried about the tickets the Deftones pull in, not Fall of Troy.

As a design tutorial -- C+
As a design problem solved? -- F-

Brandon · 2 years ago

Thanks for the great and very useful tutorial!

Dave · 2 years ago

Look Rietz... I don\'t know what elitist new media design firm you come from but the tutorial I created was a fun little project created SOLELY for the purpose of teaching people something they may have not already known. Not a seminar on how to visually communicate. This was a make-believe poster and it covers good features in Illustrator and Photoshop, and how to implement them well. I don\'t want the end user of this tutorial to make what I made... but to take the techniques and create something ridiculously awesome with their own creative drive.

Re-reading your post made me realize that A.) I Shouldn\'t be explaining myself to you and B.) How people should mind their own business or write a better tutorial if what they see is deemed as garbage.

Get off the kick kiddo and worry about your own. It\'s people like you that make up the stomach-wrenching headache-heavy side of the industry many of us fight tooth and nail to stake a claim in.

Thanks for the feedback.

Jeff · 2 years ago

@reitz - I'm glad you feel so strongly about the topic. But I'd like to respond.

I argue against your opinion that this would have been rejected if this was for an actual poster because you think the Fall of Troy wouldn't sell tickets.

You are missing the point. If the Fall of Troy is promoting their shows, who are they going to put on the poster? Themselves of course.

If the Deftones are promoting it, then they'll put themselves on the top and TFOT on the bottom.

If an unbiased venue was promoting it and wanted to make sure they got more ticket sales, yes, the Deftones would be a better headliner choice.

But since there is no promoter, there is no issue with who to put at the top. It could be Avril Lavigne or Weird Al, it doesn't matter who they are. The point is to discuss design elements and getting that "gigposter" feel using the basic tools from Photoshop and Illustrator.

If you are at all familiar with our work, you'd realize that we've done plenty of posters for promoters and yes, it's up to them what content goes where. And never is a poster flat out rejected, it's simply revised. I don't see why you're making such an effort to talk shit.

But keep it up. It's fun. Btw, you could have at least taken credit for your opinion and put in a real email address. If you are going to have the nerve to talk shit, then back it up!

Glen · 2 years ago

Yes, Rietz. Please give us a link to your work so we all know what real designers are doing these days. Would love to see the work you've done for the local elementary school's bake sale and the Lost Dog flyer you made for your Aunt.

Tara · 6 months ago

LOL, Don't forget about the CD cover for his brother's wedding dvd.... :)-

Seth Clark · 2 years ago

Great tutorial! It really inspired me to go out and try some of these techniques!

Chis · 2 years ago

Wow, this is amazing. I was confused at first wiht what you did with the hand but I forgot to read the part that you rotated it.

Yaco · 2 years ago

Great tutorial..really solved my putting off switching from freehand to illustrator...but that's not what this is about eh? The image composition was awesome..I know, sure it's probably vector graphics 101 but never really thought it up that clearly. And all the rest makes the poster a truly designed one, tons of ideas inspired by it now...and truly in want of full vectorpack set..gotta get money first, darn it.

and please keep this up.

Ar+ design Student

classic brand · 2 years ago

I think no matter what anyone says, this tutorial is perfectly fine and I learned a lot from it, you shouldn't have to back yourself up because there's nothing wrong with the tutorial in the first place.

Lupz · 2 years ago

@Rietz

Lighten up man, this is supposed to be fun and informative.

Rietz as an a-hole — A++++++

Jeff · 2 years ago

classic - right, but it's fun to chat about the difference of opinion.

Dave · 2 years ago

Great F'n tutorial, I really enjoyed reading it and I learned some things from it. Keep it up man and thanks again.

jackiechan · 2 years ago

u deserved that hot dog

Matt Jansson · 2 years ago

Just wanted to give out a huge THANK YOU for all the great tutorials you guys been giving out for free. I´m currently studying graphic design in Sweden and thanks to you guys I have been rising to the top of my class (a little self-confident, I know...but it´s the truth, hehehe). There is no reason for you to give out these free lessons, so no matter what anyone says about them...they really help alot of us out. Keep up the awsome work and if you ever would like to get an intern from Sweden, give me a call :) If nothing else...I can be in charge of making the cofee.

Craig Burrow · 2 years ago

Great Illustrator (Photoshop) Tutorials

I just found your site and have been searching the internet for tutorials that show work from beginning to end utilizing different techniques, believe me there aren't many. Most tutorials don't show real world (type) designs from start to finish and the workflow used. Your tutorials are appreciated, keep up the good work.

Ah, by the way, Reitz, "not everyone here are design experts, that is why we look for tutorials, you should step back and think about people who are beginning to dive into the magic of illustrator or people who are looking for inspiration. AND these guys take time out to share tips and techniques that help others achieve their goals." Again, thanks for the tuts.

mac · 2 years ago

im from dominican republic i really enjoy this tutorial so awesome keep that way

Olivia · 2 years ago

This is really helpful, thanks alot.

Larry · 2 years ago

Who the F*&^ cares who's on the top of the poster. You guys rock! keep up the good work and keep the info. coming. This is one of the best sources on the net in my own opinion for design tutorials and fresh inspiration!Thanks.

Steve · 2 years ago

Realy good tutorial has tought me a few things thank you

Hugh · 2 years ago

This couldnt have come at a better time, since a band just asked me to make a gig poster. Thanks this will be extremely helpful

Martin · 2 years ago

Excellent Tutorial, reallt useful - would love to have some more. Please dont let numb-nuts comment put you off putting the time in - some of us really do appreciate it!

mark · 2 years ago

Really enjoyed the tutorial & learned a lot. Cheers.

Jon Thomas · 2 years ago

These are awesome. Really helping me understand the tools and even things like color separation.

anonymous · 2 years ago

I fully understand that people NEED tutorials etc. The thing that kills me is that so many tutorials are focused on ripping off one's style. Why not just post tutorials titled,"How to vectorize a raster image" or "Create vector paths from a raster image". Something along those lines. Please don't get me wrong - what you are doing is a huge help to many beginners and I'm sure they all appreciate the kind gestures. However I would like to see more originality from such a talented individual like yourself. I can tell you right now that if we had a client come to our agency and they said,"make it look like this", we would inevitably be chastised for producing it the moment it went to print.

Just some food for thought, or my opinions on the subject. Take it as you see fit.

Thanks.

Jeff · 2 years ago

Dear Anonymous - I'm not sure what you are getting at? Are you saying that our tutorials have no originality to them? I can't tell if you are criticizing our tutorials or complimenting them.

Are you joking when you ask for tutorials on "how to vectorize a raster image?" Because there are tons of those out there. Or are you being sarcastic and claiming that's all we are showing people how to do. I think our tutorials are very original, but ambiguous enough to allow for the user to use their creativity and use our techniques in their own designs.

Please clarify this, I'd email you but you wanted to remain unknown.

Jeff

Dave · 2 years ago

Stay tuned for my next tutorial. How to vector trace a circle... BY HAND! with the pencil tool. bam!

Anonymous, you seem to be a very advanced designer and your agency is a step above the rest. I can tell by your grammar that you're sweet like that. I'm sorry we don't have what you would "like to see". But...

Our tutorials are much like Computer Arts Magazine's tutorials. They take a project, with a particular style in mind, and walk you through from start to finish.

You should write them too.

And for everyone else, the feedback doesn't discourage us. It only adds to the drive to make more. Hopefully we can attain the impossible goal of making everyone happy. Keep your eyes peeled.

Beth · 2 years ago

Very cool tutorial. The techniques are ones I know for the most part, but knowing and implementing are different things, and it definitely helps spark inspiration seeing how someone else puts things together - thanks!

zeiad · 2 years ago

thats a good tutorial ....

mark · 2 years ago

thanks again for all the hard work, guys & gals. would love to see more AE toots. current trends have a ton of animated vectors and such. peace [m]

Marko · 2 years ago

Very nice and detailed tut. Bookmarked it and I will go trough it. Good work!

aaron · 2 years ago

hey guys. i just want to say hwo great i think your site is. i am a huge fan since the first day i saw it when i started design school last fall. these kinds of tutorials that you guys do are great because they dont say "copy me so you get it" they say "take this technique and run with it".

as for the overall look of the poster here, its great. i have always been a fan of the whole distressed/grunge/etc. look. i think it works especially well for gig posters.

nice work. now if only i could afford that last darn vectorpack.....:(

Zeitgeist · 2 years ago

How was the hotdog?

MistiK · 2 years ago

Pretty cool tutorial, keep em coming! :)

Glen · 2 years ago

I love how the GoMedia guys don't take shit from anybody.

CrisB · 2 years ago

Nice tutorial man!......its so awesome that you guys "share the wealth" with these tutorials, please keep them coming. And its great to see such rich talent coming straight out of Cleveland.

malique · 2 years ago

cool tutorial man!
cant wait try it out

JPH · 2 years ago

Great tutorial - thanks.

ben · 2 years ago

amazing tutorial
and the fall of troy are really good =)

Marx · 2 years ago

Its really sad how these "designers" can take some crit.
Im with Reitz on this, why "design" something that wouldnt work in the first place... that just isnt fun... why not make something that might actually work... maybe and Im spitballing here restrict yourself to 2 to 4 colors (maybe even PMS) now that would be FUN!

But hey, some people are so weak that a little crit hurts there tiny little ego and all they can do is puff out their chests and spew challenges.

Tara · 6 months ago

The sole PURPOSE of this tutorial, is to simply help people understand how to USE the TOOLS of Illustrator..period, it is not a class in aesthetics, composition, and color, or what goes where....that is up to the individual's own taste and personal style, there are NO rules when it comes to art and designing.

So, in that sense, this tutorial is xtremly successful.

Until you chose to take the initiative to create an online tutorial of your own..I don't think you qualify to say jack.

Julien · 2 years ago

Hi, i'm from Germany. I love your style and want to say "Thank You" for this great tutorials you've been giving us. Lot of Merci

Jeff · 2 years ago

@ Marx,

I think you meant "can't take some crit." We take criticism all the time, I don't know what you are talking about. We like to engage in conversation with our readers, so responding to criticism by Reitz wasn't a result of bruised egos. It's because we want to provoke discussion. Reitz made some negative comments, which is fine. We just responded.

Keep up the crits!

Gregorio · 2 years ago

Oh boy, I really like this tutorial, it’s really useful for me, because I am really good using photoshop, but with ilustrator am a mess, I like vector but my pacience sucks, and if something don´t go like a wanna, I dont keep doing it! I hope you can understandme, my english is´s really crappy, T think I jus speak the basics, am from Venezuela and in here we speak spanish all the time...

Glen · 2 years ago

@Marx - There's a reason it's called a TUTORIAL. The content doesn't matter. Just the look. The fact is that that's a hot look right now in promotional concert posters. Take a look around. And on another note, I guess you were too busy bitching about the content of the tutorials to take a gander at the actual work the GoMedia guys put out for high end clients like Van Halen and Dragonforce. That shit "works."

Clint · 2 years ago

I just want to offer a grateful thanks and suggest a solution for Dave during on step of the tutorial...I believe you could benefit from using the blend tool and setting it to a specified number
of steps instead of making so many copies of one line.

John · 2 years ago

Hey fellas...

Nice to see you standing your ground. Y'all are one of my biggest inspirations and [literally] are one of the main reasons I decided to get into this business. I've learned quite a bit from y'all and can't wait to see more. Tutorials are great for anybody and these douche-bags that talk crap to you can go chase themselves. Considering all of the success you guys have gained thus far, I think they are barking up the WRONG tree. Keep it going... I love your stuff.

Arve · 2 years ago

Because of you, I like the illustrator more.
thanks!

Marco Antonio · 2 years ago

Great tutorial, guys. There is a little bit in it for everybody, and even seasoned designers might pick up a trick or two. (we ALL have different trick-bags, it's always fun to swap and see everybody else's!)

Keep up the good work. Should be proud of yourselves, and you're at least doing our industry a favour by promoting good design and skills. It's all about sharing the love!! :D

Cheers! -- M.

Amy · 2 years ago

You've made a great tutorial. I used it in a class project for computer design. I didn't have illustrator, so I only used PS throughout the whole project. Thankfully that still worked. ^_^

Anyhow, thanks alot and great job. ;)

intermedia · 2 years ago

good tutorial good to learn usefull techniques

RustyEight · 2 years ago

I love the result. I have been in a little bit of a creative block lately and have a few poster designs to create. This has refueled me a bit.

On a side note, and I hope this doesn't sound amature, can't you get the same result just using Photoshop? Is there a certain reason that an .eps or an .ai poster would be superior in this instance rather than a bitmap based format?

I do work primarily in Photoshop and I don't want to be creating a sub-standard product if Vector has the advantage.

- Ryan Grandmison
- RustyEight Media
- www.myspace.com/rustyeight

RustyEight · 2 years ago

Oh, and by the way, I've read all the crits to this tutorial. What people don't seem to understand, and correct me if I'm wrong, this ad wasn't made to go "Hey take a military guy and use him for your next poster!"

THEY ARE NOT TEACHING HOW TO BE A DESIGNER.

That is something that can't be taught. Either you have an eye for art or not. This is the same problem I have with design schools. They teach you theory, but nothing practical. They don't teach you Illustrator or Photoshop... they teach you futurism, post-modernism, Victorian, etc. (we're in a post-modern era now anyway, so none of that really matters).

My point is, don't take this tutorial on its artistic merit, take it as a chance to learn the ins and out of programs the industry uses through a tutorial that actually gives you a result rather than empty techniques and theory.

- Ryan Grandmaison
- RustyEight Media
- www.myspace.com/rustyeight

Mauriciops · 2 years ago

awesome! :)

eddy · 2 years ago

this totally opened more doors for me in illustrator

thanks

JJ · 2 years ago

You have just as easily done this in PS without illus. Of course you'd lack the vector shit in backgrounds but you could just as simply played with the pen tool or less desirably played with a brush.

The 3 layers could've been thresholded and put into Filter > Artistic > Cutout and you're golden.

I like the tut though, good experience for those who're getting into Illus

4239123

Ash · 2 years ago

Hi, love the result.
Could you point me in the direction of that typeface please? Cant find it anywhere. : /
Thanks

tim · 2 years ago

hey this is a great tut thanks soo much for it and others u guys rule. HOW do you get rid of all that extra stuff outside the box when your done with the image? thx!

Jeff · 2 years ago

@Ash - the font is called Affliction. You can buy it here:

http://www.gomedia.us/arsenal/fonts.php

@tim - We use what's called "Crop Marks" in Illustrator. You make a box and then go to Object>Crop Area>Make. And when you export or Save For Web, you will only export that area within those crop marks.

lube · 2 years ago

reitz -

he has a point. but this isn't a marketing/advertising tutorial. this is a DESIGN tutorial. learning how to use illustrator. but seriously, you should put that comment you left in a marketing tutorial web site. seriously man.

andrea · 2 years ago

Graphic Designers can be assholes. 'Nuff Said.

Dre · 2 years ago

great work. been working with flash and photoshop to get my vector stuff done, skipping the whole illustrator bit but i like the technique with the different contrasts before tracing, adds more depth and love the vector packs. Looking forward to more.

Mike · 2 years ago

this tutorial is EXACTLY what i've been looking for. i've been wondering how to make the splattered look using diagonal lines, so that was particularly useful. Also, the seperation of colors on Dwight was interesting...i never thought of doing it like that. however, what is the different between how you did it (three different contrast/brightness image's combined) and using the live trace options to use 3 colors?

anyway, thanks for this, i will deffinitely be checking out more of these tutorials...

Lexy · 2 years ago

Thanx a lot for your job. :)

Your tutoials are awesome!
What do you think if some of them would be translated into Russian? Surely, with respect to all your copyrights.

Michael · 2 years ago

Hey, how would you do this with CorelDraw 12?

tim · 2 years ago

thx jeff!

Natalie · 2 years ago

Truly an inspiration! Thank you for the tutorial!

Katie · 2 years ago

Wow, that's a fantastic tutorial. Easy to follow and informative, I love seeing how others go about designing I always pick up new tricks that way :) Thanks so much

robert · 2 years ago

geez.... a guy puts up a free resource
and gets hassle....thats the sort of grief that stops good guys like dave posting to help noobs like me...

if you dont like the tutorial dont use it..
find another....

it's really appreciated here..thanks man..
keep going....

Sores · 2 years ago

great tutorial! looks amazing

Covey · 2 years ago

I have a couple of problems that hopefully you can fix for me...

When I copy the layers from Photoshop into Illustrator, they are copied over as a bunch of rectangles grouped together.

Also, when I select one of the newly copied over layers, live trace is greyed out, not making it a valid option to select.

Is there something that I am doing wrong, or forgetting to do?

Justin · 2 years ago

I've been trying to get the Pathfinder part of this tut to work, and I can't. I have my lines, and the splatter image on top, and I hit the intersect button, and the paths are there but they have no fill or stroke, and I can not add a stroke or fill to them, so I hit expand, and they get deleted?

Can you explain this step in more detail?

Av- · 2 years ago

Enjoy your hot dog ;)

Carlos · 2 years ago

@Covey:
try dragging the layer from from photoshop into illustrator,rather than copy pasting (IF that's what you're doing). Maybe that's why you're not getting the live trace option?

@Justin:
this happened to me also, but I managed to figure it out. First make sure you're doing the lines using the rectangle tool and not the line tool, Otherwise the pathfinder option won't work correctly. Once you have all the lines done, select them and hit "add" on the pathfinder menu (maybe you're using "group" instead?) now go ahead and try the other steps.

Covey · 2 years ago

I am definitely dragging and dropping the image into Illustrator. It automatically just recognizes it as a solid image. I have to rasterize it first, and then it will allow the live trace.

not too sure why this happens, but at least I found a way around it.

Chris H · 2 years ago

Great tute. I like these real world tutes and I especially liked you explaining your decision making.

elastic illusion · 2 years ago

DAMN HOME SKILLET!!!

you just blew my fuckin mind

i see there are haters even in design land.. i had no idea!!

i will tell you, that coming from breakdancing world, where haters abound--and i have gotten use to think it's normal--it's almost FUNNY to see haters in a design context...

it makes me recontextualize my whole hateration paradigm namean!?

anyway, dave-o, you are the fucking man and go media in one day made me realize i dont need to go to design school..

i always dreamed of just doing real life shit and getting better as i go.. but i truly thought design and motion graphics might be too hard..

if someone had showed me that poster you just taught me to made, i would have said you need 5 years experience to work at that level..

SHEISE!

i guess what im trying to say is that i thank you... from the pit of my soul

your friend, now and later,
brit
elastic illusion
teaching kids to do the breakdance and getting hated on like you wouldnt even know (except you do know cuz you get hated on too) :)

http://www.howtodotherobot.com

and as they say in the ghett-o,
"it's all love"

Jeff · 2 years ago

haha that was awesome man, thanks for the comment - best comment in years! is that you in the video? wow. you are one crazy robot dude and I would totally buy your video. :-)

Justin · 2 years ago

@Carlos

Thank you! I was making lines, and not rectangles, that is why! You are awesome.

Mike · 2 years ago

It's good to see tutorials, and to teach people how to create something they dont know how to so well done on that respect.
However, I dont like the poster created, for a number of reasons. There is a saturation of this style which is overused and in this case done badly through use of image, stock imagery is pretty much the same as selling out, i understand if it has to be used and is part of a brief, but for someone to use it for their own personal "non profit" poster is in my opinion the worse thing a designer can do. There has been no consideration taken into the photograph what has Eisenhower got to do with this and putting a gun in his hand!? secondly the use of typography is awful 'gore fonts' as theyre known are only used cos everyone else uses them, how about a nice strong slab serif or sans serif?such as helvetica or avant garde? and the overall composition of colour is trite at best.

This is mass design for the uneducated and
to teach people this way of working is misleading and pretentious.

this is just my opinion, i guess i'll get backlash like the last guy who voiced his opinion against the work, he was completely right by the way, i dont mind.

elastic illusion · 2 years ago

that's one of my partners in the video... we have just started filming my video "how to do the pop lock"

since i guess i wrote the best comment and all i think about is go media and design and how dope it is and you guys are and all that.. like i am seriously considering having the 3 of us in elastic illusion (http://www.elasticillusion.com) fly from LA to cleveland to just bask in your glow for a few days...

so i have a request... can you guys do a tutorial where you show how you did what you did for the "hateus" intro... i have no idea how to animate vector graphics like that... i bet it's relatively easy after effects but it would make my day...

thanks guys.. you're so money you don't even know :)

look forward to having a project to work with you guys on!

PEEEEEEEACE
brit
e.i.

Jeff · 2 years ago

@elastic

I see. Bask in our glow huh? Haha, well the only glow here is from our monitors!

Camilo · 2 years ago

I am trying to drag the layers from photoshop into illustrator and nothing happens. I try to export them and nothing appears on my illustrator file. Any help?

Dave · 2 years ago

Yo, Camilo...

use a selection tool (polygonal lasso, regular lasso, square, or whatever gets the job done) ctrl+c copies it and when you're in illustrator ctrl+v pastes it. done deal.

still doesn't work?

make sure in photoshop your move tool (black arrow) is selected so you can drag it elsewhere.

hope this helped.

@ Mike... I would like to invite you, Rietz, and the other critics to engage in a beer-pong competition with me, where the winner gets to rant on what's hot and what's not in graphic design to a room fool of third graders.

holler.

Dave · 2 years ago

whoops, i meant to say full, not fool. forgive me. but yeah... offer still stands!

loganathan · 2 years ago

hi, i´m fascinated with the tutorials and ive already bought the vector tools, but theres a problem, my photoshop cs3 cannot reach the numeric value of -100 in contrast, so i cannot perform the effect required for this tutorial, can you please help me?

Sam · 2 years ago

I dont know what i'm doing wrong, but when i add to shape area in the pathfinder part of the tutorial, whatever i have selected becomes invisible and when i expand, it completely disappears. can anyone help me understand how to mix the ink blots and the rectangular pattern?

Daniel Tyack · 2 years ago

First I was going to say that Rietz probably didn't get breastfed as a child so cut him a little slack... But then I read this quote from Dave,

And for everyone else, the feedback doesn’t discourage us. It only adds to the drive to make more. Hopefully we can attain the impossible goal of making everyone happy. Keep your eyes peeled.

and I realized that more people who weren't breastfed should comment! And on that note I must say that YOU GUYS HAVE THE WORST TUTORIALS EVER AND THEN SOME!




Seriously guys this is some great real world stuff! It was very inspiring.

Look I even made SOMETHING using some skills I learned from you, THANKS!

Ryan · 2 years ago

Hi, Dave
I haven't had any experience working with an agency and have no idea how long it should take to complete a design project from conceptualization to completion. I am passionately self-taught and always wanting to learn more. how long does/ should it take for an average project?

Please excuse my ignorance.

thanks.

Dave · 2 years ago

@ logonathan - click the "legacy" box and it should revert to the previous versions of photoshops brightness/contrast way of editing the image.

@ sam - make sure the object you are subtracting the shape out of is on the bottom of the desired shape you want (shift+ctrl+[ or ] for absolute bottom or absolute top to make absolutely sure). or click both objects and choose the intersect option.

@ Daniel Tyack - Awesome, haha. don't worry, we'll have more. really good use of the tutorial by the way, i dig it.

@ Ryan - If you have all of the content needed and you're given pretty lenient guidelines as far as artistic freedom goes... i wouldn't expect the project to go beyond 4 to 6 hours using these methods. In some of our straight from scratch illustrations, it's not wildly inappropriate to invest 12 to 16 hours or more. Client feedback and revisions play a major role as well and may set you a couple hours back. It really just depends on job/client/artistic direction you choose to go in.

and not an ignorant question by any means.

Take care fellas.

Don G. · 2 years ago

Veeery cool indeed! You just learned an old bugger some fresh tricks - I love it - thanks a lot :-)

marxbro · 2 years ago

Is there a name for this specific style of art?

joe · 2 years ago

hey again nice tutorial (i read the sketch one first).

though I agree with one of your dissenters that this dirty surface art vector style (disintegrating lines and text, blood spatters or paint drips, cardboard or otherwise rough dirty backgrounds, angel wings, victorian flourishes, etc) has become trite and overused in pretty much every form of print and motion graphics over the past year and a half.

that said, what better way to teach a tool than to use a style that an unaquainted new user is bound to be familiar with?

nice work guys.

also I would roof your shit in beer pong dave. theres my criticism. oh and also check the sketch to vector thread for another criticism. I want to join in in the arguments!!! David Carson sucked! discuss.

Dragan · 2 years ago

Great tutorial :}

shei · 2 years ago

whoa! i really learned alot from this tutorial! thanks!

1/10/soldr · 2 years ago

Thanks alot. Good tutorial. I'm trying to break out of this rut I've been in and this was a good start! Keep up the good work.

Jeff · 2 years ago

oh god, no words for you, well done!

katastrophy · 2 years ago

thanks for the tutorial! here's how it turned out.. http://vendetta-music.com/images/blue_ice_gasma...

townsendcolon · 2 years ago

awesome tutorial but how do cut the stroke on the rectangle to flow with ike??

Phonz · 2 years ago

Hey hey Guys, Dave Jeff and others.
mm I was thinking a lot of these comments.
Look Im designer from LIMA-PERU. as you know the graphic of sudAmerica in the last years had as CANNES winner BRAZIL(the most graphics) ARGENTINA. www.adhemas.com enter it.!!
This movement, style of GRaphism that you use, its overused in all world its true but its useful too its an easy way of fill an artboard or express an rebel sad, wild,hard smooth idea, depending of the form. Personally, as professional,improving designer I dont know if buy the vector pack or copy this style, I was thinking to creat mine,i fight evry single day for do originals works and break this vector graphism,virus Wave that i see in all medias,video tv ads,Flash and print, but by other side i usually use the graphism. So its difficult to ignore.
Suppose that vector pack took to the owners a lot of days to organize the files,take pictures,many hours in Internet, streets, graffitti, and many hours sitted in the PC, WOW Admiritations.
Id feel badly if I make money designing with unpersonal,unoriginal work.

Thats all maybe ill put another comments.
Look for brazilian ADHEMAS have a nice view I dont know maybe he bought your vectorpack and we dont know.

Fonsi.M
http://www.myspace.com/phonziem

Phonz · 2 years ago

OH of course i forget I congrates you in the typeof work you do.
Wish nice years and a possible change

muhammad hasimul kabir rana · 2 years ago

really most efficient tutorial.

Thanks.

Dinesh · 2 years ago

excellent just what i was looking for your a saint

Pike · 2 years ago

Wow, inspiring stuff. Please do more!
-Pike

santos · 2 years ago

Useful tutorial for grasping some basics of putting together elements of a design. Gives me ideas for other things to try out.

One suggestion/question: why not use an Adjustment > Posterize after cutting out the Ike image, rather than doing the lengthy process of splitting it into different documents and altering the contract/brightness? It would be easier to add more "shades" if needed, and in order to break them up one would just have to do a Select > Color Range (Fuzziness 50) for each shade, then Ctrl + J to dupe that into its own layer. Drag those into Illustrator to vectorize and good to go. It could cut down on windows, as everything would be in a single .psd prior to the Illustrator file.

Alan · 2 years ago

Hey guys, sometimes it has got to be pretty tough listening to the unstable rants from people scared to back up what they say with their own work. I admire what you guys do, and applaud you for teaching others what you have learned. You simply show how someone can apply certain styles to all different mediums, and then open up a line of communication for all to comment. The thing is it's not simple to "just" do that, you actually took the time to do it and expect nothing from it. For that I think you for taking what you have learned and giving it away as a gift for others to use. Thanks Dave & GoMedia.

Phonz · 2 years ago

Hey guys, sometimes it has got to be pretty tough listening to the unstable rants from people scared to back up what they say with their own work.
-----------------------------------------

What you mean alan?? talking about me? or others?

alan · 2 years ago

No phonz, I didn't even read your post until now. You unlike others make a valid point, and you backup what you say.

raysor · 2 years ago

i wish you gomedia guys would make some free tutorials

rajendran · 2 years ago

i have run through this tutorial, when drag the image from photoshop to illustrator , the image becomes horizondal peices.and after live traced this image, cannot ungroup. how to solve this problem?
thankz for your nice tutorial

rajendran

robert · 2 years ago

I just recently got Adobe Crestive Suite Master and I've been looking for tutorials for Illustrator. This is a great tutorial for a newbie in the field, thank you keep up the great work.

Paparuchas · 2 years ago

Is a really cool tutorial, but i'm having one problem when turning that shape into lines, when i try to intersect shape areas it all turns to white or disappears i don't know wat is it. I'm using Illustrator CS3.

RAJENDRAN, to solve that select every horizontal piece, then, go to Object>Rasterize, that way you'll have all the pieces in one.

Hannibal the Gen. · 2 years ago

As someone who has just recently gotten into graphic design, this tutorial has helped me a great deal. All the criticism in unnecessary as far as i see. Why would you even be looking at tutorials on how to create a poster if u consider yourselves such professionals?

Roger · 2 years ago

Great Job dude!!!!! Do more!!! Do more!!

Roger · 2 years ago

GREAT JOB DUDE!!!!

jorge · 2 years ago

awesome

Meong · 2 years ago

i like the outline, so interesting, with lines so many things to do, thnks for the tutorial

Ryan · 2 years ago

Here is my attempt at recreating the poster but with different stuff of course. Note its my first time using Illustrator.
http://img54.imageshack.us/my.php?image=davepos...

enjoi · 2 years ago

hey dave,
i absolutly love this tutorial. the second i saw it i fell in love. however, being that i'm very photoshop savvy and relativly a beginner in illustrator, i had trouble (when i tried to mimic this) with a few parts. especially making the three eisenhowers. i was curious, (i understand if you dont want to) if you could possibly guide me through, up to the magic wand part. (being that im a beginner, i may need step by step analysis) also my e-mail is sjmagner@usfca.edu.

Again, i absolutly appreciate this tutorial, and i would love to see any other work you choose to do.

-enjoi

eninja · 2 years ago

Great Tutorial.

I also had trouble with the magic wand, and getting the whitespace out.

I'm now stuck putting the 3 Ike's together.

jhvlhg · 2 years ago

has anyone heard of the "gimp"? its a program like the one used but free for download

mobb · 2 years ago

cool tutorial bud! i learned a new technique!

Julio · 2 years ago

esta buenisimo, lo pesque de una vez, excelente site, suerte

Solar Boy · 2 years ago

Nice one guys! This is a wonderful tutorial.

:)

Edwar · 2 years ago

Muy bueno, Gracias.

kofty · 2 years ago

great themes, a very inspired and inspiring gallery ! Thanks for sharing it

iko · 2 years ago

now thats what i call a tutorial !!! thx a lot !!
that was awesome. Jus' wut i needed: something simple and effective :D

Lorcan Dragonskull · 1 year ago

Dave,
Nice tutorial! All of these naysayers are talkin' through their asses. The issues that they're bitchin' about are trivial compared to the impact you've made with people that want to learn how to do things that are going to look good. And not only have I not seen any of the work from these blowhards, where are their tutorials? You can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?
Keep on keepin' on!
Lorcan

aNdrei · 1 year ago

Great tutorial.. a little tricky but if you've worked with Photoshop/Iluustrator a bit in the past you'll get the hang of it.thanks

Grace · 1 year ago

I salute you, Dave, for documenting this tutorial. For the patience and time you put into this, you are a KICK-
ASS Designer. Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge to us.

Nick · 1 year ago

Cool, hand's too large though

Todd · 1 year ago

This is a fantastic tutorial, ive been looking for something exactly like this. Im having trouble using the sample pack from Go Media though. I dont know how to use the EPS files other than opening them in Illustrator. cant i place them somewhere? Like you place Brushes in photoshop? Like some kind of area in program files? Thanks in advance, and keep these tutorials comin

Jeff · 1 year ago

YOu should just be able to file>open then in Illustrator.

Todd · 1 year ago

Well ya, i can open them like that. so any time i want to use um i need to open that up and drag them to where i want? That seems a little inconvenient. But, hey, whatever, they're incredible. Once i get some extra money ill be sure to buy the large packs

Kenny · 1 year ago

Here is a cool way to view the different layers when they're being created:

http://www.kennyredman.com/temp/go_screenshot.gif

I like to do this using the adjustment layers because it gives you a lot of flexibility to change and see how your different 'color/balance' adjustments work together.

Great work!

Jorge · 1 year ago

buenisimo tutorial me dan muchas ideas y recursos para poder hacer cosas como estas. es una imagen bastante impactante y no es nada dificil de hacer. No te atragantes con el pancho jejejej

Lazar · 1 year ago

http://layzz.deviantart.com/art/Music-Poster-77...
here is something i did using this amazing tutorial and the amazing free vectors from gomedia arsenal..
thx a lot for this tutorial

Jeff · 1 year ago

cool keep those designs comin Lazar

Lazar · 1 year ago

thank you

Lazar · 1 year ago

any feedback would be appreciated :D

Engin · 1 year ago

This is great work, i will use this technique

Brian · 1 year ago

Wonderful tutorial. Thank you for putting the work into creating it and for sharing it with us.

David · 1 year ago

You are a god among men. Awesome tutorial.

your name · 1 year ago

man this freaking sucked!!!!!

Tara · 6 months ago

Did it "suck" because you are illiterate?

Tenchedesigns.com - Nathan Pie · 1 year ago

Yeah yeah yeah... I hope for you're sake your joking

CJ · 1 year ago

Now could you use the free Photoshop Action - 3 Color for this tutorial it looks like it would work as it was used for the Designing SceneXCore Apparel as well, seems to be the same principal right? 3 different versions of the image and then send it over to Live Trace.

Maybe i am missing something?

Amanda · 1 year ago

It's not the tools you use, but how you use them.

I think rietz needs to get over them self and get down from their high horse.

chris · 1 year ago

FALL OF TROY!~!~!! BEST BAND EVER!

Jeff Woelker · 1 year ago

This really is great. I really have to get back into Photoshop to get my skills back to where they should be.

IntegralApparel · 1 year ago

Wow I know I am late on the comment, but this is a beast tutorial, and like my guy said above me, I never knew there was so many haters in the design world as well. It floors me that someone would be on THIS website and read through a whole tutorial and then complain how they didnt like it.. It makes no sense, its almost like stumbling on a favorite sports teams website and they show you good ways to lose weight and then at the end of the article your upset because real fat people could never do some of the exersizes or etc..I am sure my analogy is all over the place, but I hope it makes sense! :)

Great stuff gomedia, official customer 4 life homez!(use your best vato voice here)

Rachel · 1 year ago

wow, please please please do more tutorials like this, I look at so many things for inspiration and seeing something as great looking as this broken down really helps us all to see just how simple it is to make!!!! where can i find more of your tutorials like this????

jeannie · 1 year ago

that's me above. just wanted to add a real comment. i loved this tutorial - and i made something cool :) woo

also, it's true that this style is everywhere and overused, but you can't argue with the fact that your average knuckleheads really like it and respond to it.

by the way, i made my own starburst vector shapes for the background with one octagon and two long rectangles. it was super easy and made me feel cool (i'm with phonz - want to use my own stuff as often as i can)

thanks for the tutorial and for the free stuff (:

Andrew · 1 year ago

Huzzah for The Fall of Troy! I love that band.

Bill · 1 year ago

cool, this is amazing. thanks for sharing this great tutorial.

will · 1 year ago

your site seems good but I got a terrible headache due to the sans serif typeface.

Do you have any option to read it in Times New Roman?

manav · 1 year ago

this is a little bit redundant .. but : awesome ! thank you.

manav · 1 year ago

ah- to clarify: redundant = the compliment , not the tutorial .

Sin · 1 year ago

While fiddling I've realized that if you don't have Illustrator CS2 and therefore don't have livetrace, in a pink inkscape will work too to trace the bitmap :)

Sebastian · 1 year ago

HAHA!! This is my favorite post.

"Excellent Tutorial, reallt useful - would love to have some more. Please dont let numb-nuts comment put you off putting the time in - some of us really do appreciate it!"

But seriously, thanks a lot for the help. I've been looking for something like this.

K · 1 year ago

Thanks so much for the tutorial. I have a question for all the designers out there.

I didn't go to Design school, so I was never taught how to use istock and all that, but I make a lot of posters and shit for activist organizations and events. Needless to say, I'm doing it for free, so I NEVER pay for images. If I were making something as high-contrast as that poster (and usually I'm working on a smaller size), I would go to istock, take the picture with the watermark on it, and use it (the watermark doesn't cover the hand or gun anyways). Is that, like, design sacrilege? Because seriously, all I could think was, why pay for the hand?\

Anyways, thanks. I'd appreciate hearing peoples opinions on this.

Dave · 1 year ago

@K:

I understand where you are coming from, and I have multiple answers to your question if using imagery from istock without paying is sacrilegious in the design community.

Istock is one of many stock imagery sites, and they are a key part of the chain in the design market/community/etc.

The higher the resolution on a photograph, the better results it will yield for print using the methods described in this tutorial. It will produce better work rather than just grabbing an image @ 72 dpi and running with it. So among other designers, you might encounter some criticism as to how that image was obtained based on the quality of the end result - Especially to designers who are well aware of the multiple routes you can take to achieve the affects mentioned in the tutorial. So that's answer number one.

Purchasing the photo/artwork from the site helps out the photographer/designer who made it and submitted it. They get change thrown at them from the respective stock art site, and in turn keeps them working and contributing. I always think of it as helping out your colleague. You need something suitable on the fly and the stock site is the middleman to that resource. It brings you to realize that paying for the file makes perfetc sense. I don't want to know if somebody is illegally using my stock resources for their gain. That's like stealing the food off of my plate. And with all social agendas aside... at the end of the day - you are what matters, your family is what matters, and if you're a designer whose bread and butter is obtained by pushing pixels... people taking your hard earned work and running with it should leave a sour taste in your mouth. That's answer number two.

There are a great amount of free stock resources out there to assist you in your needs tatsefully. Stock Exchange (sxc.hu) and Blue Vertigo's portal to free resources are very excellent routes to getting what you need without dropping a dime.

Hope this helps.

-Dave

TiffanyForrester · 1 year ago

This is one of my favorite Go Media tutorials on the site and I keep coming back to it!

310 · 1 year ago

great job dude :D

Oliver · 1 year ago

Brilliant! You guys are awesome!

jared · 1 year ago

Cleveland rocks!

Great tutorial

Bryan · 1 year ago

I've been wondering how I can use intersect. Thanks. Congrats on your first tut well done!

Julie · 1 year ago

Your tutorials are amazing and very inspiring.

syntax · 1 year ago

Great tut, any chance of doing a tutorial about color combination's, i am terrible at selecting colors that work well together

Jeffrey Collins · 1 year ago

Sickness. Your stuff is absolutely amazing. Now I pretty much know how Obey does all it's posters.

Lancet Dispatch · 1 year ago

Brilliant tutorial. I'm making my brother a poster for his birthday, and I'm sure he'd love something like this. If you want to see it, it should be on my site in a few days. http://goodthursady.net

john doe · 1 year ago

rietz you are a mofo

ChequeredManiac · 1 year ago

This is such a great post.
I learned loads from it, mostly what the pathfinder is for, I was a n00b, but not anymore.

I keep coming back to this design too, and looking at it. Its all great.
Thanks

Knoxville Website Design · 1 year ago

This is really a hard look to pull off, you do it with such great style and make it look easy.

Stefan Ashwell · 1 year ago

Love the effect you've got on this and great tips on achieving it :)

JB · 1 year ago

Thank you very much and congratulations on a well constructed, clear Tut :) It's my first year in the industry and for months now i've been restricted to using Corel Draw (Boss doesnt see importance of keeping up with design standard). Needless to say my Adobe muscle is slowly atrophying, which is sad for when i move on from here. Excellent tutorials like this help me keep my skill alive! Especially as it uses Illustrator and Photoshop. Thanks and thanks again :D

Syu · 1 year ago

Can anyone help me? Ive already extract the file of vectorsamplepack.zip. Then, where should I 'copy & paste' it? Can u help me?

Thot Kall · 1 year ago

it may be your first one, but one of the best i've read.
good job!
i learned some vey important basics about vector art!

c wylie · 1 year ago

dave is the new sex. and i'm straight. rock posters rock. duh.

rafs · 1 year ago

go vegan.

matcrews · 1 year ago

many thanks for this tutorial ! really useful and well-explained !

web developer · 1 year ago

Very nice tutorial, thanks for sharing it here.

Aaron · 1 year ago

Wow! So simple yet amazingly effective!

You're good! :)

Roy · 1 year ago

I'm not able to intersect the splatter with the diagonal lines. Any suggestions as to why?

Umar · 1 year ago

Truly awe-inspiring! I really loved the art style in your tutorial and I also linked it on my Photoshop Tutorials blog. Keep up the excellent work!

Sneha · 1 year ago

Wow, nice tutorial. Gotta try it. Thanks a ton.

romane · 1 year ago

Thank you so much for this tut!!
Really helpful.

Angrybunni · 1 year ago

Fantastic tutorial- the best one I've worked on so far, the 1st in the gomediazine.com tuts.

I took your formula but used different colors, fonts, pictures, etc. but I did learn a whole lot. You can see it on my blog angrybunnisellout.blogspot.com

Great job.

anna · 1 year ago

awesome,congrats!

mike · 1 year ago

Nice tutorial. I do a lot of vector art like this. you can check it out at http://www.zazzle.com/mike3488. check it out and let me know what you think!!

Thanks!!

Mike

wallpapers · 1 year ago

thumbs up here - very useful tut - a link to the place you get public domain images would have been great too.

John Pash · 1 year ago

@Jeff - You've just put the image in my head (that seems to be stuck there permanently) of an incredible show...
Weird Al Yankovic featuring Avril Lavigne

Timothy · 11 months ago

Great tutorial! Very simple, clean, easy to follow. Thanks!

Kris A.P.E. designs · 11 months ago

wow..... this tutorial was amazing.....i actually used it to guide me through a piece of artwork that i created and it turned out great..... Thanx again!!!

elearning · 11 months ago

Thanks alot for sharing this great tutorial.

Erin · 11 months ago

I'm a beginner at all this -- but your tutorial was great for giving me ideas and helping me learn some new tricks! Thanks!

Ruben · 11 months ago

Just doing my rounds, love the tute.
I always like seeing how others handle certain designs, even if I don't use their technique, it's like I have another piece of a huge puzzle. This tute is a good one because I'll be walking away learning a new technique that I haven't used before and that's what it's all about. Share knowledge people...and keep rockin' the box!

easy guys.

erkan · 11 months ago

i think : it is wonderfull

Eager Ernest · 11 months ago

This tutorial freakin RRRROCKS!! Way to go Dave! Keep churning out those tuts for us eager-learning folks!

anime7graphic · 11 months ago

Hi Jeff? I have one design resource from my design studio, but I feel not perfectly, so I think this graph must commentary from designer senior like you, please hit this link for detail design.

http://anime7.graphic.googlepages.com/EqualSoul...

I'll waiting your comment for this design

Arena · 10 months ago

Good tutorial, thank you for it.
I want to know the name of the font used, please.
Thank you.

Jeff Finley · 10 months ago

@Arena,

the font was Go Media's own Affliction typeface. You can buy it here:

http://gomedia.us/arsenal/fonts.html

Aetoric Design · 10 months ago

I can't believe I never posted on the most popular GoMediaZine post of all time! Great tutorial! This and the SceneCore shirt post got me really excelling in design!

Wordpress Themes · 10 months ago

Damn, this tutorial is amazing. The end product came out great. I cant look away from it, lol.

reitz · 9 months ago

Well it's been almost 2 years since my comment and so much has changed for me. My second testicle finally dropped, and I now see the error in my ways. I still use an abnormal amount of starbursts in my work, but that's what the $ stores desire.

peace,
reitz

shoutout to the MSWord Clip-Art Krew!

Tara · 6 months ago

Okay, I suppose u have redeemed yourself, I take back what I said about u.
We arre the woooorld, we arre the childreeennnn....R.I.P. MJ !!
U just trying to get a rise out of people? Are you a little trouble maker....

Down Pillow · 9 months ago

Really enjoyed - trying to use for a project now.

Dave · 9 months ago

great stuff www.buddhaview-diving.com

Jake · 8 months ago

Dave,

thankyou so much for your tutorial - I'm trying to regain the passion for graphic design after I stopped to focus on study, and this helps so much :)

hel · 8 months ago

Tutorial is great. Have learned some really useful techniques and approaches. Illustrator is packed with potential and I need someone to help unlock that for me with brilliant tutorials like this one. Don't understand why certain people have to attack and bitch at something that they could just leave alone. I think jealousy! Thank you for giving up your time, freely, in the spirit of helping people genuinely interested in Illustrator. Wish other people would see it that way and not as you setting up your work for appraisal and to take pot shots at you.

RobM · 7 months ago

Just wanted to add my comment to say thanks for the very effective tutorial. Rietz was being a douchebag for critizing your tutorial like it was a case study. Definitely give you props for showing some illustrator love, as I am just getting started with it.

music lyrics · 7 months ago

This is a really cool photoshop tutorial. I am amazed at the cool effects you can make. Nice work, it looks like Eisenhower is actually holding a gun in this poster.

Medela metro bag · 6 months ago

Thanks for the tutorial, I tryuly appreciate it, keep posts like this coming!

Debra

krzl · 6 months ago

why won't the pictures appear to me? is this happening to anybody else? i'm a visual person, i can't follow without pictures. :(

xxxtim · 6 months ago

after i delete the white using the magic wand tool . i try to change the color it wont let me . only shades of gray will appear.. help?

Boxarez · 6 months ago

I cant select anything using the magic wand tool. Nothing happens when i click the white areas. Any idea what might be wrong?

Tara · 6 months ago

What kind of 100% douche bag -hate that word, but it is appropriate here, for this idiot, "Rietz"- would come on this tuturial and criticize it, I don't see you inventing tuturials to help others learn, uhg, self righteous moron. Don't listen to him, keep up the fantastic work, and you are a great designer....he obviously jealous of your talent.

Tara · 6 months ago

Great tutorial, thank you for taking the time to put these together, more, more, MORE!

seth · 5 months ago

Would it have killed you guys to explain a little bit more about the different things you're doing. It wouldn't have taken long. (i.e. using the pen tool like this, etc..) I've spent a long time on this stuff because I'm just learning but I get stuck because the steps aren't explained thoroughly and now I don't know what to do. Time wasted.

Ronboe · 5 months ago

Well for being two or so years old. This is still a good tutorial today. All Illustrator tutorials are labor intensive to learn, try Classroom in a book and see how mundane, and not fun at all that is. You be glad there are tutorials like this one.

DonSimon · 3 months ago

Really dig this tutorial, as an intermediate AI user this was cool to flick through and see how other people approach a workflow, the end result was sweet and I think a lot of people would have gained a lot of insight from working through it. Heres my take on the tut, although maybe my original image was wrong for the Balance/Contrast part so I ended up with something a little dark.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3966534&l...
Anyway thanks again and hasta luego!

poggle · 3 months ago

Really bad tutorial.

Уроки Фотошоп · 2 weeks ago

Nice!