welcome

R
eal or fake? How much does the camera lie? Nowadays, it is not an easy task to actually prove that
the picture has been retouched and the model on the billboard is not as perfect as she seems to be.
Thanks, to our brand new magazine, Photoshop Retouch, you will be able to easily answer all those
questions. We will give you all the tips you need to cheat on the camera. We have created for you another
option called Creative Class that you might find interesting. You will learn how to create a dark fashion photo
and will get invaluable insight into the world of story telling via textures, shapes and colours.It is all what we
have prepared as an appetizer for all those who are looking for an inspiration and technical help on becoming
a creative guru. For those who are more interested in restoring photos, rather than taking a new one, we
have founded a spot in the magazine for that as well. The Photo Restoring section is where you will learn
everything right from the beginning and thanks to step-by-step tutorials, we will slowly, but successfully
teach you what is needed to revive an old photograph. We invited and asked Bert Monroy - member of the
Photoshop World Dream Team - what it takes to archive the respect he has achieved and we welcome his
knowledge. In the Tips and Tricks Section, Bert gives us some practical advice and shortcuts he uses to take a
lot of the grunt work out of creating things.There is much more to explore on what our Team has worked on to
meet your needs. All I can say is: Read, Learn and Enjoy the Photoshop Retouch magazine!

Thank you for your support,

 contents

contents
cover art Adriana Typhographic
Loosing Your Mind Illustration
Benjamin Delacour Brian Grant 64
6

photo retouch photomanipulation

Beauty Retouch Creating Humanoid Objects
Ilona Larsson 16 Ceren Aksungur 70
Translucent Girl photo restoring
Maria Vangelova 20 How to Restore a Photo
Skin Retouch Camela A. Weekes 76
John Ridick 28
reviews
High-End Skin Retouching Book Review
Suzanne Jakupi 32 Chetankumar Akarte 84
creative class Software Review
Her of Winter Emac Creator 85
Radim Malinic / BrandNu 36
tips & tricks
Create a Dark Fhashion Photo Corona's Bottle
Rob Shields 44 Bert Monroy 86
Spring in Sight interviews
Radim Malinic / BrandNu 50
Interview with David Gensler
typhography Roshan Abraham 90
How to Specify Type Interview with Bert Monroy
Yves Peters 56 Roshan Abraham 94
advanced | 1 day
adobe illustrator CS4
Loosing
Your Mind

The aim of this tutorial is to propose you

to create an effect of decomposition, as
if the character was composed only by
pixels. The hardest task will be to give the
impression that we used a picture issued
from a 3D software to achieve this work on
Photoshop and Illustrator. It’s better to use
a graphic tablet for the final retouching. This
effect has already been used to make faces’
deformations created in 3D in Poser for
example. Here, we’ll adapt this deformation
in a natural way to a face (no-modeling) in
order to make this effect more striking.
 cover

01

The choice of the subject

This choice is very important.If the picture is
beautiful and helps to understand your idea, you
have found the picture you need. For example
on this picture, the character touches her face
with some smooth. I had to create an effect of
explosion as sweet.

02

Preparation
The first step consists in cleaning the picture of its
imperfections without exaggerating because we
want to keep the natural aspect of our character.
The aim is precisely not to do single pixels. Always
before you begin to work, you need to expand
the working area around your subject. To do this,
simply paint around your character with a big
brush and low opacity.

03

Path creation
To start, the easier way is to use Illustrator in
order to draw on the photo the paths needed.
Import the picture at 40% opacity in illustrator to
have more visibility. Start at the center of the face
then continue with the side of the face. Follow the
contour of the nose and mouth, and then the side
of the eye. Simply use the pen and follow natural
forms such as the mouth to give the effect of
relief on her face without creating any curves,
because we want to achieve cubic forms.

8 01/2009
 loosing your mind

04

Sculpt
Now you need to start to trace within the first
paths, help you from those you have already
placed. It will help you to follow the outlines of
your face. Do not over tighten the lines at the
beginning; it will be easier to draw a new line
between two lines not too far. In addition, it willlet
you make paths with equal spacing.

05

We continue…
We’ll be dealing with the eyes and the mouth.
Create a new layer for these news paths. This will
help us with tracing the vertical lines.Here the
purpose is to continue to model the shape of the
face with paths. Remember, we want to get only
triangles or rectangles.

06

Courage it’s only the beginning...

Once you have drawn the main lines you can now
start to detail the different parts and continue
the grid. Try to keep a balance in your lines; don’t
overload one area and leave another empty. Don’t
forget to save regularly because it would be an
unpleasant duty to do it again!
01/2009 9
 cover

07

Horizon
We will now continue with the horizontal lines. We
will do as we did with the vertical lines: trace some
lines and distribute them to prepare the cutting.
Try to provide as much relief as possible to the
face. Begin with the hair, down the face, then the
cheek, the eyebrows. You have now traced the
most important lines to give the impression of
relief.

08

Filling
Continue the horizontal paths, always helping you
with the others lines. We have created the base of
the grid, now we must go on and reduce the size
of polygons. To give more realism, you can reduce
the mesh in deeper parts of the face such as the
eye and the nose.

09

End of filling
Cut the larger polygons into smaller pieces so you
end up with a uniform polygon size.To do this,
trace some small lines in order to cut the bigger
elements.

10 01/2009
 loosing your mind

10

Correction of mistakes
We have made a pretty mesh, now we need to
check that the paths meet each other properly
and remove the points that are isolated (menu
selection>object> Illustrator CS2). Make sure that
your paths don’t go over each other, they should
be end on the others paths.

11

Duplicate
Using the horizontal mirror tool, we will duplicate
the lines we have created in order to make the
mesh of left side of the face. It does not matter if
all the lines do not match because we don’t need
a perfect location on the whole face. We will work
only with a part of the duplicate pixels.

12

We start again
Now that we have prepared the face, we will model
the arm of our model. For this you can proceed
as we have done for the face. Start by the edges
of your shape, then the middle. When mapping
between two lines you arrive early have lines that
follow the forms and gives volume to our mesh.
01/2009 11
 cover

13

Horizon 2
Finish with the same technique applied to the
horizontal lines before in order to complete the
arm's mesh. Now we must import these paths
on the image to Photoshop. To do this, open the
picture that we have extended in the beginning in
Photoshop and copy/paste your paths created in
different layers; name it Trame visage and Trame
bras. For this work the number of layers and need
to go back requires you to create multiple levels of
folders and name each layer. Name the image of
your model base.

14

First background
Create a folder for the arm and put it in the trame
of the arm, do the same for it of the the face.
Create a new folder fond_visage in the folder
visage. Display the layer which contains the trame
of the face, select with the Magic wand around ten
of polygons in pressing Majuscule, hide the trame
of the face. Create a layer in the folder fond_visage
and name it fond_1 and fill your selection with
the color that surrounds the character. Keep your
active selection.

15

First flight of pixels

Create a new folder named pixels_visage in the
folder face. With the selection of the previous layer
created, copy the pixels of the face into a new
layer named pixels_1 in the folder pixels_visage.
Using the Transformation tool [Ctrl]+[T] then
clicking on the button deformation (or [Ctrl]+[T]
and right click deformation), a grid appears. Pull
the corners to guide the movement of pixels and
deform them slightly to give more depth.

12 01/2009
 loosing your mind

16

Be patient
We will start a new selection of other pixels on the
layer trame du visage. Create a new layer name
fond_2 into the folder fond in which you fill the
selection with the same color you did previously.
Keep the selection and cut pixels off the face from
the layer base and paste them on a new layer
named pixels_2 into the folder pixels_visage. Use
again the function deformation deform tool in
order to slightly modify the created pixels.

17

Again and again

We must continue to work small packets of pixels.
Remember to name and place properly all the
layers that you will allow to correct easily packets
of pixels. Continue to create the background step
by step and to explode the face by small packages
of two or three pixels until ten or more.

18

It's not over

In order not to remain confined to the face we
will duplicate layers from the folder pixels_visage
in the aim to create a stream of pixels toward
the top of the image as they fly away. To do this,
choose one of the groups of layers already made,
move them to the side of the picture; reducing and
deforming them slightly. Repeat the action two or
three times in reducing the pixels each time.
01/2009 13
 cover

19

A little shade!
We will now shade the pixels floating above the
face. To do this select the layer pixels_1 and use
the option Drop Shadow in the layer styles in
order to create a shade under packages of pixels.
Create the shadow in mode Multiply, opacity 60%,
distance 6 pixels, magnify 0 and size 8 pixels with
an angle of 30°. Of course you can change these
settings to adapt them to your taste. If you are
happy with the effect, do a right click on the layer
and click copy style layer. Select all others layers
of pixels, then right click and paste the style layer.
Check that the shadows look realistic.

20

Making the
background of the face
Now we must clean the lines left by the cutting
of pixels in previous steps and give a little more
realism. To do this, hide the folder of pixels
by clicking on the eye icon next to the folder
pixels_visage. Create a new layer above the
layer base and with the magic wand tool or pen
make a selection following the contours of the
backgrounds that you have created in order to put
all together in one selection. Then fill this selection
using the background color and give it volume
with a black, large brush.

21

Draw yourself the continuation

Create a new layer on which you put a few forms
like the ones we have cut. Select a group with
the rectangle selection tool, and in the Edit menu
made to define a predefined form. Name it group
1 and now go to the Brushes palette, set the step
to 75%, then size variation and angle to 100%. To
finish, set the round variation to 70% and round
minimum to 30%. We must now set the colors for
that it seems to this of the skin. To do this, select
a light color of the face as the foreground color
and a dark one as the background.

14 01/2009
 loosing your mind

22

Let’s go
In the dynamic menu of color, set to 70% the value
of variation color foreground / background. Take
your graphic tablet and take care of your lines
to give a perspective to your forms. Proceed by
steps, if you are happy with the first one; adjust
the color with [Ctrl]+[U] to make it as close as
possible to the color of the face. If it is too different
from the color of the face, pick new color values
with the eyedropper.

23

Again and again

Create a new layer for each new path you want to
change the brightness of in order to give it more
depth to change the brightness of each one to give
more relief. Continue until you reach the desired
effect. We must now create a selection of all these
layers to correct their color and brightness to get
exactly the same color of the face.

24

This is the end !

All you have to do is reproduce the same steps
for the arm. Of course don’t forget to make
adjustments in color and contrast in order to
complete your image correctly. To do this, create
an Adjustment Layer Brightness>Contrast (do
not use light, it’s better to use adjustment layer
curves and to lighten with curves if necessary).
Add a Adjustment layer hue/saturation and
another mixing layers. With a little practice you
will get to perform all these steps naturally.

by Benjamin Delacour
01/2009 15
intermediate | 4-6 h.
adobe photoshop CS3
 beauty retouch

Beauty
Retouch
Beauty retouch is one of the most popular areas within photo editing. This
tutorial provides you with an in-depth retouching process, from start to finish.
We will be showing you how to produce perfect skin, enhance make-up,
reshape the face and improving photo focus.

01

Retouching plan
Before initiating work on any image always start
with designing retouching plan or notes. This will
make our work faster and ensure that we avoid
missing any details. We can do this within the
image as a separate layer. Open the original image
Beuty_retouch.jpg and go to Layer>New>Layer
and give the layer the name Notes. With this layer
active choose the 100% opacity brush or Type tool
and write action plan on our Notes layer. When
finished, we duplicate the Background layer, place
it above the Notes layer and rename it Original.
Turn off the visibility of both Notes and Original
layer. Now we have the Original layer on top which
we can turn on while retouching to ensure we
didn’t go too far.

02

Level adjustments
With the background layer active, add the Level
adjustment layer (Layer>New adjustment
layer>Levels) and do the following changes.
Select the green channel and move the right
slider until the value become 249. Adjust the blue
channel to 242. Select RGB and move middle slider
until the value match 0,95.
01/2009 17
 photo retouch

03
Reshape
Duplicate the background layer and let’s reshape
her face. Go to Filter>Liquify and select the
Forward Wrap tool which is the first tool on the left
side of tool palette. Then change the tool settings
on the right side. Make the brush size large and
lower the density and pressure to a setting around
6-8. We start with changing the face outline. With
small strokes narrow her right upper forehead
outline. Don’t try to do this in one move because
the result will be smudgy. Do the same correction
with her left cheekbone. Now we want to do some
changes to her eyes. Due to the fact that she has
long artificial eyelashes her eyes looks too small
for her face. Let’s widen them a little bit. Reduce
the size of the brush to 200 and move out the
external corner of her eye. Proceed in the same
way with the second eye. Use the same tool and
the same settings to correct the eyebrows.

04

Cleaning
Now we want to clean up all large imperfections.
Duplicate the layer and select the heal brush and
heal all the large blemishes on her face, the blood
vessels in her eyes and the hair on the neck, ears
and forehead.

05 Lips
Duplicate the layer and name it Lips. Clean the
make-up cream from the lower lip using the lone
tool. Select the right half of the her upper lip with
Polygonal Lasso tool. Save the selection (we
will need it later) Select>Save Selection, copy
[Ctrl]+[C] and paste the selection [Ctrl]+[V].
Name the layer Texture. Apply Filter>Other>High
Pass with the radius 1,6 pixel. This is going to be
our lip texture. Turn off the visibility on this layer
for now. Activate Lips layer. Load the selection
we have saved (Select>Load selection). With the
lasso tool selected drag the selection to the lower
lip and choose the piece we can copy and apply to
the upper lip. Copy and paste the selection and we
will have new layer. With the Move tool place it on
the right half of her upper lip. Lower the opacity of
this layer to 40%. Now select texture layer, turn
the visibility on and change the layer mode to
soft light. Select the last three layers by holding
Shift key and merge them [Ctrl]+[E]. Correct
imperfections using low opacity Clone tool. Do the
same with the left half of her lip.

18 01/2009
 beauty retouch

06 Skin
This step is the hardest and the most time
consuming. There are many ways to retouch
skin. Some of them are quick but give unnatural
results some of them give great results but are
time-consuming. Fortunately, or unfortunately
for some of us, we are going to use the second
approach. The technique is called dodge and burn.
Duplicate the previous layer and name it Skin. Go
to Layer>New>Layer, rename the layer Dodge and
Burn, change the mode to soft light and check the
box Fill with Soft light neutral color. Select 3-pixel,
50% hardness brush and change the opacity to
10%. Reset the color picker to default black and
white. Zoom the photo to 200% at any part of the
skin. As you can see the skin consists of brighter
and darker parts. Our goal is to even them out.
To conceal dark blemishes, paint with white and
conceal lighter blemishes paint with black. This
technique might take several hours but gives
great natural result. Merge Skin and Dodge and
Burn layers.

07

Eye make-up
For the make-up enhancement we will use
adjustment layers. Go to Layer>New adjustment
layer>Curves and make the photo slightly darker
pushing the curve down. Fill the mask with black
to hide all (Edit>Fill). Make sure the mask is
selected. Choose 50 % opacity white brush and
paint over the eyebrows and eyelashes to make
them darker. To add some brightness to her irises
create Color balance adjustment layer and add
some red and cyan, fill the mask with black and
paint over the iris with a white brush. The make-
up adjustment is completely up to individual
taste, but remember that it is all too easy and
common to overdo it.

08
Focus
This is the last step of our tutorial. This type of
portraits always benefits if the centre of the
face is slightly lightened and the outlines are
darker. In this way all attention of the viewer
is directed towards the face. There are many
Photoshop plug-ins that can be used, but we
choose to do it with the help of a 50% grey layer,
the same we were using for skin retouching. Go to
Layer>New>Layer, rename the layer Dodge and
Burn, change the mode to soft light and check the
box Fill with Soft light neutral color. Select 600-
pixel, 50% hardness brush and change the opacity
to 3%. Reset the color picker to default black and
white. Paint with white the centre of her face and
with black the hair and face outlines. If necessary
change the opacity.

by Ilona Larsson
01/2009 19
Translucent

Girl

In this tutorial we will take a regular photo of a girl and make her look translucent as if
she is made of glass or see-through chrome. There are many tricks and techniques that
photoshoppers use to reproduce chrome or glossy materials. I will show you one way that
does not require any painting skills.

advanced | 60 min.
photoshop CS3
 translucent girl

01

Prepare the image

What we will do first is take our original image
and separate the girl from the background. You
can usepaths, select color range, the magnetic
Lasso tool – whatever is more convenient to you.
I usually use the lasso tool and then adjust the
mask so this is what I am going to do now too.
Make a duplicate layer of the original. I’ll name that
layer Smooth basis. Make a selection of the model
with the magnetic lasso tool. Then press [Q] to
enter Quick Mask Mode and paint with black over
the areas you want to remove and white over the
areas you want to keep selected. Press Q again to
exit the Quick Mask Mode. With your selection still
active, click on the Add Layer Mask button in your
layers palette.

02

Add white background

Now you have everything within the selection (the
white area of the mask) visible whereas the rest
(the black area of the mask) will be invisible.Make
a new layer under this one and fill it with white.

03

Make it smooth
In order to achieve a convincing chrome look we
need to start with a very smooth image. Therefore,
despite that this image is pretty good quality, the
next step we need to take is smoothen it with the
Gaussian blur or Median filter. Select the Smooth
basis layer and run Filter>Noise>Median with
the radius set at 1px. (Your image may need a
higher radius to make it smooth and remove any
graininess.)
01/2009 21
 photo retouch

04

Set a blue/gray color cast

With the Smooth basis layer selected in the
Layers palette go to Image>Adjustments>Hue/
Saturation… (or press [Control/Command]+[U]),
make sure the colorize box is checked and choose
the following settings – Hue: 211 and Saturation:
20. This will colorize the layer and get a blue/gray
color cast to the girl.We will also need another
Hue/Saturation adjustment layer that we will
leave at the top to affect theimage globally. Make
this Hue/Saturation layer with the same settings
(Hue: 211 and Saturation: 20).

05

Linear light
The next steps (5 through 9) will make the girl’s
skin look smooth and metal.First, select the girl
by [Ctrl]+clicking over the mask of the Smooth
basis layer. Go to Select>Color Range… and choose
Highlights from the drop-down menu. This will
make a selection of only the highlight areas of
the girl. Feather the selection (in this case I chose
a feather radius of 30px). Having the Smooth
basis layer selected in the Layers palette,copy
[Control/Command]+[C] and paste [Control/
Command]+[V] into a new layer. This layer will
serve as the base layer of a clipping mask. Change
this layer’s blending mode to Linear Light. That’s
why I will also name the layer Linear Light.

06

Overlay
Now let’s create the first clipped layer that will
use Linear Light as a base layer. Duplicate Linear
Light, rename it to Overlay, and change its
blending mode to Overlay. [Alt/Option]+Click on
the line dividing Linear Light and Overlay to create
the clipping mask.

22 01/2009
 translucent girl

07

Create the metal look

The second clipped layer will be an adjustment
layer. Make a Curves adjustment layer above the
Overlay layer. Your curve should look similar to
the one on the image here. [Alt/Option]+ Click
on the line dividing the two layers in order to add
the Curves adjustment layer to the same clipping
mask.

08

Smooth again
Now we start to get this metal look we are after
but as you will notice the image now needs some
serious smoothing. Select the Linear Light laer
and run Filter>Noise>Median, this time with some
big radius. I set it at 25px.Now select the Overlay
layer and run Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur…. I used a
radius of 30px.

09

Enhance the metal look

As you can see now you have nice smooth silver
skin. We could enhance this metal look even more
by adding another Curves adjustment layer right
below the global Hue/Saturation layer. The curve
should be very settle, similar to the one on the
image here.
01/2009 23
 photo retouch

10

Generate highlights
Now let’s add some highlights. For this purpose
the Plastic Wrap filter is really helpful. Select
the Smooth basis layer, make a selection of
the girl (by [Ctrl]+clicking over the mask),
copy it and paste it into a new layer. Run
Filter>Artistic>Plastic Wrap… and choose settings
with high highlight strength and smoothness and
low details.In my case the settings are: Highlight
strength: 19, Detail: 6, Smoothness: 15.

11

Tidy up the highlights

Now set the blending mode of the layer with
the plastic wrap at Pin Light to leave only the
highlights. If it is necessary you may enhance
them further by applying Levels adjustment only
to this layer. Also, add a layer mask and paint with
black over the highlights that you don’t need and
want to remove.

12

Choose a contrast channel

In order to make the metal skin even more
realistic and glossy we will use displacement
maps to add reflections. First, go to the Channel
palette and choose the channel with the highest
contrast (in my case the Red channel). Right-click
on that channel and choose Duplicate Channel…
As a destination choose a new document and let’s
name that document re-flection.

24 01/2009
 translucent girl

13

Save the displacement map

Now blur the image in the new document a bit
(run Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur…). I used a radius
of 2.5px. Save and close.

14

Generate the reflections

It is time to choose the image that we will
displace.Basically, you can choose any image
you like. I have found that clouds and/or water
work really well so that’s why I chose such an
image. Paste your chosen image into a new layer
just below the global Hue/Saturation adjustment
layer and Curves adjustment layer. It should
be the same size as the displacement map (or
our original image) so if it is not - crop it. Run
Filter>Distort>Displace and choose the following
settings: Horizontal scale: 50, Vertical scale: 50,
Stretch To Fit, and Repeat Edge Pixels. When asked
to choose a displacement map file, choose the
reflection.psd

15

Blend the reflections

Add layer mask to leave only the area covering the
girl and set the layer’s blending mode to overlay.
You can also reduce the opacity a bit (I left it
at 70%). At this point you already have a pretty
convincing chrome look of the girl so you can
leave the image like this if you want. I however
will go a couple of steps further to make it look
translucent.
01/2009 25
 photo retouch

16

Prepare the new background

Now we need a new backround for the girl in order
to make her translucent. I will use the same image
with the clouds and the sea. Paste your chosen
image into a new layer above the global Hue/
Saturation adjustment layer. Duplicatethat layer
so you will have it twice.

17

Set the see-through area

Make a selection of the girl and add a layer
mask to the second duplicate. Run Filter>Blur>
Gaussian Blur… with a small radius to blur the
image a bit (I used 2.5 pixels). Set the layer’s
blending mode to Overlay and reduce the layer’s
opacity to about 50%.

18

Set the background area

Make another selection of the girl, press
[Control/Command]+[Shift]+[I] to inverse
the selection, and add a layer mask to the first
layer with the clouds and the sea. Again, run
Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur… with a small radius (I
used again 2.5 pixels) and there we go. We already
have the translucent glass effect we wanted.

26 01/2009
 translucent girl

19

Voila!
Again, you can leave the image like this but
I usually continue further with some small
tweaking. I reduced the Overlay layer’s opacity to
70% and also enhanced the eyes a bit. Here is the
final image.

by Maria Vangelova

a d v e r t i s e m e n t
 photo retouch

Skin
Retouch

Don't you want the pictures that you take of your friends to
look their best? Here are some simple Photoshop techniques to
clear up some of those imperfections and blemishes that may
show up when using the megapixel cameras available today.

28 01/2009
 skin retouch

Figure 1. Figure 2.

I try to work with the tools that I can control the best; the brush,
the healing tool and the clone tool. I try to stick with those basic
tools. I always use layers, since they are non-destructive and I
can move back to the original image to see and verify the effect that
I was trying to achieve.
Crystal white eyes
Now correct the eyes using the Brush tool on Lighten mode, with
about 10% white color and paint the area of the eye. Don´t erase all
the veins – those are natural. This mode is also useful to whitening
the teeth (Figure 4).

Imperfections
Start by cleaning up the skin using the healing brush in the normal
mode. Remove all visible imperfections, but don´t remove the
Figure 4.
expression lines, because they give the photo a natural look. Pattern
artifacts that sometimes show up in photos are a common problem
that can be avoided by using the healing tool (Figure 1).
To remove this unnatural looking problem, choose a clear
part of the skin to use as base for the healing brush. Then move
around the skin, changing your selection in order to smooth all of
the areas (Figure 2).

Soft skin, soft...

When you are finished with the skin, then mask it. Apply the Blur
to the masked section of the skin to give it a slight blur. Do not
apply the blur to eyes, lips, nostrils, eyebrows, eyelashes and hair.
Try to be very subtle, if you blur too much, details will be lost and
photographers do not use expensive, megapixel cameras to lose
details (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Figure 5.

01/2009 29
 photo retouch

Figure 6. Figure 7.

Hairdryer
Time for the hair! Use the Clone tool to take down those rebel hairs
sticking up and out of place. After that mask the hair and use a
similar blur, as we previously used on the skin. Again, do not blur too
much where you begin to lose details (Figure 5).
Some restyling may be acceptable. Use both the clone and
healing tools to do this (Figure 6).

Make up
With a new empty layer, paint the lips red, but use a soft light mode
on the layer (Figure 7).

Bright and dark

To smooth bright parts of the skin, create a new empty layer and
select color from the skin and using the brush tool, paint over the
skin areas that are excessively bright. Now, change the layer mode
to Lighter and modify the Opacity to achieve the result you are
looking for. Variations of this technique may be used to lighten up
dark areas of the skin also (Figure 8).

Levels
A final adjustment layer is used to bring some contrast to the overall
image. I used Linear Contrast mode on the image below to achieve
the results I wanted. Try different adjustments to find the right look
you are trying to achieve (Figure 9).

by John Ridick

Figure 9.

Figure 8.

30 01/2009
intermediate | 30 min.
adobe photoshop
 high end skin retouching

High End Skin

Retouching
An image of pure perfection is desired by all Photographers and Image
Retoucher’s. In this tutorial, we pay attention to the finer details within a
photograph. Applying these simple techniques can seamlessly improve
all inconsistencies and give your photograph the professional treatment it
deserves.

01

De saturation
The first step with this photo is to desaturate the
reds (Hue/Saturation) to the point where the reds
aren't overblown. However, there still must be
colour remaining in the skin

02

Blemish Free Zone

On the Duplication layer, Surface blur the bottom
layer to the point where no blemishes and no bumps
can be seen. (Depending on the file size, generally
the radius is >30 and threshold is about 40)
01/2009 33
 photo retouch

03

Skin Texture
The next step is to add noise to the smooth layer
to give a natural appearance. The noise can
represent the normal ridges that can be seen
up close. To do this, you need to zoom and judge
for yourself how much grain is necessary for a
realistic appearance. (Make sure the settings are
on Gaussian with Monochromatic un-ticked)

04

Reveal The Perfection

Add a layer mask to the top layer and using a soft
and opaque brush, gradually reveal the smooth
skin behind making sure that all defined facial
lines are not touched. Otherwise this gives an
unrealistic appearance.

05

Adjust, Define and Liquify

Using liquefy, you can alter certain aspects of
a photo such as jaw line, nose size, lip size and
many more. Using this, I have made the nose more
petite, balanced her chest and curved her lip.
Minor changes can improve a photo remarkably.

34 01/2009
 high end skin retouching

06

Add A Feature or Two

Some beauty spots shouldn't be hidden. So using
a brown brush, dab a dark shade of brown over
one or two spots to add detail to the photo. Here I
have revealed her existing moles.
by Suzanne Jakupi

a d v e r t i s e m e n t
Her,
of Winter

intermediate | 90 min.
adobe photoshop | adobe illustrator
There seems to be question on many creatives lips,
asking 'where does the inspiration come from? I guess
every creative person would give you their specific
answer, completely different to one and other. I believe
to look makes you not to find. The harder you look, the
less of a chance you've got. Well, at least this is my
point of view. I had an idea to collaborate with my friend,
model Ellen Hancock for a personal piece for My New
Book of Colours. She came back with a bunch of great
images, and this was an instant inspiration for the
piece. A natural process in the making.
 creative class

01

New Canvas
Althought this piece was intended to only be
the last personal work going into my book, I still
have gone for 420 x 594 mm at 300dpi in CMYK
mode. Slightly oversized for the finished size,
it comes handy for the future reference when
a large scale prints are required. The model
here (ellenhancock.com) was shot by Heather
Ackermann (heatherackermann.com) in California.
The excellent shot has got just the right amount of
movement and vibrancy. Selected Pen Tool [P]
and outlined most of the model's body part.

02

Duplicate model/part removal

I wanted to have an intriguing composition,
thought it would be great to take a slightly
unobvious approach. I've separated all of the
parts onto separated layers, grouped them by
[CTRL]+[G] and renamed the group. Whilst
holding down Alt I dragged the group over to
the right to duplicate it. [CTRL]+[T] for Free
Transfrom, Right click for the options menu, select
Flip Horizonal. I've decided to remove certain part
for now, quick masked the others.

03

First steps/textures
Here I was, to kick start the image, I've made
selection from the groups, brushed some colours
onto the model shape with soft brush set to 1500
size. I tend to brush a bit more than I need only
to quick mask later and hide the extras I don't
need. It helps to work this way as it's almost non-
destructive process. Some placeholder colour was
brushed onto a new layer above the background
and first elements introduced to get start the
overall feeling for the image.

38 01/2009
 her, of winter

04

Grey branches
I wanted to achieve juxtaposition between the
frosty and hostile feeling of winter, along with
glimmers of hope, warmth and friendliness. I
have used vector branches from my vector library
and pasted them in as Shape Layers from Adobe
Illustrator. Again, another non destructive way of
working in Photoshop. The vector shapes remain
fully editable, each point could be dragged and
edited, shape colours are easily changed at
any time too. Branches were placed in spaces
corresponding with the models pose.

05

White branches and leaves

As you will find the next few steps are following
the same idea as the previous step. I used to
bring my vector elements from Illustrator as
Smart Vector Shapes for quite a long time, only
to end up rasterising the pieces and changing
colours with Hue/Saturation. Working with Shape
Layers (where suitable, obviously) helps to keep
the file sizes smaller too. At this step, we have
addtions of white branches and vector leaves.
As always, rough positioning for now, colours
are working for now, if any future changes, hit
[CTRL]+[Backspace] for Background Colour fill,
or use the [Alt]+[Backspace] for Foreground fill
colour. Easy as that.

06

Lake image/left right/masking

My images are well-known for their colour
vibrancy and the right mix of vector shapes
with photographic elements. I believe the lake
image in here came originally from the the SXC
free website. Over the years I've collected quite
a few images, I happen to work quite quickly and
make sometimes random decisions on what is to
introduce into the image. On the right you can see
the masked original image, on the left, it's set to
overlay above the leaves to work vibrantly with
other colours.
01/2009 39
 creative class

07

Cast Shadows/Create a layer

Our snow queen looks quite flat, almost like cut
out with scissors out of a paper. Make a selection
from the models shape, create a new layer and by
using a soft brush set to 50% black, draw at the
bottom of her feet, gradually bringing more colour
towards the bottom of the shape. Move the layer
one step below underneath the show and free
transform. If needed, the shadow could be quick
masked if too strong. Alternatively, you can set
the opacity of the layer with number keys from
1-0 (1 being 10%, 0%being 100)

08

Snowy flowers/White vectors

Any image can become a lot more intriguing
and inviting, it you add subtle details that some
might not notice at the first sight. At this stage,
I've added a number of vector flower from Adobe
Illustrator, rearranged them and layer masked.
They will become more apparent when further
textures are introduced.

09

Double Colour stars

The double colour stars were created in Adobe
Illustrator by simply drawing a circle, adding
anchor points and then using Plucker and Bloat
tool. It's an excellent way of experimenting and
creating nicely odd shapes. This time I opted for
the trusted for Vector Smart Object import, along
with creating a new brush from the shape too.

40 01/2009
 her, of winter

10

Vector orchids
The juxtaposition becomes much clearer here,
with the introduction of vector orchids into the
main image. Elements again come from a stock
library, though I try to alter the shapes to look a bit
different, a bit further from the obvious. Utilising
all of the elements, I've scaled, warped and altered
so they don't look all the same, but using them in
various size and perspectives.

11

Light streaks/Brush/Layer style

There's a million and one ways how to work in
the Photoshop, the next up is addition of subtle
light streaks. Hit F5 for the brush options and
tick the Shape dynamics option. This will enable
you to create nice a varied strokes depending
on the pressure of your pen/mouse. The harder
you press, the thicker are the lines. Simple and
easy. Brush in white and apply outer glow in linear
dodge to work with layers below.

12

Frost texture/Desaturate/Overlay
The next step was again fairly easy. It's the idea
that counts, everything else isn't a rocket science
anymore. Locate a frost texture image, you might
have one in your library. I desaturated the image,
set to overlay and added Level via Adjustment
layer for pick out the contract between colours.
01/2009 41
 creative class

13

Themed space/Overlay 20%

Yet another layer, yet another texture image for
deeper meaning. On the right, you can see the
desaturated version with masked out bits, on the
left is the final layer set to Overlay, with Opacity
set to 20%. As you know, it's simple, fast and
easy to hit numerical keys to experiment with the
opacity.

14

Japanese Tree/Linear Dodge

The design is coming on together rather nicely,
however, I feel it needs a bit more texture to work
even better. I've separated dark tones only from
a japanese-tree-looking-image and pasted it in,
right toward the end layers of the composition.
The unwanted parts were brushed out in with
Brush set to Dissolve via Layer mask. When I was
happy with the layer, it was set to Linear Dodge.

15

Stars/Custom brush
Now it's time to recycle the shape of the double
star, time to create a new brush preset out of
it. Brushes are great and handy, yet another
amazing feature in Adobe Photoshop. Hit D for
default colours (Black & white) and brush in white
in single hits to evoke star shaped snow flakes.
Change brush size by [or] to have a better variety
in the piece.

42 01/2009

16
a d v e r t i
THE WORLD’S FIRST INTELLIGENT
PORTRAIT ENHANCEMENT SOFTWARE
New stand alone and Photoshoptm plug-in Software for PC & Mac
WHAT PORTRAIT PROFESSIONAL 2009 DOES
With Portrait Professional 2009, users can quickly and easily:
• Instantly eliminate skin blemishes
such as spots or pimples leaving
very natural looking skin however
big the blemish.
• Reduce or remove wrinkles and
lines again leaving exceptionally
natural looking skin
• Subtly reshape different aspects
of the face to make it more
attractive
• Remove grease, sweat or unsightly
white highlights from the skin
• Adjust the lighting on the face to
make it more flattering
• Brighten or change eye color, and
enhance whiteness of the eyes
• Whiten teeth and recolor and
reshape the lips
• Thicken, color or smooth hair
And all of these sophisticated touch
up operations require no special
artistic ability or skill due to the built-
in intelligence of the software.
Portrait Professional is available
in two versions targeted at amateur
and professional photographers:
her, of winter
Extra shapes
Over the models eyes is the drawn shape done
with the Pen tool. Simple shapes really to round
of the image, to round off the whole composition.
There's something about the eye expression
of the model, I reckon the shape give her quite
sinister yet intriguing look. The objects are set to
overlay. Now it's time to step away from the whole
image, have a look at full size and decide to call it
done. Her, of Winter is finished. It's quite a chilly
image, with breeze of japanese summer.
by Radim Malinic / Brand Nu
s e m e n t
Portrait Professional 2009
This is the stand alone version that offers all of the new ultra sophisticated
face, skin and hair touch up facilities but without the Photoshoptm plug-in
feature and ‘batch mode’ productivity feature and the RAW file support that
professional and semi-professional photographers require.
Portrait Professional Studio 2009
This is the version for photographers who require the ultimate in productivity
and color accuracy. Portrait Professional Studio can be configured stand
alone or as a Lightroomtm or Photoshoptm plug-in to speed workflow. It
works directly with Camera RAW.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
PC
• Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista
• 1Ghz CPU or better
• Min 512MB RAM XP, 1GB RAM Vista
Mac
• OSX 10.4 or later
• Intel CPU 1Ghz or better
• 512MB RAM or more
Create
a Dark Fashion Photo

Creating a dark fashion image requires a top notch model as well as a bit of finesse
and a few added lighting effects to accentuate mood.In this tutorial I will provide some
basic guidelines that will get you started on creating your own dark and moody fashion
illustrations. I recommend using a pen tablet to speed things up. The stock image used is
provided for free by the website www.sxc.hu. I strongly encourage further exploration of the
site as it has many images that are updated on a daily basis. Remember your final image is
only as good as the stock you use. Follow these steps and finding great stock are the first
steps to making hot contemporary fashion images.

beginer | 60-120 min.

photoshop CS3
 create a dark fashion photo

01

The Big Picture

Open Photoshop and select a new window and
make the size 2300 x 3200 at 300 dpi. Now go
to the website www.sxc.hu and in the search box
type the word glamour. This will get you the stock
photo that we are using for this tutorial. Click on
the image until you get a full size picture. It should
be much larger than your computer screen. Right
click to copy and then paste [ctrl]+[V] Misska
into Photoshop.

02

Short Cuts
Now this is the time consuming part, extracting
the model from her background. With the
rectangular marquee tool draw a box around
the girl as close as you can and cut her out of
the stock image. Afterward go into the selection
menu, select color range and select the colors
that you would like to remove. The blue of the
sky, for example. Hold the shift key and with the
ink dropper continue to select different shades
of blue until your preview window looks like the
one pictured here. Select ok and hit [Ctrl]+[X] to
remove the background. Repeat this process with
the green of the grass and then go in with a hard
eraser and take out whatever is left behind.

03

Shaping Up
With the paint bucket tool change the background
color from white to black. Now take the image
of the girl and size her down to 90%. Go to the
custom shape menu and select the outlined
triangle. Make sure the color is set to white and
add the triangle to the background of the image
behind the girl. Make a copy of the girl by hitting
[Ctrl]+[J] and hide that layer. With a soft eraser
tool erase half of the girls body so she looks
similar to the image pictured here. In the shapes
menu choose the ellipse tool and holding the shift
key create a series of ellipses. All the ellipses
will appear as one layer, select that layer and in
blending options select gradient overlay and add
a pink to black gradient.
01/2009 45
 creative class

04

Paint Play
Now we are going to go back to www.sxc.hu and
search for paint splatter. On page 2 of that search
we find a series of splatters that we will use for
this image. Choose a splatter and erase the white
background. Put the first splatter behind the girl
with a black to white gradient overlay. The second
will go below her waste. Now take the copy of the
girl that you made and create a clipping mask
over the second paint splatter. Arrange the clipped
image so that it appears as if her body is being
painted on. To create a clipping mask right click
the layer and select create clipping mask. The
layer will be clipped into the layer directly below it
on your layers window display.

05

Lights
To create the lighting effects begin with the
rectangular marquee tool and on a new layer draw
a rectangle across the center of the image. Now
with a soft brush set to 500 px pass lightly over
the top of the rectangle as shown in the picture.
Hit ctrl-t and change the direction of the lines so
they look like the final image. To smooth the ends
of these lines go to filter>blur>motion blur. Make
sure the angle of the motion blur is close to or the
same as the angle of the lines themselves. You
can blur the lines as much as you like, anywhere
between 300-500 px should do the trick.

06

Lens Flare
The next step in creating light effects is to create
lens flares. On a new layer draw a square with
the rectangular marquee tool and fill it with
black. Then go to filter>render>lens flare. Select
105mm Prime and center it inside the square as
pictured here. Select ok. Select blending option on
the new layer and set it to screen. Now duplicate
your lens flare a few times by hitting [Ctrl]+[J]
and place them throughout the image. Try adding
some motion blur to some making the effect more
subtle.

46 01/2009
 create a dark fashion photo

07

Add Gradient
Add a gradient fill behind the girl by going to
layer>new fill layer>gradient. Make the gradient
pink to clear and set it to radial. Click OK.

08

Custom Shapes
Go to the custom shape tool and select the
solid triangle. Create a triangle smaller than
the outlined triangle and hit [Ctrl]+[T] to turn
it upside down. Place it behind the first outline
triangle and set the opacity to 25. Now go back to
the custom shapes menu and select the outlined
triangle shape again. Add a few outlined triangle to
the top of the image. Set their opacity to 15.

09

Render Clouds
On a new layer go to filter>render>clouds. With a
soft brush set to 300px erase some of the clouds
so they look like they are more localized around
the girl. Duplicate this layer and give it a motion
blur.
01/2009 47
 creative class

10

Stars
Now go back to www.sxc.hu and in the search
box type the word stars. Go to page 10 and select
the image titled plasma explosion. Copy the
image and paste it into your image behind all the
other layers. Go to blending options and set the
blending mode to pin light. Then go to gradient
overlay, cover the layer with a pink to white
gradient with blend mode set to color. Now erase
the hard edges from the stock ‘plasma explosion’
with a soft brush until the image looks similar to
the one pictured here.

11

Plasma Explosion
Duplicate the plasma explosion layer, flip it upside
down and erase it even more with a soft brush to
balance the composition. Remember the image
doesn’t have to look exactly like the one shown
here. If you prefer you can use one of the other
plasma explosions provided by sxc to get a
slightly different result.

12

Space Snowflake
Go back again to sxc and with the same search
word ‘stars’ go to page 26 and download the
image titled space snowflake. Paste the image in
behind all the other layers and hit [Ctrl]+[T]. Make
the image much thinner and then add a motion
blur to it.

48 01/2009
 create a dark fashion photo

13

Columns of Light
In the shapes menu select the rectangle tool
and draw a rectangle about the same size as the
blurred space snowflake image. Set the opacity
on the rectangle to 15 and hit it with a motion blur.
Then duplicate it and put it on the other side of the
blurred space snowflake.

14

Water Splash
Now one last time go back to sxc and search using
the words water splash Find the stock image titled
Water Ball and bring it into Photoshop. Set the
blending mode to color dodge. Duplicate the image
and place both copies around the separation in
her stomach.

15

Final Touch Up
To add the finishing touches go to layer>new
adjustment layer. Here we are going to add three
different adjustment layers. The first is a photo
filter set to Cooling Filter (LBB) with 12% opacity.
The second filter is a curves filter and the third is
a levels filter. With curves and levels there are no
set values to input, just adjust the graphs until
you are happy with the result.

by Rob Shields
01/2009 49
Spring
in Sight

Unless you are a pro snowboarder or work on the ski slope, many of us city dwellers can’t
usually wait until the snow goes away, air changes and the trees get back their green
coats. Spring and summer rock, it’s the best time of the year to have fun and feel positive so
much til your face hurts too much from laughing. If you were to ask me how I’d see a visual
representation of the Spring time, I guess it would look like the image here. Nice, happy,
vibrant ... simply positive and beautiful. To prove my point even more, I was born on the first
day of the Spring indeed.

intermediate | 90 min.
adobe photoshop | adobe illustrator
 spring in sight

01

Step 1
The original photography was taken by the
talented Lev Dolgachov and can be obtained from
istockphoto or shutterstock image websites. The
photography has great contract and light, it was
an easy decision to make start on the digital
artwork.

02

Quick mask
Since the model has got cropped hands in the
image and some hard edges on the sides, we're
going to easily quick mask the layer and brush off
to smooth the blend. You can use soft round brush
with size set to 1500.

03

Mood colour
If you posses library of custom brushes, select
a textured pattern and swap brush layer modes
between Overlay and Colour Dodge for interesting
blend of colours throughout.
.psd 01/2009 51
 xxxx

04

Branches
Now you've got an option of drawing some vector
shapes in Adobe Illustrator or stay in Photoshop.
Either way use a Pen tool and create shapes
which you place around the girl, following the
movement in the picture. If you fancy a shortcut
and use some trusted resources, there's plenty of
available files vectors files to have and use.

05

Blend the curve

To support the original images and it's movement,
pop over the to Adobe illustrator and use either
brush or pen tool to draw a curve. Copy it by
moving it a little bit whist holding the [Alt] key.
Go to Object>Path>Blend>Specify Steps (adjust to
12) and hit [OK]. Repeat the whole journey again,
this time end up with Make Blend. Paste the result
into PSD as a Smart Vector file.

06

Funky Swoosh
Although I have used a new canvas to construct
the next element, you can stay where you are.
On a new layer, use a round soft brush and draw
freehand swoosh (black in the image) Hold down
Cmd button and click on the layer icon at your
Layer pallete. This will make a selection from
the brush, create a new layer and brush again
in various blending modes in yellow for vibrant
colour results. (as per step 3)

52 .psd 01/2009
 spring in sight

07

Glow, glow, glow away

The overall images benefits from Photoshop's
various blending modes. On a new layer I've
brushed orange and dark magenta (orange
triangle), then press [F7] to access the layers
palette to change the colour mode to Linear
Dodge. However, it's much faster to hold down
[Shift]+[Alt]+[W] for the same function shortcut.
The result should look like the bottom arrow
shows.

08

Ink textures
You can create your own ink splatters and obtain
a stock image from an image library which has an
intriguing shape and varied texture for a vibrant
result. Remove the excess white from image with
a Magic Eraser place the layer below the brushed
swoosh and set to Colour Burn. Experiment with
blending modes.

09

Vector Textures
As per our branches, you've got an option of
creating custom elements in Adobe Illustrator
or obtain various elements from elsewhere. We
would like to achieve the rich and full look, the
positioning of the elements is rather crucial. Try
to go with flows and shapes in the images and
enchance the work as opposed to decorate and
cover up.
.psd 01/2009 53
 xxxx

10

A half time
At this stage, we can take time to reasses the
position of what we have got so far, tweak what we
are unsure of and embark on the second part of
the image. It's important to have the 'foundation'
solid before the roof goes on.

11

Shaped in splatter
In this part, let's have a little go in various Layer
Style Options. Find or create a vector splatter and
import as a Shape Layer. Double click the layer
in Layers Palette>Gradient Overlay and choose
Colours around PMS 465. One darker, one ligher for
a nice shinny look.

12

Perspective elements
Depending on your elements library, choose an
appropriate elements that would look like a star
and import again from Illustrator as a Shape
layer. This will enable you to work with better
perspective as the object retains the vector
data and therefore doesn't distort in quality. Hit
[CTRL]+[T] for the Free Transform, then hold down
Cmd key for precise perspective.

54 .psd 01/2009
 spring in sight

13

Simple flowers
Repeat the import process from the previous step,
but not shape in perspective. Through the Layer
Style, add Radial Gradient Overlay and set to
Multiply. This way our new vector flowers will gain
distinguishable edges, even when scaled down.

14

Photo elements
Our early spring images has gained quite nice
fresh feel, however, a little extra will only add
exciting finish to the whole concept. Feel free to
find a set of flower photographs which will serve
as the icing on the cake. Extract the images with
a pen tool and bring one by one into to the master
canvas. Place and scale as you like, or follow our
placement. Go with your gut feeling.

15

Finishing touches of shadow.

Create a new layer (Cmd)[CTRL]+[Shift]+[N] and
select a soft brush, colour black, set to 350/500.
Set opacity of your layer to 40% and brush below
the flower layers a bit of natural shadow to give
the whole piece a further dimension. Now would
be the time for some last minute tweaks, if not,
only add Levels as an adjustment layer and
change the contrast in the picture.

by Radim Malinic/Brand Nu
.psd 01/2009 55
 typhography

How to
Specify Type
We’ve come a long way. Typography once was an almost arcane craft, with
its own technology, its own terminology, and even its own measurement
system – ever heard of picas? However everything changed since the decisive
breakthrough of the personal computer a quarter of a century ago.

N ow even the most basic of computer users have a fairly good

grasp on what digital fonts are, and what they do. Testimony
to this are the countless tutorials found off and online.
Those range from chapters in software manuals to whole books,
blogs and websites dedicated to type and typography. Yet with
everything being written on how to properly use fonts it’s surprising
how little attention is spent to the actual selection of typefaces. How
do you choose which typeface you are going to use? How can you
determine if it is any good and if it will perform adequately? This is
a very important decision. It’s hard doing proper typography when
the typeface you picked isn’t any good to start with. And even if
the typeface in itself is fine it may not be suited for the specific
application you intend to use it for.
Just a quick note before we go on. You will notice that both the
terms typeface and font will be used throughout the article. Although
they roughly mean the same thing, there is a difference in meaning.
The physical embodiment of a collection of letters, numbers,
symbols, etc. (whether it’s a case of metal pieces or a computer file)
is a font. When referring to the design of the collection (the way it
looks) we call it a typeface.
The (de)fault of the computer
When practising graphic design the personal computer gives us the
ability to do everything ourselves – laying out pages, setting type,
processing images etc. We tend to forget that those tasks were
once executed by trained professionals. The reproduction of images
intended for publication was entrusted to professional repro houses,
and galleys of type were ordered from typesetting businesses.
Graphic designers then used those elements to paste up the page
lay-outs.
Today most users acknowledge that images are still best
processed by the aforementioned repro houses, and many
do realise that print and digital design look better when
done by trained graphic designers. Yet the vast majority has
the impression that selecting and setting type is as easy
as clicking on a font in a pull-down menu and start typing.
Literally. And indeed it seems deceptively simple, as in most
cases the font will perform adequately and produce reasonably
well set text. This doesn’t take away from the fact that a large
number of users have had no formal training in typography nor
typesetting. Even professional designers sometimes produce
work which is lacking when it comes to the choice, composition
and setting of type.
So why is specifying the right typeface such a complex thing?
First of all because there’s simply so many of them! There are
100.000+ commercial fonts from 65 type foundries on the FontShop
website alone, (90 foundries in FontBook, the bible of digital
typography), thousands more are available through other vendors,
and a multiple are available as free- and shareware fonts on the
internet. As soon as you leave behind the relatively safe comfort
zone of the system fonts and the ones bundled with software you
are presented with such an overwhelming volume and diversity that
it is frankly intimidating.
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/stewf/2212675847/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/stewf/2212672391/

Figure 1. RTF-Stern digital font Figure 2. RTF-Stern typeface

56 01/2009

Figure 3. 3 stop-sign
Why so many typefaces?
Now you could ask yourself why we need such a vast number
of typefaces. Some renowned designers seem to make do with
a very limited type palette. The most vocal of them is design
icon Massimo Vignelli. An avid disciple of Modernism and the
International Style, Vignelli focuses on simplicity through the
use of basic geometric forms in all of his work. This simplicity
is reflected in his use of typography. He is famously known
for professing that one needs only five typefaces to tackle any
Figure 4. ITC-Bodoni optical size]
01/2009
how to specify type
graphic design assignment – Times, Helvetica, Garamond, Futura
and Bodoni. According to Vignelli typography should be neutral,
and any typographic treatment that doesn’t adhere to the austere
Modernist principles distracts from the content and meaning of
the text.
Information designer and type guru Erik Spiekermann
doesn’t agree with Vignelli’s dogmatic approach (truth to be told
even Vignelli himself trumps his own theory – he is known to
switch typefaces in his famous list which sometimes includes
Century Schoolbook or Clarendon). Sure, one can design a
career’s worth using only five typefaces, but one designer’s five
typefaces are different from the next designer’s typefaces, and
so on. So it is a good thing that there are so many different type
designs, so many different options, each with their own unique
voice and atmosphere. Vignelli’s world is populated with uniform
people all dressed in stark black and grey, while Spiekermann’s
view corresponds more to the real world: a colourful and varied
one. There is a quote by Gunnlaugur S.E. Briem that sums it up
nicely:
Some people say that letters exist to be read and therefore
the things that interfere with legibility should be discouraged. This
is a bit like saying that the purpose of liquor is to get you drunk. If
it were right, people would swig metal polish, and the farmers of
Cognac, Burgundy, and Champagne would grow potatoes.
Why new typefaces?
Every year tens, even hundreds new typefaces appear. With all
those digital typefaces already available on the market, why
design even more? One could ask exactly the same question
concerning music, or books, or any other form of artistic
expression. As type design is both an art and a craft, there are
very different motivations for designing new typefaces. Many type
designers start on new designs because of an artistic impulse
– they see something in everyday life, or imagine shapes or a
particular atmosphere in their mind, or ask themselves What if I
tried to…, and that is enough motivation to pick up pencil or mouse.
Other designers might be frustrated with the shortcomings of
certain existing typefaces and decide to remedy those in designs
of their own. Furthermore there are revivals, reinterpretations,
tributes, reprises, spin-offs, parodies and so on – all new designs
based on existing models.
Looks aren’t everything
With literally more than hundred thousand designs to choose from,
finding the right typeface for a specific application may seem a
daunting task. The common mistake almost everyone makes is that
they choose a beautiful typeface, one that looks attractive. Basically
this is putting the cart before the horse. However strange this may
sound the looks of the typeface should concern you the least. It
is the very last criterion in the selection process, and comes after
all the other steps have been made. So if picking a good-looking
Figure 5. PostScript-Type-1 OpenType
57
 typhography
Figure 6. FF-Maiola_multilingual
typeface is not the solution, how does one go about selecting a
typeface? As with everything, a seemingly insurmountable problem
becomes a lot easier to cope with when split up into several smaller,
more manageable problems. Compare it to deciding what to wear
when you get out of bed in the morning. When overseeing the
contents of your wardrobe you won’t just pick any garment because
you feel like wearing a specific item. Instead you will always first
look outside and ask yourself a number of questions. Is it Spring,
Summer, Fall or Winter? Is it warm for the time of year, or rather
chilly? Is the sun out or does it rain, or snow? Is it calm or windy?
The answers to all these questions help you narrow down amongst
which items you will chose from. In the end, instead of having
a whole wardrobe’s worth of options you will be left with only a
limited selection. This is when you finally pick a garment of a certain
colour or design, just because it looks good on you and you feel like
wearing it.
Never climb a mountain
wearing dancing shoes
For those of you who aren’t convinced yet that simply picking a
beautiful typeface is a bad idea, allow me to tell an anecdote. My
wife and I take tango classes. One of the other couples attending
the course are handsome twenty-somethings who consistently
dress in grunge rock attire – the girl in long skirts, loose shirts and
shawls; the guy in jeans, lumberjack shirts and sweaters. And those
typical big boots. They both look great; they are a perfect match,
their style is consistent and aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Yet
the guy struggles at every single lesson. Although they perfectly
fit the overall look and style, the boots simply are a nightmare to
dance with. Their heavy weight, unwieldy shape, and solid soles
lack the litheness required for properly executing the fast and
precise movements. This nicely illustrates that something may look
beautiful, but still be worthless if it was designed for a completely
different function.
This also applies to typography and the selection of typefaces.
Virtually every type designer designs type with a well defined set
of criteria and a specific function in mind. And it is up to the user
to recognise this function and intended use when selecting a
typeface. At one end of the spectrum are faces that were designed
to perform well in small sizes and unfavourable conditions – the
hiking boots – and at the other end the display faces – the dancing
shoes. Workhorse faces have sturdy features; rather conventional
and easily recognisable letter forms, generous letterspacing, solid
serifs, clear open counters, a large x-height, and ink traps (cut out
areas that prevent corners from clogging up due to ink spread). Ink
spread is a non-issue when designing for screen, but all the other
factors still apply. Display faces have much more delicate shapes
and have considerably more leeway when it comes to character
shapes. There is a whole world in between those two extremes,
an important part of which is populated by day-to day typefaces
that are fit for text use but can be used in headlines as well,
but that also holds a large variety of faces designed for specific
applications.
As a rule of thumb workhorse faces allow more liberties than
display faces. To some extent one can wear hiking boots at a posh
reception. If you combine them with casual jeans, and a stylish shirt
and jacket, you might get away with it, just like a workhorse face
may look acceptable in headlines if you adapt its spacing and use it
58
in combination with the right design elements. Yet I wouldn’t attempt
to climb a mountain wearing dancing shoes. Sure, you could, but
don’t come complaining afterwards. So never use display faces for
body text.
Size does matter
Of course a lot of the above has to do with type size. In the era of
metal and wood type, fonts were designed specifically for the size
at which they were to be used, with subtle variations in weight,
contrast, and proportion to make them as legible in small text
as they were beautiful in big headlines. The differences become
apparent when those size-specific designs are scaled to the same
size. With the dawn of scalable digital type, any font could be
used at any size, and the time honoured mastering process was
abandoned. As a result, many designs suffer in this new age of
convenience: display fonts are often too ornate or fragile at small
sizes; text fonts are clunky and dull when set large. Fortunately,
recent type design has learned from the past, and we are now
seeing a return to the practice of optical size mastering. A few
type families offer sturdy, readable cuts for text, and showy titling
styles for the big stuff – modern technology infused with the
wisdom of the originals.
Optical size master aren’t only important for print. When
designing for screen similar problems arise. The stroke thickness to
pixel size ratio is crucial. Delicate shapes break up and hairline serifs
disappear when type is used so small that the fine lines become less
than a pixel wide. Fonts with a small x-height become hard to read if
insufficient pixels are available to render the body of the type, as
do unconventional or intricate shapes, closed counters, and tightly
spaced letters.
Interlude – About font formats
Since OpenType fonts were first announced in 1996 and started
shipping in 2000 digital typefaces are available in three different
font formats. This can sometimes be a little confusing. It is very
important to know if the file format of your fonts is compatible with
the software you are going to use them in.
The PostScript Type 1 font format – the previous professional
standard – is pretty amazing. Of course it has certain limitations and
OpenType fonts offer numerous advantages. Yet you have to realise
PostScript Type 1 fonts are the only pieces of software developed
more than 20 years ago that still work on today’s machines and
operating systems. Because the cost of licensing the PostScript
Type 1 format was considered very high at the time, Apple decided in
the late 1980s to develop their own font format TrueType. Microsoft
added TrueType to the Windows 3.1 operating system, and it became
the preferred font format on PC systems.
OpenType is the most recent font format, and emerged at the
beginning of the new millennium. The format was initially developed
Figure 7. Capsa_expert_characters
01/2009
 how to specify type

PostScript Type 1 fonts. OpenType Pro fonts however support a

broader range of languages: typically with the addition of Central
European (CE) and Turkish, and sometimes Greek (Gr) and/or
Cyrillic (Cyr). The supported languages may vary a little depending
on the foundry, as some OpenType Standard fonts do include the
extra accented characters. It is important to understand that Pro
always includes all accents needed for CE languages, but does
Figure 8. Titling-Gothic superfamily not guarantee the presence of the Greek nor the Cyrillic alphabet.
Always check the completeness of the character set before
deciding which font to use.

A basic meal or gourmet dining?

Figure 9. FF-Nexus type-system
by Microsoft, which were later joined by Adobe. The two main
benefits of the OpenType format are its cross-platform compatibility
– you can work with the same font file on Mac, Windows or other
computer systems – and its ability to support widely expanded
character sets and lay-out features. Those provide rich linguistic
support and advanced typographic control.
OpenType fonts can be installed and used alongside PostScript
Type 1 and TrueType fonts. Since those fonts rely on OpenType-
specific tables, non-savvy applications on computers running on
systems prior to Mac OS X and MS Windows 2000 will not be able to
use them without intermediation by system services like ATM. And
even on the newest computers and latest operating systems some
programs are still lagging behind. The OpenType format is only partly
supported, and the more advanced features can’t be accessed.
Currently all Adobe applications (InDesign, Illustrator, PhotoShop)
provide advanced OpenType feature support, such as the automatic
substitution of alternate glyphs, automatic ligatures, small capitals,
swashes and old-style figures.
There is more to a typeface than what you just see on your keyboard.
In addition to the alphabet, numbers, and assorted punctuation,
an average font also includes a series of hidden characters. They
can be accessed via the shift and/or option key, or through special
menus. The approximately 250 glyphs found in standard typefaces
are sufficient for display and basic text use. Yet – just like you can’t
get away with serving a simple cheeseburger with fries in a fine
restaurant – good typography requires quite a bit more. If you want
to select a typeface for professional typesetting you want to make
sure the following extra features are available.
Small capitals – also called small caps – are a little taller the x-
height. They can be used for acronyms, or to avoid that words in all
capitals stand out too much in running text. Furthermore they serve
for emphasis, or in the first words or line of a chapter or paragraph.
Petite caps are even smaller: exactly as high as the x-height. Some
designers use them for typographic experiments like mixed case
setting of lower- and uppercase forms, also called unicase setting.
Standard typefaces mostly come with only one set of numerals,
yet different styles are needed for professional typesetting.
Proportional hanging figures blend in perfectly with running text,
proportional lining figures match text in all caps, tabular figures
are needed for setting tables and number crunching, and super-
and subscript figures allow for setting fractions and scientific text
matter. This last type of text also requires super- and subscript
characters, as well as specific mathematical characters and several
types of brackets.

What languages does your type speak?

This issue may seem not that important for English-speaking users,
but it becomes increasingly so thanks to the globalisation of the
economy. Having to communicate with countries using accented
characters and even completely different alphabets or writing
systems is becoming more the rule than the exception these days. A
crucial factor in the selection of a typeface is determining how many
languages it speaks.
The PostScript Type 1 font format is limited to 256 glyphs
per file. This may seem sufficient, but actually is just enough for
the alphabet in upper and lower case, numerals and punctuation,
accented characters for a couple of languages and a number of
specials like currency and mathematical characters. The average
fonts cover roughly speaking all Western and Southern European
languages, and the Scandinavian languages. But as soon as you
start moving eastwards towards and past the central part of Europe
new and different accents are needed, and Greek and Cyrillic have
their own alphabets. This is why additional fonts are needed for
these extra languages. Baltic fonts support Estonian, Latvian, and
Lithuanian; those languages are also included in CE fonts (Central
European) which in addition support Albanian, Croatian, Czech,
Finnish, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, and Sorbian
(Lower & Upper); and the accents for Turkish are supported by
dedicated Turkish fonts. It is very easy to determine if a PostScript
Type 1 family supports certain languages – all you need to do is
check if it includes any of these extra fonts.
Thanks to Unicode 5.0 and the OpenType format nowadays
fonts can accommodate up to 65,535 graphic characters, so
language has become less of an issue. All OpenType fonts have
advanced typographic features and language support built-in,
but some OpenType fonts are more equal than others. OpenType
Standard fonts support the basic range of languages, just like Figure 10. Helvetica corporate face

01/2009 59
 typhography

Rotis – the first ever co-ordinated type system, consisting of a Sans

Serif, a Semi Sans, a Serif and a Semi Serif – was unique in its time,
yet nowadays such type systems have become quite common.
Members of superfamilies share the same basic structure, the
same skeleton if you will, and have matching x- and cap heights,
ascender and descender lengths, and stroke width. This means you
can switch from sans serif to serif to slab serif in a block of text
and still retain a unified appearance. Type systems are particularly
useful in publication design and annual reports, where body text has
to work harmoniously with headlines, streamers, captions, tables,
information graphics, and so on.

Typecasting
Beyond formal aspects and functional criteria there are a number
of far more subtle factors which influence the choice of a typeface,
like historical context and cultural conotations. We are all children
of our time, and type doesn’t escape this fact of life. Typefaces
often refer to the time period they were designed in. Although this
mainly concerns display type, even timeless-looking text faces are
flavoured to the times. Just like other designed artefacts – clothes,
furniture, appliances, cars, etc. – type is subject to fashion. When
we see people in photographs or movies we can almost always tell
Figure 11. Blackletter gang-tattoos what period they are from just by looking at the clothes or hairstyle.
Ligatures are needed when an overhanging part of a character The same thing applies to type. Each era has its iconic typefaces,
bumps into the character next next to it. On average digital fonts especially when dealing with display type. Even people with little
used to include only a limited number of f-ligatures which was knowledge of typography will recognise them on a subconscious
insufficient. An extended ligature set guarantees that there is an level and automatically link them to a specific timeframe. That is
aesthetically pleasing combined glyph available for any problematic why using those period typefaces is a great way to conjure up a
letter combination. And some designs include even more ligatures, certain atmosphere.
often purely for fun, and to add more swoosh to the type. Swoosh Yet time reference can be a relative thing. As fashion is a
can also be added with swash characters, be it initial capitals or cyclical phenomenon typefaces which looked completely outdated
initial and end characters. at one point can become hot and trendy again. We’ve seen trends
like 70s disco type and 30s constructive type reappear recently and
It’s all in the (type) family get appropriated by fashion movements and music styles. Designers
Most typefaces have relatives and belong to a family. A type family can experiment with this by playing off these trends in novel ways,
is a collection of related typefaces or styles which share common or by going against the grain. By using a typeface with a clear time
design traits and a common name. The concept of coordinated reference you can produce a dramatic shift in atmosphere in an
type families is a fairly recent phenomenon. Originally italics were otherwise contemporary design.
designs in their own right, unrelated to roman designs and used An important factor for the time references found in
independently. Only by the sixteenth century did the italic assume typefaces is of technical nature. Historically type design has
its current role as emphasis, a variation on the roman design. The been influenced by the techniques used to produce type. The
first related bold weights for text faces are even more recent – they shift from the original venetian structure of typefaces over
date from the second half of the nineteenth century. Just like italics garalde and transitional to modern – also called didone – was in
bold weights can be used for emphasis within the text. large part the result of technological advancements in the type
The size of the family a typeface belongs to is a crucial and printing industry. Similarly the exuberant shapes of 60s
factor when deciding whether or not to use a certain typeface for
a specific purpose. For example the MacOS system font Lucida
Grande has no italic nor bold variant, which means you can’t apply
any emphasis in text. Often system fonts have only a very limited
range of styles, making them prohibitive, especially in publication
design where larger families with many options are needed. Adrian
Frutiger’s classic Univers was the first ever family of typefaces
designed according to a rational system of coordinated weights
and widths.
The weight on the one hand determines how bold a typeface
looks, how heavy the strokes making up the characters are. The
traditional weights are Regular and Bold, with Light and Black being
the outward extensions on the weight scale, and sometimes a
Semibold in between. Yet currently there are families that feature up
to a staggering 15 weights! The width on the other hand determines
how wide the characters are. Contrary to the weights the standard
width usually doesn’t have a specific name. The traditional widths
are Condensed and Extra Condensed or Compressed towards the
narrow end of the scale, and Extended to the opposite side, but here
as well certain families nowadays offer up to seven different widths.
The wide spectrum of styles in large type families can be used to
create harmonious designs with many variations, and to unify the
structure of headlines in publications.
Larger type families are commonly called superfamilies or
type systems. Some of those take it even one step further and
offer related designs in different type classifications. Otl Aicher’s Figure 12. Blackletter_gangsta-rap

60 01/2009

and 70s display type would have been unthinkable without the
freedom won by the transition from lead to photo typesetting.
Grunge type design is intimately related to the ascension of
the personal computer and the democratisation of type design
thanks to Fontographer. And although there are no more
restrictions on the shapes the characters can take since the
digital revolution, the new OpenType technology is responsible
for the intricate scripts and extended sets of ligatures and
alternates in contemporary type design.
Historical context can work for you, but against you as well.
When designing props for movies or television series set in a
defined time period you have to beware of anachronisms. Simply
put take great care not to use typefaces that didn’t exist yet. For
example in the third instalment of the Back To The Future movie
series you can recognise Helvetica (1957) and Eurostile (1962)
on a tombstone carved in the year 1885. The newspapers from
1973 that Dexter Morgan examines in Showtime’s hit series
Dexter (episode 11 of Season 1) have headlines set in Arial
(1989). And the name on the seal-hunting schooner Ghost in
ProSieben’s television series Der Seewolf (set around 1900)
clearly is Revue, a typical disco-era design originally released
in 1969.
One of the most entertaining continuing series about
typography on the internet is Mark Simonson’s Typecasting: The
Use (and Misuse) of Period Typography in Movies. Originally a single
overview of typographical anachronisms in movies, it spawned the
follow up series Son of Typecasting. What Mark does is research the
use of period typography in movies and television series, checking
the creation dates and probable usage of the featured typefaces
against the time frame the story is set in. The goofs he uncovers
are guaranteed to elicit a chuckle if you’re a type enthusiast with
an inquisitive and critical mind. Conversely it is very inspiring every
time he demonstrates how a design team gets every single detail
right through careful research.
On a more serious note, picking a font from the wrong time
period can have serious implications. One painful example is
the case of Lucille Hester. The 69-year-old former school teacher
provided the goosebump moment of Bob Hayes’ Pro Football Hall
of Fame election last month by reading a letter to a national TV
audience. This letter – purportedly written and signed by Hayes
himself – was dated October 29, 1999, almost three years before
he died in 2002. Yet Dutch designer Luc(as) de Groot revealed
the letter’s typeface is definitely Calibri, which de Groot designed
for Microsoft in 2003. It was not available to the public until the
debut of Microsoft Office 2007. This revealed that the letter was
a fake.
Type is culture (and vice versa)
Type isn’t just subject to fashion and trends. It also is a genuine
cultural expression – type design references culture, and culture
references type. This became particularly obvious in the 1950s.
Having witnessed the atrocities of the Second World War, thinkers,
artists, and designers dreamt up an utopian world where everyone
would speak the same language. Graphic designers wanted to do
away with all national references in their work, as they saw that
those had been largely responsible for this global conflict. This
led to the emergence of Modernism, the International Style, which
advocated simple and rational design, asymetrical lay-outs, and
the use of neutral sans serif typefaces, the most popular being
Akzidenz-Grotesk. As its shapes were perceived as rather crude by
many back then, it was only a matter of time before a more elegant
alternative would surface. Helvetica was developed in 1957 by Max
Miedinger with Eduard Hoffmann at the Haas’sche Schriftgiesserei
(Haas type foundry) of Münchenstein, Switzerland. Thanks to the
international spread of the Modernism movement that embraced
the typeface it went on to become the most successful typeface of
all time.
Cultural references through typography are present on all levels
of communication and design. You can imbue your work with subtle
cultural references through the choice of specific typefaces. By
doing so you can fine-tune your message and adapt it to the visual
01/2009
how to specify type
style of your audience. Not so subtle references can be found in
the graphic language of music styles where this process is most
visible. Electronic dance music is typified by geometric, modular
and technical looking typefaces; heavy metal makes use of gothic
and blackletter type, and ornamental serif faces; disco revisits
the exuberant display designs of the 60s and 70s; grunge rock
expresses itself through worn and weathered typefaces.
Yet you should always remain mindful that cultural references
in type design are in a constant state of flux. Helvetica is not only
a prime example of this phenomenon, it also witnessed one of
the most radical shifts in cultural perception. Originally it was
perceived as the ultimate people’s typeface, symbol of neutrality,
and synonymous to the International Movement. It was picked up
by influential graphic designers and introduced on all levels of
design and communication, from small print shop to renowned
design studio. Due to its continued and sustained use in corporate
branding and communication, it became the victim of its success.
The perception of the typeface began to change gradually, and
by the 1980s it had become to represent capitalism and cold,
faceless corporations, the exact opposite of what it used to be.
Helvetica and Modernism became challenged, first by eclectic
post-modernist typeface design heavily referencing styles of days
gone by, later by the grunge movement with its deconstructed
and worn-out designs. Instead of finding an international voice,
graphic design was again addressing specific target groups using
type designs rife with cultural connotations. As the world had by
then become a global village, those groups weren’t nationalities
anymore but sub-cultures, so called global tribes of skaters,
rockers, yuppies, and so on.
An example of unexpected cultural connotations is the
appearance of the blackletter in the graphic style of R&B. Although
it had been banned by Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist German
Workers’ Party in 1941 Nazi Germany, popular culture strongly
associates this type style with Nazi propaganda and the extreme
right wing movement. As this is as far removed from R&B music
as you can get, it is intriguing to find out how blackletter managed
to bridge that gap. It appeared in gang tattoos in the Southern
United States, where it was assimilated by gangsta rap. This hip
hop sub-culture gained popular acceptance and recognition,
becoming increasingly popular. By that time R&B was eager to
earn more street credibility and broaden its audience, which lead
to collaborations and guest appearances of gangster rappers on
R&B records. Finally R&B culture not only adopted the musical
influences, but also the graphic style, of which the blackletter had
become an intrinsic part.
Figure 13. Blackletter_RandB
61
 typhography

Figure 14. Asian culture stereotype

Typecasting again you have witnessed in this article this is actually only the very
You have to be wary when using cultural references in last step in the selection process. And it is vital to understand
typography, as it’s a fine line between its correct use and that you have to go through all the preceding stages before you
cultural stereotyping. Be very careful when trying to express a can address that last step. Because more than using a beautiful
certain culture through typography. For example there are many typeface, you better use one that was designed for the purpose
mock Asian typefaces trying to mimic Asian calligraphy. Most of you intend to use it for; that the font performs well on your
them are less than successful, and using them in logos for Asian
businesses is at best tacky and at worst downright insulting.
The same goes for certain uncial designs used for Irish pubs and
so on. They remind us of less enlightened days when Negroes
(forgive me the word) were portrayed in advertisements for
chocolate and soap bars.
Instead of tackling this kind of assignments head-on a
sideways approach is much more appropriate. Many a type or
graphic designer will be adamant that only a typeface with no
cultural ties can be used and the reference has to come from the
design itself. Nevertheless there is room to subtly suggest a culture
through the use of carefully chosen type. To come back to the Asian
example, you could try and find a typeface with modulated stems
that refer to brush strokes. Another solution may be using a script
whose characters are written with brush strokes that remind of the
structure and dynamics of Asian calligraphy. For a younger audience
one could look into a geometric or modular solution with letters that
refer to the complex structure of the Asian ideograms.

A beautiful face
This is where our odyssey through the selection of type ends.
When all other requirements have been met you can finally pick
the typeface you like the most, one you find beautiful. But as Figure 15. Asian culture 1

62 01/2009

Figure 16. Asian culture 2
operating system, speaks all the necessary languages, has a
complete character set, is part of a suitably large family; and that
the design carries the correct historical context and atmosphere,
and brings up the desired cultural connotations. Without that,
your message could be misrepresented, misinterpreted, and
misunderstood.
Specifying type is a learning process. You need to become
familiar with all aspects of typography, and learn to analyse
Figure 17. Asian culture 3
01/2009
how to specify type
type designs in order to determine whether or not certain
typefaces are adequate to specific applications. When in doubt,
ask for advice. One of the places to go is FontShop. Founded by
Erik Spiekermann and Neville Brody in 1989, FontShop is the
original independent retailer of digital type, offering over 100,000
fonts from the FontFont label and 70 other foundries. They also
provide educational and other resources, like the FontCases on
FontShop.com. Those special collections are curated by FontShop
experts to help you find the type you need, allowing you to browse
fonts by genre, period, application, and other subcategories.
And the FontShop Research Team can identify and locate almost
any commercial font you ever may want to use. Then there’s
the international type blog FontFeed.com, a daily dispatch of
recommended fonts, typography techniques, and inspirational
examples of digital type at work in the real world.
Another place where you can find this type of information
is Typophile. The free and open typographic community of type
designers, graphic designers and creative professionals aims
to foster aesthetic appreciation, historical understanding and
ethical awareness. Typophile is guided by the principles of open
collaboration, integrity and the idea that we’re always learning.
They can assist you in the selection of typefaces by historical and
cultural context, point you to resources, and offer advice regarding
the correct use of digital fonts.
Go on. Explore. Learn. Have fun.
by Yves Peters
63
advanced | 25-30 h.
adobe photoshop
 adriana typographic illustration

Adriana
Typographic Illustration
This tutorial shows how to create a dynamic beautiful image using typography
in a novel way. This piece is predominantly created in Photoshop although I do
sketch out the initial ideas in a sketchbook. Photoshop is great because it adds
a new level of freedom and control that I would not be able to have by working
on a canvas. The inspiration from this piece comes from my undying love for
typography. I also strive to push boundaries and come up with design, and
illustrative styles that have not been conceived of before to push things in a
new direction.

T o begin I set up a new document that measures A3 size (297 x

420mm) and I make it around 300dpi in resolution. Depending on
the concept I often start off with a photographic base reference
image, however the image could be an illustration or a sketched blueprint.
I use the image as a base layer and I create a new layer set that will have
the image above it. For this piece I start out with the face. I am working on
an A3 sized file so I zoom in very close at circa 800% to be able to create
intense detail. Working at this intensity and scale can be an arduous
process because you do not see the fruits of your labor immediately.
I create the typographic elements by typing them in one phrase at a
time. This does make the process more laborious than doing shortcuts
like using a text filter or a typography pattern, however the results are
far more impressive when you put more effort in. I continue to add the
typographic phrases and colours to her face and I also use different
weights and kerning within the typography to create variety and diversity.
It is important when you are doing this to be free with your movements as
the closer you stick to the image the less free that the image will become.
When the texture is added to image it takes on a new level of creativity.
The key is to work on areas of light and dark with different uses of weight,
size, colour, shape and styles of font.

01

The beginning
Although the effect looks random and variegated
I do have a few rules for the typography. I do like
the typography to flow in 90° or 45° for the most
part. This gives a visual perception of order even
though it may look chaotic at the time although I
do not use grids on typographic art as I like the
piece to flow and look as organic as possible.
01/2009 65
 typhography

02

Control the Palette

The process continues as I add more and more
detail to the image. For this piece I wanted to keep
the colour palette as controlled as possible to
create a sense of order amongst the complexity of
what was happening.

03

Introduction of the Hair

When adding type it is a good idea to merge down
layers depending on how much punishment your
machine can take. This is a high-resolution piece
and the amount of layers can easily run into the
hundreds unless you keep them under control.
However it is great to be able to move layers of
type above and below layers to create new areas
of texture, colour, light and dark shades. I also
start to introduce her hair here and keep the same
process going with darker typographic elements.

04

Check the Image

Her face is beginning to take shape now and I
continue to work into her hair. I also add highlights
to Adriana’s hair in the form of typographic
elements. These create a wonderful effect of
texture when they are viewed at the actual print
size. It is also very important to regularly check
what the image looks like at 100%, and you have
to continually use your creative judgement to
decipher whether things look right or not. Many
times the pieces that I work on do not really tend
to take shape unless I have spent at least 10
hours on them, so that is something to remember.

66 01/2009
 typhography

05

Finish the Hair Style

The basic shape of her hair is now finished and
it is time to move on to her dress. I create a new
layer set for the dress. It is also important to
keep a check on your layers and not to get the
wrong images and type on the wrong layers. For
the creation of the dress and other elements that
are not type based I either use the freeform lasso
tool (keyboard shortcut [L]) or I use the Pen tool
(keyboard shortcut [P]).

06

The Red Dress

I continue to work on the dress and the colour
makes a wonderful contrast to the detail of the
face. So the key is to work on the dress and keep
the same style but make use of the wonderful red
shades of Adriana’s dress.

07

The Power of Words

The wonderful thing about creating typographic
pieces is that you can literally say anything
that you want. This also is a very useful thing
when creating special bespoke commissions
for individuals. Within this and numerous other
pieces that I have created you will find specific
references that are only requested by the
recipient of the artwork and ultimately that
creates something truly special.

68 01/2009
 adriana typographic illustration

08

Go for It
Sometimes things do not always go to plan, that
is the beauty of pushing yourself and trying new
things. A huge advantage by using Photoshop
over painting on a canvas is that you can delete
the incriminating layer and start over again very
quickly.

09

Experiment
More experimenting on the dress is required
to create the right typographic effect. The
typographic elements are used to create shadows.
I start to add the details to her legs and look to
embellish the piece with more touches of detail to
the previously worked on areas.

10

Finish the Rest of the Body

The finished completed image. Now all of the
typographic elements have been created to show
the fully layered typographic effect.

by Brian Grant
01/2009 69
intermediate | 120 min.
adobe photoshop CS3
 creating humanoid objects

Creating
Humanoid Objects
One of the easiest ways to create a surrealist world is to take two objects that have
no relation in terms of their nature, but have a connotative bond and combine them
in a bowl. Man Ray, one of the most significant artist of the century, created the
photograph called, Le Violon d’Ingres (Ingres’s Violin), which is a picture of a woman
with the shape of a violin’s acoustic openings on her back. I will create a similar
image using a blond woman and a telephone.

01

Beginning
Open the blond woman portrait and choose the
right frame. In mine, the face is close to right and
cut from neck, as you can see.

02 Whitening the Face

In order to combine the portrait with the phone
pieces (in a way, to render the portrait to an
object of nature), I had to change the skin color.
Two steps were necessary to whiten the skin:
desaturate and dodge. First, I desaturated the
face, but not from the adjustment menu. The
disadvantage of desaturating the whole image
in its entirety, is that it makes the whole image
a Black & White image. But, that is not what I
wanted, since it needed some red tones. So, I
used the Sponge tool from the tool bar. I fixed the
brush size to 300-500 and apply it to the face.
Then, I used the dodge tool to lighten the more
the exposed parts. If you wish to, you may use
a big, smooth, white brush with a low opacity to
increase the effect of the whiteness. After this
step was completed, I noticed that the eye colors
lost some of their brightness. So, I created a solid
color mask in a multiply layer mode and choose
the perfect eye color for the lady.
01/2009 71
 photomanipulation

03

Coloring the Hair

The hair color of the lady in my photograph
bothered me. The hair color of the telephone-
woman should not be so dim. I used a solid color
mask on the portrait layer to solve this problem.
I chose pink, then Multiply the layer, erased
all of the color using the paint bucket tool and
performed the masking job with a smooth eraser.
Finally, I opened a new layer under the pink hair
layer and put some blue lines with a smooth
eraser on the knits and Multiply the layer again.
This last step is an arbitrary one and is not an
essential for the telephone woman, but it can give
inspiration to those who want to color the hair of
their woman.

04

Rust Spots
Create the layer named, Rust Spots and paste rust
spots cut from an image of a rusty surface onto
the face and arrange them as you please.

05

Telephonication I
I created a layer called, phone layer and pasted
the middle disk of the number’s dial on her face
in a way that it covered her lips. I erase and hid
the black line around it and the metal piece that
was on her chin. I pathed around the screws
and frame roughly and the brand on top and
then pasted them to the screw & brand layer.
Then I turned back to the phone layer and erased
the surrounding area of the white part, where
screws were placed with a big and smooth brush
(hardness=0, brush size 300-600). This is the
ideal method to combine the telephone with the
face. The last step of this part is to multiply the
screw and brand layer.

72 01/2009
 creating humanoid objects

06

Telephonication II
A phone definitely needs to have a receiver. The
receiver of the yellow telephone fits well to our
project with its shape. I first cut out the receiver,
then created a new layer named receiver and
pasted the receiver into that layer. I placed the
receiver at ear level, covering the ear. To position
the receiver and the cheek, I used the clone Stamp
tool, enlarge the part of the receiver on the cheek
to make it touch at the cheek's border. Then, I
erased the part of the braid that appeared on the
face.

07
Shadows
The shadow of the receiver needed to fall on
the lady’s face. In the image I chose, the light's
direction is from the left. This means that the
shadows must fall to the right. First, I created a
new layer (shadow1) under the receiver layer
that touched slightly to the lady’s ear using a
big, black, smooth, low opacity (10-15%) brush.
The shadow must not cover too much of the
cheek. It has to be in the cavity. Then, I duplicated
the receiver layer, created a new layer named
shadow2 and put it under the receiver's layer.
After this step, I decreased the lightning using
Image/Adjustments/Hue Saturation and applied a
30 pixel Gaussian Blur from the Filter menu. This
created the shadow. I put the layer on the top
right and erase the shadows that extend over the
woman’s face with a smooth eraser. The shadow
had to be only under the chin and on the neck.
Finally, make the opacity of this layer 15%.

08

Final Image
The work is now complete and you can now flatten
your image and answer your ringing phone.

by Ceren Aksungur
01/2009 73
 contributing writers

contributors cover artist

Benjamin Black
Has been a computer graphic for 10 years now.
Fascinated by the design and photos retouching.
Benjamin is also a big Photoshop fan.
www.nanopao.fr
www.fac311.com/digital/

Bert Monroy John Ridick

Bert Monroy was born and raised in New York City Was born 4th of July 1976, like Tom Cruise but
where he spent 20 years in the advertising industry taller.
as an art director and creative director for various johnridick.deviantart.com
agencies as well as his own. He embraced the
computer as an artistic medium and is considered
one of the pioneers of digital. www.bertmonroy.com

Radmin Malinic
Brian Grant Radmin Malinic//Brand Nu is an award winning
Brian is currently the creative director of the freelance illustrator and graphic designer based
Anisometric agency based in London, England, and in London, the United Kingdom. Brand Nu is one
he has over 15 years design experience. His clients of the most sought after, internationally renowned
include Microsoft, Sony, Coca Cola. creative artists working today, with an extensive
www.anisometriclondon.co.uk and diverse clientele. www.brandnu.co.uk

Rob Shields
Camela A. Weekes Robert Shields is a 27 year old designer form the
Camela A. Weekes is a student at Marymount east coast and he has been designing for a little
Manhattan College in New York City. She would like to over three years now.
give a big thank you to Professor Fred J. DeVito for all www.robshields.net
of his help as well as my family and friends for their
encouragement! www.anisometriclondon.co.uk

Suzanne Jakupi
Ceren Aksungur
Born in Istanbul – Turkey (1982) Start to draw when
she was toddler and finished her first comic book
Jade’s Adventures in 1997. Studied at graphic design
department of MSU Fine Art College in Istanbul (2000-
2008). www.flickr.com/photos/dolce_babanne/
Suzanne Jakupi has recently completed her
photography studies at Photographic Imaging
College, Hawthorn, Australia. She has spent
countless hours learning and discovering new
Photoshop techniques and now is an aspiring photo
retoucher.

Yves Peters
Ilona Larsson In August 2008 Yves put his graphic design career
Ilona Larsson is a freelance retoucher from on the back burner, freeing him to concentrate
Sweden. She is primarily working with fashion and on his writing and related activities in the digital
beauty retouch and shoots a photo or two in her type business. He writes his Bald Condensed type
spare time. reviews on Typographer.org, edits Unzipped, the
www.iris-retouch.com/ blog on the FontShop BeNeLux home page.

Marketing Director: Distributed in Australia by: Gordon and Gotch,

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Ewa Łozowicka Phone: 239-949-4450 quality of the information provided by contributors.

74 01/2009
 How to
Restore a Photo

Have no fear! Retouching is here! The average

to extreme wear and tear of images has now
become but a distant memory thanks to
programs such as Adobe Photoshop CS4. With
a few simple steps, one can easily make any
picture look brand new, or even better than the
original! This tutorial will illustrate how the art of
retouching actually works. Let's use this picture I
worked on in my Digital Imaging class last winter.
As you can see the picture is creased, stained,
filled with holes and more importantly, pink.

beginner | 45-60 minutes

adobe photoshop CS4
 how to restore a photo

01

To Start Off...
Open Photoshop and make sure before starting
your project that you go to Preferences>
Performance.

02

You’re History!
Change your History States from its default to
at least 100 just in case you make a mistake or
don't like what you see you're able to go back and
change it.

03

Stay Level-Headed
It's advisable to utilize the levels option before
going any further. Go to the Menu Bar at the top of
the screen and select Image>Adjustments>Level
s. This option will show a histogram which adjusts
the tonal range of the image, and depending on
how the sliders are placed, you will notice the
image lighten and darken. The reason why you
use levels is to get a rich black and a brilliant
white with detail.
01/2009 77
 photo restoring

04

Brighten My Day
The right side of the histogram controls the white
areas of your image and the left side controls the
black. This particular picture lacked some tonal
range, so I changed the input levels on the right
side from 255 to 245. If the histogram needs
a richer black, adjust the slider on the left side
from, for example, 25 to 15. You can also adjust
the middle slider to manipulate the mid-tones of
the image.

05

Rose-Colored Glasses
My next challenge was to adjust the color from
pink to something more realistic. Go to the Menu
Bar, select Image>Adjustments>Color Balance.

06

Realism Is Key
In the Color Balance dialog box, make sure to
check preserve luminosity as well as mid-tones.
Move the sliders back and forth till you are
happy with the color of the image. For my image, I
adjusted the color levels to -35, +100, +46.

78 01/2009
 photo restoring

07

Zoom In
Finally, we've reached the fun part! Getting rid of
the cracks, marks and dirt on the image is easy
once you get the hang of it, but depending on how
much detail and damage there is, it will take some
time. My best advice is to zoom in. Go to the Menu
Bar and select View and go down to Zoom In (125%
would be good)

08

My How You’ve Grown

This way you will be able to see more detail. Also,
since everything is magnified, it's easier to work
in sections to achieve a more realistic looking
image. Working Zoomed Out will only blur the
image further.

09

Can’t Forget This!

Now, let's get started. On the left hand side you
have your toolbox. Select the Clone Stamp Tool.

80 01/2009
 how to restore a photo

10

Birds of a Feather
Make sure you are working with a feathered brush
(change the size depending on the area you are
focusing on).

11

Fixer Upper
To use the Clone tool, aim your cursor over a
smooth area. Hold down the Option key (for Mac)
or the [Alt] key (for PC) and click. You should see
the cursor turn into a target. This will basically
copy the area you clicked. Find a damaged spot
(like a crease for example) and hold down the
mouse and drag over the area. You should see
it smoothening out. Whenever you need to fix a
different area, use the Option (or [Alt]) key and
click.

12

The Finisher
For aesthetic reasons, I used the Crop tool to
remove the border from the picture. Look at the
toolbar and select the 5th tool. Pick a corner of
your picture, hold down the mouse and drag
right across to the desired spot and let go. The
area that will be removed will look grey while the
are a being kept will retain its color. On your right
towards the top you will see a checkmark, click it
and voila! Your photo has been retouched.

by Camela A. Weekes
01/2009 81
Stock news: SCANDINAVIAN STOCKPHOTO:

FOCUSING ON EUROPE
“Focusing on the distinctive character of Scandinavia and Europe
is our strength. In contrast to the perfect, polished look found in
America, Europe has a more relaxed, provocative style. That’s what
sets us apart from other stock agencies and contributes to our
success,” says the team behind Scanstockphoto.com.
The low-price Norwegian stock agency, which was set up a few
years ago, has quickly established itself as a leading player on
the Scandinavian market when it comes to reasonable, royalty-
free images. Business is booming in the current financial crisis.
According to Stein, sales have doubled since the uncertainty on the
financial markets began.
“It’s not just Scandinavians who are looking for good images in
a European style. Our photographers supply images from more
than 100 countries, so our database has something to suit every
taste,” says CEO Jo Terje Stein. Most of Scandinavian StockPhoto’s
customers are in Scandinavia, but the business is now working to
win market shares in the rest of Europe too. “In a European context
the Scandinavian markets are marginal, so for us the greatest
potential is offered by growth in the populous countries of Europe.
We’re constantly improving and have attractive products, so we’re
now ready to present ourselves to new customer groups,” Jo Terje
Stein explains.
easy to see what the photographer wants to say with the image.
Far too few people allow for the fact that designers will want to put
text in the image. Designers who are photographers as well may be
better at understanding what there’s a demand for. That’s possibly
why their pictures sell well,” says the stock agency’s founder,
generously sharing the agency’s market knowledge.
Since the top price is 4 euros per image, it is quite understandable
that Scantockphoto’s images tempt many customers. “It’s mainly
business customers, large and small, that buy from us. We have
lots of newspapers, publishing houses, advertising agencies, online
newspapers and printers among our customers. The combination of
low prices and high quality is attractive to many people,” Jo Terje
Stein declares and ends by guaranteeing that prices will not go up
in 2009.
www.scanstockphoto.com now has more than 400,000
images in its database, making it Norway’s second largest
stock agency.

The combination of low prices, high quality and outstanding user-

friendliness is an attractive one at a time when businesses and
private individuals are trying to cut costs. Jo Terje Stein rejects
the suggestion that the low cost of the images reflects low quality.
“So far we’ve not had any complaints about our quality. Rather the
opposite at times,” says Stein smiling and points out that images
from Scandinavian Stockphoto have been used for the strangest
things: One customer enlarged one of their motifs and turned it
into wallpaper for the nursery. Other images have being used for
auto decals and a great many of them end up on boards, exhibition
stands and other large displays.

“Our bestselling images are photos of a high technical standard,

of course. But the most important thing is good composition. Our
customers want images with a clear thematic content. It has to be

2 www.scanstockphoto.com
 book review

Photoshop CS4: The Missing Manual

Photoshop is the world's best and most widely used photo, image and
graphics editing program. The CS4 version is full with new features,
tools, panels and tons of little changes which made it easy to use and
very flexible. Adobe also made available plenty of information to learn
Photoshop CS4 and its new features. It’s a huge collection of information
and going through it is very time consuming and make learning
Photoshop CS4 very tedious.
In such situation Photoshop CS4: The Missing Manual by Lesa Snider
King is a book which comes in action. This hefty book is divided into six
parts, each devoted to the type of things you’ll do in Photoshop CS4 to
master it.
Part One: The Basics – Is an introduction with Photoshop CS4. This
section is good for beginner to get introduce with Photoshop CS4, its
workspace, tools, features, and different kinds of layers and how to
manage them, layer masks, special effects, and art behind the use of
colors. This section is nothing but a quick start with Photoshop CS4.
Part Two: Editing Images – In this section we get various tricks
on using Photoshop and Camera Raw for editing images, Playing with
images, adding various tons, color effects, resizing it, applying more
complicated realm of Levels and Curves Adjustment layers, Sharpen it or
make it crisp. Photoshop is great tool for Image editing and this section
teaches us various ways to editing image with Photoshop.
Part Three: The Artistic Side of Photoshop – Deals with creative
side of Photoshop. Photoshop is a great tool used for digital painting.
This section explore us various ways using Pen tool to create complex
illustrations and selections, and how to use Photoshop’s Shape tools
to create a painting from scratch with many useful tricks about digital
painting.
Part Four: Printing and the Web – Photoshop is a great tool for
generating art for Print as well as Web media. We learn here about the
different color modes and how to prepare our images for printing as well
as for the Web. Here Author provided some tricks to protect our images
online and using Adobe Bridge to create Web galleries. Different image
formats, there features and step trough process to crate animated GIF
files in Photoshop.
Part Five: Photoshop Power – Photoshop come up with some built
in features which makes working smarter and faster. Photoshop Actions
and Plug-Ins are very useful for customizing repeating task very easily.
This section teaches us ‘working Smarter with Actions’ with useful
information on creating, editing, managing and sharing actions. Plug-
Ins works as helper programs that run inside Photoshop and let us do
Title: Photoshop CS4 The Missing Manual the hard stuff faster. Plug-Ins are really good, gives us amazing results
Authors: Lesa Snider King in seconds, rather than the hours it would take to do the same thing our
self. Here we deal with various Plug-Ins and ways to use and get it from
Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc. various resources online.
Language: English Part Six: Appendixes – This section contains Appendix with useful
information on installing and uninstalling Photoshop. Using Photoshop’s
Paperback: 796 pages help system, using Photoshop Menus, Tools panel and a complete section
ISBN 10: 0-596-52296-7 on using Adobe Bridge to import, organize, and export your images.
This book contains lots of tips, notes and colored images which are
ISBN 13: 9780596522964 very helpful to understand topic in-depth. It’s a good Photoshop CS4
reference book with the detail and step by step introduction about every
Website: http://oreilly.com/catalog/ feature of Photoshop CS4.
9780596522964/
Missing CD: http://missingmanuals.com/cds/ Conclusion:
photoshopcs4tmm/ This is a good introductory book, which helps us to take advantage of
new Photoshop CS4 features and powerful tools to speed up designing
and development. Information described here is details and step by
step with lots of tips and notes. This is a good book to start learning
Photoshop CS4 efficiently.

84 01/2009

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Ann-Christine Roope
85
 tips and tricks
Corona’s
Bottle
I am known for creating images that look like photographs. Upon
close inspection you will notice that these images really don’t
look like photographs because unlike a photograph, everything is
in focus. My intention is to have the viewer feel like they are looking
at the actual place depicted in the painting. Wherever their eye
travels, the image will come into focus.
Figure 1.
86
In this article I will discuss some of the shortcuts that I use to
take a lot of the grunt work out of creating things. The image that
we will be looking at is a tiny portion of an overall painting that I
am currently working on. The image in Figure 1 is part of a billboard
ad and measures two inches by seven inches within the overall
painting. The total canvas will measure sixty inches in height by
twenty five feet in length when finished. Yes, this is a big image but
then the subject matter requires size to get the kind of detail that I
like to get. The painting is an almost 180° view of New York’s Times
Square at night.
As with most of the elements in my paintings the basic
shapes are created in Adobe Illustrator. The flexibility of the
vector tools in Illustrator coupled with the low RAM requirement
makes it the ideal place to manipulate the paths until they are
perfect. The finished paths are imported into a Photoshop file as
paths (Figure 2).
Let’s take a look at how you can create this bottle. Create a
layer to contain the basic bottle shape. Using the Pen tool, create the
Figure 2.
01/2009

Figure 3.
shape that you want your bottle to have. Selecting the path for the
outer shape of the bottle, fill it with a yellow color.
Now you will add an amber color to the edges of the liquid
to make it look three-dimensional. Go into the Layer Style for
the layer with the yellow bottle shape by double-clicking on the
layer in the Layers panel. Choose Inner Glow. You want an even
tone along the entire shape and Inner Glow is the only Layer
Style that will produce this effect. Being a glow, the default
Mode setting is Screen. You need the tones to be darker than
the yellow of the bottle so reset the Mode to Multiply. Then
choose a deep orange for the color. The result is what you see
in Figure 3.
Figure 4.
01/2009
corona’s bottle
Figure 5.
You want a darker value to appear along the edge of the bottle.
The Layer Style only applies a single color. You need to reapply
the effect with a second, dark brown color. To do this you need to
separate the orange Inner Glow Layer Style from the layer. Go to
Layer>Layer Style>Create Layers. This separates the elements that
make up the Layer Styles into separate layers that are no longer
attached to the original layer that they were created in.
With the yellow bottle back to its original state, apply a new
Layer Style that is smaller in size and darker in color. The result can
be seen in Figure 4.
Using soft-edged Paintbrushes and a dark brown color, add soft
reflections along the center of the bottle. These should be created in
Figure 6.
87
 tips and tricks
Figure 7.
their own layer so that you can play with things like Opacity to get
them to behave exactly as you want.
Using a light tone, add highlights to the bottle. You need to also
add a small dark line that runs perpendicular to the bottleneck. This
will serve as the top of the liquid. Each of these elements is created
in their own layers.
Create a new layer above all the others and turn off the
Background layer. The Background contains nothing but a white
canvas. Make sure the new blank layer is selected as the active
layer. Pressing the Option (Alt) key, choose Merge Visible from the
Layers Panel drop down menu. Pressing the Option key allows all the
layers to be merged into the new layer while retaining all the original
layers in place.
Desaturate this new layer to grays. Apply a Layer Mask to hide
the gray bottle from the top of the liquid down, thus exposing the
color layers beneath, making it appear as if the top of the bottle is
clear glass.
The small drops of water (Figure 8) are also a simple set of
Layer Styles applied to a layer. In a layer, create many circles in
Figure 8.
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Figure 9.
different sizes using the Paintbrush tool. The color that you use does
not matter because only the Layer Style will be visible and not the
actual dots created.
In the Layer Style for the layer containing the drops of water,
the first thing to do is to eliminate the color. In the Blending Options
section (Figure 9) the Fill Opacity is lowered to zero. This makes the
actual pixels created in the layer invisible. Since the overall Opacity
for the layer remains at 100%, any pixels generated to show the
styles being applied will be completed visible.
Next it is necessary to make the drops look like drops. A
Layer Style of Drop Shadow is applied. The Opacity is lowered
so that the shadow is a slight tone as created by water that is
transparent yet with volume. Next come the tonal values that
would give the drops shape and substance. Bevel and Emboss
is applied. The Depth is increased slightly to give the effect more
saturation. The highlights are fine but the shadow area needs
to be changed. What happens when looking at water is that the
edges of the drops tend to saturate the underlying colors of
the surface the drops are on. These edges are currently dark
because they are set as shadows. The default color is Black and
should be changed to white. Black will not saturate but white will.
Change the Mode for the Shadow to Color Dodge. This gives the
desired effect to the drops.
Finally, using the Smudge tool, some of the drops can be
smudged to make them appear to be dripping down the sides of the
bottle.
These steps might seem like a lot of work but when you go
through them you will realize that you will eliminate hours of
additional work to get a very realistic effect.
by Bert Monroy
Figure 10.
01/2009
 interview with...
Interview with
Bert Monroy
When you first started using Photoshop, did you think it was
going to be as pervasive as it has become?
At the time I thought it was on its way to become the best
imaging application on the market. It had tools that were far superior
to the ones found in the popular programs of the time which were
PixelPaint and Studio 32. Photoshop was still in its infancy stage but
the potential was there. Once Adobe bought it I felt its future was
secured.
90
Bert Monroy was born and raised in New York City
where he spent 20 years in the advertising industry
as an art director and creative director for various
agencies as well as his own. Upon discovering
computers with the introduction of the Macintosh
128 in 1984, he embarked on a new digital career.
He embraced the computer as an artistic medium
and is considered one of the pioneers of digital
art.
Of your photo-realist paintings, you say, it is not the destination
that is important – it is the journey. What are some of the
particular obstacles you encounter while creating these
paintings that you find particularly challenging and rewarding?
Each painting has a new set of problems that come up that
pose the challenge that I look for in my work. One of the most
challenging has always been how to make the light as bright as
it is in real life. In the painting Lunch in Tiburon, for example, I
01/2009
 interview with bert monroy
wanted people to feel like they needed to put sunglasses on when
viewing it. The scene was an outdoor restaurant and the sun was
very bright.
Things such as textures and materials and how they react to
lights and shadows have always been a fun challenge.
01/2009
Tell us about your Revision3 show, PixelPerfect. How did you
become involved with Revision3?
I believe it was in 2001 that I was invited to be a guest on The
Screen Savers TV show on the TechTV network. My appearance
got a lot of response from the audience so they asked me to
return the following month. My second guest spot got so much
attention that I became a monthly regular with some months
having me appear twice. I even got a yearend special, full hour
show.
This went on for almost four years. They wanted to give me my
own show but the network was sold to G4 thus ending the tech focus
and tech related shows. TechTV was gone.
Many of the former TechTV people formed an internet television
station and called it Revision3. They offered me a show and that is
where Pixel Perfect came from.
How do you like video podcasts, in terms of how you connect
with an audience, or a community of artists? Do you get lots of
audience feedback?
I love doing the podcasts. It is a way for me to teach people that
don’t really have access to training any other way. First and
foremost is the fact that it is free. I got an email from a young
man in a tiny village in Africa thanking me for teaching him
Photoshop. I was thrilled that Pixel Perfect was reaching such a
remote area.
I get emails from all over the world from fans. It is very
gratifying to know that I have inspired so many in so many places to
pursue their creative interests.
91
 interview with...

How is the work of making video podcasts similar, or different

to your television work, such as your contribution to The
Screensavers on TechTV?
The main difference is that the podcasts is taped. I can make mistakes
and we reshoot. Though, in the 112 episodes that we have shot I am
proud to say we have only had to reshoot three. One was their mistake.
The Screen Savers was live. I had a strict time limit and no room for
error. There were three shows where there were technical problems but
between Leo and I, we were able to skirt around them and come out fine.
I have been doing public speaking for over 20 years and have
become very accustomed to working around difficult situations on
the fly. Humor is the key to keeping peoples attention. Even the guy
on TV makes mistakes! It makes them feel more comfortable when
they make one.

What are your thoughts on today’s generation of digital

artists? What have you noticed about artists who grew up
with programs like photoshop, as compared to those who were
already established artists when the software was released?
Watching the next generation of digital artist develop has been a
wonderful experience! They have grown up with digital. They played
video games when they were toddlers. They face the new medium
with open and hungry eyes.
The constant bombardment from all sides of the current media
has given them all types of inspiration. I get many samples from
people who want me to critique their work. Some of it is so impressive
that I become very optimistic about the future of digital as an art form.
As for the artist that were well established with traditional media, as
time goes by, the medium becomes more and more transparent. I was
trained to hold a paintbrush in a certain way. When I went digital back
in 1984, I had to retrain myself to hold this mouse thing that was doing
something out of my field of view. Today, thanks to the Wacom Cintiq, I
hold my stylus in the exact way I used to hold a brush and have gone back
to watching my hand as it glides over the surface of the digital canvas.

92 01/2009
 interview with bert monroy

For those traditionally trained artist, digital is just a new

medium like oils are to a watercolor artist. The big difference is the
lack of clean up time.

Have you found your commercial projects, and your time in the
advertising world, rewarding?
They certainly are rewarding when I get paid for them. They also present
a different set of challenges in that I must work through someone else’s
eyes. It is their vision that I must make tangible. Deadlines also present
a challenge. They help me to learn new and faster ways of doing things.

In addition to your writing and television work, you deliver

seminars and have taught at several Universities. What is
the key to teaching and talking about software, clearly, to an
audience?
I was born with a gift. That gift is the ability to teach. I do it by
engaging the audience. I never practice a seminar. It comes
completely from the heart. Granted, it helps that I know what I am
talking about. I do it in a way that is conversational. I throw in a lot
of humor. These make the audience feel like we are all hanging out
having a good time rather than sitting in a seminar.
I love what I am talking about and get very excited about it.
That excitement is picked up by the audience and that keeps them
engaged. I also make sure that even if the subject is very technical, I
keep it plain and simple and use examples that are awe inspiring.
What are some projects that you have coming up?
The project I am currently concentrating on is, what I believe, the
most ambitous project I have ever tackled. The new crop of 64 inch,
wide printers has given me the inspiration to create the biggest piece
of my life. My wife has always wanted me to do Times Square in New
York City. New York City is where I was born. I have always wanted to
do Times Square but never saw the painting that would capture the
true feeling of Times Square.
With 64 inches and the length of a roll I felt that this was the
way to really capture Times Square – Huge! The Painting measures
60 inches by 25 feet. Yes, it is a massive file. I have been working
on it for about a year and foresee at least another year before it is
complete. It is an almost 180 degree view of Times Square at night.
Unlike all the other work I have done, this painting has been
introduced to the public prior to being complete. A few of my latest
podcasts cover the early production of it. I have done this for various
reasons. One is to stir up public excitement. Another is to force me to
finish it. It is a long time to spend on one project. It is easy to go astray.
It has been very challenging along the way and extremely
exciting as each piece falls into place. Basically it is one big painting
of lights. I am having a ball with it!
by Roshan Abraham

01/2009 93
 interview with...

Interview with
David Gensler
To celebrate Rochambeau's second collection, The
KDU created a one of a kind 19" x 22" hand made
book. The book serves as a temporary artifact
showcasing the brands most recent collection
– then will self destruct through an accelerated
moxidation. The fine papers, leathers and silk
used in the construction will soon be overcome by
thegold, silver, bronze, copper and iron hand painted
and embedded on each page.

TRUST THE KDU

The Keystone Design Union

Why don’t you give me the mission statement for KDU It’s sort of like a corporate model for community building?
Well in short, there’s kind of the short way and the long way. I We wanted a private, talent pool. We wanted a private collective if
left with a couple partners from various corporate positions about you will that was almost a cooperative of people that were trying
six years ago and, just had made the decision to. We used to be out to help each other build their brands, build their careers. Sharing
of school we used to be very independent, at our own independent their strengths with others in exchange for other people’s expertise.
agencies and brands and firms, but for one reason or another. My Someone might be a great illustrator but is terrible with websites.
particular reason was that I sold my company to a large public There would be barters, barter deals that were struck, help people.
company. We became corporate, and then we decided we wanted to We would help people a lot with their business planning with their,
become independent again, and just do things our own way and you a lot of times they’d help out a lot of members, a lot of members
know, go where our ambitions kind of take us. We thought boy we’re they’re very um some of them were incredibly talented but just out
really going to miss this sort of depth-of-resources that we have of school or maybe even bypassed school and went straight into
in this large corporate environment. So you know it’s kind of large the professional world. I helped a lot of them out with their taxes
tradeoff; you can either get your paychecks on time and be able to and um set up an LLC or a sole proprietorship. Just the little things
pick the phone up and have contacts all over the world or you can and we built it up. So I mean it’s like a little, it’s a private, it’s a private
be independent and come in late to work and worry about your bills network pretty much that, when you say network people think
all the time. So what we did was, figure out what in an ideal world Facebook or MySpace or something like that.
would be a perfect environment of us to be independent and have all
of the resources that you have in a large corporate system. So, we
structured the KDU. And it was myself and two other partners and
now I have other partners but those two partners have been bought
out. I’m the only remaining founder. We went from three people to
probably twenty people. Sharing resources, you would do something
better than I would do it. I would do something better than you
would do it and we would sort of barter. Then it would grow, jump
up double the size and it would be fifty people and then a hundred
people then we would get kind of nervous that it was getting too big,
hold it back for a while. Going through some growing pains, of not
tending to the member’s needs. In sort of any private community
and any community everyone has to play their role, people can’t
feel left out so you know in the beginning there was a lot of growing
pains. But now there’s probably, just over 700 people. And I want
to say probably just over fifty countries. Fifty two three countries
worldwide. And it’s going on our sixth year. It was just aw ay of you
know I guess how could we convey our reach, how could we expand
what it is we do, finding people that we consider sort of best in their
class um in any particular industry that we happen to be, or industry
that we happen to be. That’s what the goal was and that’s what it is
still is. It changes a little bit because we learn as we go. The properly
scale up, you know a few times. Sort of scale back a little bit.

94 01/2009
 interview with david gensler
But it’s more closed
Yeah, very closed.
A giant elite club.
Not a club. By no means. It has none of the sort of functions of the
club. I mean this is sort of, a catalyst, to get what you’re doing to
move a little bit faster. It’s just something that helps you achieve
your goals quicker. You know it does have the aspect of a community
where if you take people I’m not going to apologize for saying that
we’re very particular about who we let into the KDU. We want only
the best, or a very unique geographic location, in a market that we
want to penetrate. A person who either has enormous talent in what
01/2009
they’re doing. There’s a few artists that are very well established.
That’ kind of the…a marquee in that particularly industry. And they
have to come in and they have to interact with younger people and
very different kinds of people all over the world and we produce
things to help promote each other and we interact on client projects
and people’s personal projects, personal brands that we own and
image. So, it’s just that, it’s a community, it’s a network, but it’s
what we chose to do with it that I think makes it unique. Our goal
isn’t to be social. Our goal is to progress our business to achieve
our business goals it’s not to have some kind of social standing. So
that’s what it is. That’s how it functions.
With so many members, how do you communicate with each
other?
A lot of the members get to know each other I mean a lot of them,
what I found over the years many of them will [connect] through
their disciplines, like a lot of the illustrators will be friends with
the illustrators, a lot of the photographers will be friends with the
photographers, people that happen to be in a particular geographic
location. I know that all of our Australian members are pretty close
friends with each other. Which is good. And then there’s, just like
anything else, there’s some people that congregate together for
their music or whatever they went to school for or something like
that. Actually this Saturday or Sunday we’ll launching a public
facing websites that will allow each other of the members to have
a small profile and be able to just blog to promote themselves.
Because most of them come to me and say ‘you know I’m in
Norway I want to collaborate with someone in fashion who is
potentially close to me, so I might put them with somebody in
Amsterdam or London or Iceland or something like that. Just
to try and keep it logistically kind of smooth. And then there’s
95
 interview with...
collaborations all over the world. But you know that’s the power of
the internet, you know everyone’s a Skype call or an e-mail away.
Could you talk about The Royal magazine
That’s a really old project, that project hasn’t been active in quite a
long time, I mean the new magazine that we do is called Solstice.
That’s something you’ve moved on from
We started Solstice, which is pretty much the same thing
Just different name and strategy
Pretty much the same strategy, it’s just we’re really really focused
on, I mean at some point the Royal was up to over 50,000
circulation, and the Solstice doesn’t go above 5,000. And the focus
is on very private media. We know exactly where it’s going; it goes
to other members, it goes to key people on the press and that’s it.
Everyone else that wants to view it can view it online.
It’s an almost B2B model
Yeah, pretty much, I mean it’s sort of designed by the global design
community for the global design community. It’s not really you know
just for some person kind of in Barnes and Noble to stumble upon it.
It’s very focused.
If there are other publications like this, how is yours different
I don’t know that there are. I mean I know couple of them and I know
um, I know a couple architecture firms that put stuff out. I mean
ours is just different. It’s just, doesn’t have to be subjective, it’s just
that we do it. It’s different in that we do it. It’s different in that we
print it on fine art paper. And really push the paper stocks a lot. Do a
lot of embossings. You know on the cover and it’s just private media
it’s just like here’s what we’re doing in the last six months. We do it
twice a year we put it out at fashion trade shows. It’s an aesthetic
gathering. We ask peopledo you want to produce an original piece of
art for this that hasn’t been seen any place else, hasn’t been used
any place else? And then you gather it all together which is the best
96
people that we can find only within the KDU and then put it out. It’s
just like a little high end piece of media that’s just telling people
what’s going on in the KDU.
How long does it take to produce one issue
It only takes about two weeks. We put the call out to people and they
like it, it’s a high quality printed book that actually gets produced
and we’re handing it to people that could potentially hire them
and require their services, so it does sort of function as a self-
promotional piece for them and their whole group. We’re very active
in making sure that the right people get those issue but, it probably
takes about two weeks. I mean people if I told you know, two weeks
and we’re going to print this great book, and take it over to Spain or
Berlin, take some down to Korea with us or something, you know
people jump to that.
How has this market been for designers, and the KDU?
It’s as bad as I’ve ever seen it. It’s shockingly slow. Knock on wood,
we have some good loyal clients and new clients. There’s people that
in general have always been interested but in working with us and
you know which is fantastic but everybody’s freaking bad right now.
We worked on Urb, Urb magazine for the last year. We worked with
them all the way through 2008, and the magazine business is pretty
much just over. At this point the only people that are really doing
well are really focused B2B publications and then some of your high
fashion, which even there has been taking a pounding.
Are there any strategies you can think of for the long-term?
If you look at the magazine business, I think that some models like
Monocle are doing well, and V continues to do well because it’s a
really super high quality publication. It’s a lot of time spent on the
photoshoots and you know really making sure that the information
that is in these books is unique, and you can’t just do a google
search and look at the same stuff in one place. It boils down to
survival of the fittest; the best magazines are going to win, and
the rest of them are going to go away. Print media now needs to be
01/2009
 interview with...
extremely exclusive and very remarkable. And if it’s not then it’s just
going to be replaced by a blog, sadly, because I like magazines. But,
that’s just the truth of it. Monocle’s a good magazine. It’s different,
very uniquely positioned I think. They have diversity, they’re
utilizing other forms of media, they have a good website. They
have this radio presence. Interviews, all kinds of stuff. Tyler seems
to know what he’s doing, coming from wallpaper but …look at even
major publications like the New York Times, it’s just barely figuring
out a way to make enough money to stay afloat. It’s an old model
that takes a long time to sort of become new. The other magazines
are, they’re just, you’re going to see that the print magazine is
just one part of it. They’re going to do everything they can to
make them super-unique, keep being competitive with everybody.
Taking advantage of the web as slowly as they can. In terms of
just business, I think the same thing applies. In short I think that
the better animal wins. The better quality wins. Like for SVSV we’re
doing fine, knock on wood, again, we’re weathering the storm
because we’re not producing junk. We’re producing stuff where
every single stitch on it is considered. Every single fabric every liner.
The interfacing in-between fabrics is considered more than most
people’s entire garments. We have a very loyal customer base that
follows the brand and appreciates it. And, you know, we’re small and
nimble. We don’t really feel it that much as I can imagine being in a
place like Nike. You know, whole divisions are affected.
How do you feel like you’re using your online presence?
My own personal opinion is, I can’t stand online media. When it’s
only online. I think if it’s a supplement or part of a larger offering it
makes sense, but I know of a couple people that are making a few
bucks with online dedicated media and, sure. One of the only times
in my life I can very honestly say, that I would tell you at this point,
it’s going to be speculative. Because I’ve been in the industry for
fifteen years, and I’ve never seen anything like what’s happening
out the window right now. In the market. I’ve never seen anything
like this. You know, I’m sure there’s guys with more experience, go
back to you know the early 80s, late 70’s in better insight but for
me in my lifetime, I’ve never seen anything like this. I would say
the best strategy is: pray a lot. No, I mean, I think being lean. I think
that really really really understanding how to manage your business
intelligently, and wise as possible. I think that’ s smart bet. There’s a
lot of people that just that dotcom 2.0 boom, right off the bat, a lot of
people jumped out. Started running, brands that have very little solid
business structure behind them, and I think that a lot of them are
about to go away in the next eighteen months. I mean in the last five
years I think everybody I know started a clothing brand.
Are there any emerging trends you feel good about?
I think that one thing that’s very clear is street culture has
completely vanished. It is just utterly, completely, I’ve never
seen something come and go so quickly and then vanish so fast.
I think that it was, it happened too quickly, it was just the Gen Y
generation coming of age, and graduating high school, going to
college, you know graduating college, and was just fueled by this
huge entrepreneurial spirit, and that just really got people thinking
that they can go out and just completely run businesses and ‘ why
shouldn’t I do that? Everyone else starts these online, become
online millionaires. I’m smart, let me throw my hat in there, I’m
going to be a part of it’, and I literally know hundreds of people
around the world that decided to start a magazine or to start a retail
store. Or start t-shirts slash clothing brands. Or start a record label
…with no experience. Most of the people are either fresh out of high
school or dropping out of college and I think that trend is very, it’s
not discussed very often how entrepreneurialism came back to bite
everybody, because the level of argument wasn’t there to match the
entrepreneurial spirit. So, you have a bunch of laymen, so to speak,
running businesses where creatively it looked from the outside like
an amazing brand but internally it was just a mess. I think that’s
really taking a toll on street wear. I think that design culture globally
is doing well because people are going to, if you define design
culture as very considered objects and services, you know very
carefully considered, it doesn’t have to be luxury, it doesn’t have to
98
be better than the stuff that you would find in your local department
store, people in tough economies want high value, they want a lot
for their money, so other than that I don’t know. Move to France?
I’m trying to end on an optimistic note…
Well don’t have ‘move to France’. Except if I move to France, and I
guess that’ll be good. I think the Obama thing is kind of cool, we
were just down for the inauguration, Shepard Fairey invited us
down to see Manifest Hope. So, we went down and participated
in that, and it was cool I mean it was done, it’s interesting how
this country especially, when something terrible happens either
quickly or prolonged over a long period of time like this recession.
People come together in an amazing force. And now you take a
look at it, it was amazing to see all of these big named artists. And
people from Denver driving their paintings across the country to
attend this inauguration. Hopefully all of that entrepreneurial spirit
that gave birth to street culture, have now in the last five years,
maybe we all will become more civilly engaged. I think, maybe end
on this, like: I think that it’s a designer’s responsibility to do more
than design stuff that’s bought and sold, if you look at all the mid
century and earlier. All the great architects and some of the first
industrial designers, like Buckminster fuller, I mean lot of people
were attempting to design the whole world. They didn’t watch
the world form the sidelines, and just you know I’m going to be
green buy how I consume things, I’ll buy a hybrid car, and I’ll save
the world like that, maybe people will start to actually you know
constantly have that kind of green slash humanity effort present
in everything that they do in the creative process. I don’t know,
maybe Obama, here domestically will kind of inspire people to you
know be bold again. Instead of trying to get some press.
Why don’t you give me an overview of what you’re working on?
I made what I thought was a good decision to move one block away
from the office. It’s just that it means that I, I end up, um, working
way more than I think is healthy. We just put out a, the primary
thing is that we’re getting ready to finally launch after five years
a very organized and proper website, a KDU consulting website,
which is kind of long overdue. We are launching the network site
at the same time to give all the people a voice and a presence. We
are launching a whole bunch of our SVSV, our designer label, we’re
launching like five or six different collections back to back, starting
in about two weeks. And then, a store brand called Rochambeau,
which is some of our friends’ brand.. We’re hand building these large
books, these large physical books with them. Hand constructed, and
we’re working on that, we just did a new logo for Jay-Z. We just did a
huge, huge project for Adidas and Reebok, helping them pick trends
and design for them to use in all their divisions in 2010 and 11, we
have a huge collaboration with KTU snowboards. That’s coming out
in 2010, be ready this summer. So, that’s our focus right now. That’s
what I’ve got to get done this week.
It looks great.
Yeah it’s all done with active metal paints, so the gold is real gold
paint, so there’s a 22K, 24K, 18K, um, different color and there’s a
platinum paint, an iron paint, copper bronze and, we printed these
things out like, big like 17 by 20 and they trimmed it down, and we
used leather and twine, so it’s kind of fun. On the computer to like
just build a big book.
They look very hands-on. Were they collaborative?
There are three different photographers that worked on it. Myself
and my partner kind of created the thing, my fiancé ended up doing
all the gold-leafing on all of the pages, and we, one of our printing
companies, one of our partners is a large printer, printing it, then
there were stylists, there’s probably a total of twelve to fifteen people
that ended up contributing to that book. It was fun. A fun process.
Thank you for your time,
Wish you all the best,
by Roshan Abraham
01/2009