Laurensius Adi - Design and Lettering

The typeface you use shows who you are. Whether it's a website, app, prints, branding, etc. Many of us trying to find a font by seeing what others are using. Let's take Instagram website as a sample, they use Proxima Nova as their primary font.


Ah, that looks nice, let me use exactly like that one. When you decided to take a look at the price tag, it's a bit pricey — according to a junior designer like me, living in a third world country. The price of 144 fonts: $734.00 on desktop only, or if you buy only one font of the family, $29.00. You're not gonna buy only one font right? At least 3-5 fonts, so that will costs you around $100. Or $1,101.00 for 144 fonts for a website, or $7,707.00 for 144 fonts on an app. You won't really pay for 144 fonts, but you get the idea.

"It's just a font, how is it different from Arial, or Comic Sans (meh) that we got free installed?"

Designers spent a lot of time designing typefaces, it could be a year or several years. Sure he deserves a good pay for all the bills and time spent. I'm a typeface designer myself too and I know how tricky it is to make a good font.

"I still really need that font, and I don't think I should pay that much."

Some of us decide to pirate those fonts, try to free download those 'paid' fonts. Not a good move. First, you don't respect the designer, and we can't live without money.

Luckily there are many ways to get free fonts. For web-fonts use Google Fonts which is awesome, and there are a lot of websites like fontsquirrel.com that provides free fonts for real - not 'paid' made free.

Free doesn't mean it's not as good as the 'paid' ones. They got a lot of awesome hidden gems if you could find them! Just to name a few:

• Open Sans ( Google Fonts | Download )
• Source Sans Pro ( Google Fonts | Download ) and Source Serif Pro ( Google Fonts | Download )
• Droid Sans ( Google Fonts | Download ) and Droid Serif ( Google Fonts | Download )
• PT Sans ( Google Fonts | Download ) and PT Serif ( Google Fonts | Download )
• Roboto ( Google Fonts | Download )
• Fira Sans ( Google Fonts | Download )
• Playfair Display ( Google Fonts | Download )
• Lato ( Google Fonts | Download )
• Montserrat ( Google Fonts | Download )
• Work Sans ( Google Fonts | Download )

Quick tip: Use a font with four styles: Regular, Italic, Bold, and Bold Italic, but even a style will do according to how you use it. So good luck finding what you think suits best you needs and respect to typeface designers!

It's been a while since I made 'serious' piece of art. So I decided to make a blog post for the whole process. This one is a bit longer than my usual process, so you can clearly see everything.

Tools used:

• A5 Paper
• Pencil 2B
• Eraser
• Microns Sakura (0.05, 0.1, 0.3, 0.8, Brush)

Step 1

Every piece starts with a random quote I found on the internet, or a quote I relate with at the moment.
I write them down, start making a thumbnail, and see what shape will it take.

Step 2

Make grids, decide spacing, kerning, and font type (sans, serif, script etc.) or just make everything sans, then decide later.

Step 3

Iterate and corrections. I change a few elements here. Seeing what fits what doesn't. It took a bit experience to determine which style to use. And just refine everything, work on the details.

Final Step

Inking and you're done!

I'll show you how to make Simple Gold Texture. Easy to follow step by step with pictures. Time required : 15 minutes. Difficulty : Easy. Program used in tutorial : Adobe Photoshop CS6.

What you'll be making in the tutorial :



Here's the piece I made recently on Instagram.

Vectorized version from last post. I'd love to screen print this one. Would be great isn't it?

A photo posted by Laurensius Adi (@laurensiusadi_) on Feb 6, 2015 at 9:44am PST

Step 1 : Prepare Your Lettering

Make sure you make the lettering on different layer, name it 'Text' and the other one 'Background'

Step 2 : Add Gradient

Fill layer 'Background' with dark color, navy, maroon, grey or black. I'm using #1c1918.

Open Layer Style by double-click layer 'Text' or right-click then Blending Options. Then choose Gradient Overlay. Set Angle to 145.


Click the Gradient color bar (default black and white) to open Gradient Editor dialog.



Click the bottom color stop, and then click Color at the very bottom of the dialog to change the color. First color : #e0b06d Second color : #865e31. Then click OK. If gradient is reversed, check Reverse. Then click OK to close Layer Style dialog.

Step 3 : Add Noise

First, you have to rasterize layer by right-click on layer 'Text' - Rasterize Layer Style. Then the Effects will disappear and blend with the layer and layer 'Text' is still active.

Go to menu Filter - Noise - Add Noise.
Set Amount: 15%, Distribution : Uniform, and check Monochromatic.


Hit OK and you're done! Simple isn't it?

You can add further effect like Bevel & Emboss (Style: Outer bevel, Technique: Chisel Soft) and add some textures on background like this.



If you have any questions, just leave a comment below.
If you have followed my tutorial, I really want to see the result, so post it on your Instagram and mention me @laurensiusadi_ with #texturetutorial.

Share if you find this helpful!
Thanks!

Perhaps, it's the most popular design crowd-source platform with over 300k contests and around 90 million dollar payouts to date. But why? Haters gonna hate? Yes.



I'm an amateur designer, a self-taught designer. I learned by seeing, entering courses, read books, and spend most of my time exploring. It was all started at high school. I wanted money so bad that made me search all over the internet to find how to make money. And I found 99designs.

At the time I just started to know about graphic design. Because I attend my school's extracurricular. 'Why don't just give it a shot?' I tried once and it doesn't seems alright. My design was poor, and luckily I noticed. There are many people out there do not. So I learned a lot, everywhere, Behance, Pinterest and other inspiration website. Until the eleventh trial at 99designs, I won a contest and my last year on high school. It feels so great. The first time you 'make' your own money

Graphic designer work seems so easy. Because I'm still lacking of knowledge. And then it starts to grow when I find out more about design world later on my first year of college. After winning over a thousand dollars, I quit. Because they said professionals will pay higher than 99designs contest holder. But what it takes to be professional?

You have to qualify. I believed there are self-taught professional designers out there, without formal education at design. So here's how to be qualified according to my experience.
Learn the basics, sketches first then software skills and build a portfolio. I found out Instagram is a good way to show what you got. Make them look good, and have a conversation with the community. Following people with good design taste will also help. The final step is hard, find your own unique style.

What's the deal with 99designs? Many of them - I can say about 80 percents - of the designers are poor, I mean real bad. They don't have what it takes to be a good designer, they don't know what they made. Luckily the contest holder knows what best, but some still don't. The other 20 percents is either platinum designer or they know what they're doing.

It's a place for early stage designers. 99designs helped them to start their own career. They have some of them that more than qualified - name it talented. The stage after it is the professional one I believe. I haven't reach somewhere near professional either. I got several client request some design work, but I only get paid less than fifty bucks for a small job. Professional design agency get paid more than $100 per hour, or maybe way more than that.

99designs have their own way do differentiate the talented one with the rest. They make the title platinum designer and posting the top designers list. So you'll know who's in the game.

Why you should stop? It's a waste of time for some of you. Your time has more value than it looks. You can't replace time with money, you can't buy time. But you can make money with time. The present is assets for your future. If what you're doing in the whole month makes you a millionaire next month, then it's your value.

You can start learn more, read books, take courses and learn more and more. Make your day more productive. It doesn't mean making something everyday, learning is a precious progress, enjoy it. Start a Behance portfolio is also good. Just wait until someone hire you, or make them hire you! Make a good personal branding and internet marketing will do the rest.

Anyway, it's quite a lot of money going to someone everyday. It's a decision over arrogance. You can still try if you think you got what it takes.

Worth reading : Get Over It, Haters: 99designs Has Tipped , How I Quit Working for 99Designs, Crowdspring and Mycroburst

Goodbye Radiant Orchid, and maybe you already forgot about the Emerald. Welcome Marsala, Pantone Color of The Year 2015.



"While PANTONE 18-3224 Radiant Orchid, the captivating 2014 color of the year, encouraged creativity and innovation, Marsala enriches our mind, body and soul, exuding confidence and stability," said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®.

Color information for Marsala :

• Pantone: 18-1438
• CMYK: 25, 77, 64, 11
• RGB: 150, 79, 76
• HTML: 955251

 "Much like the fortified wine that gives Marsala its name, this tasteful hue embodies the satisfying richness of a fulfilling meal while its grounding red-brown roots emanate a sophisticated, natural earthiness," Pantone announced this week.

It’s here! The @WSJ announces the Pantone Color of the Year for 2015 is #Marsala #ColoroftheYear

A photo posted by PANTONE (@pantone) on Dec 12, 2014 at 9:39pm PST

This hearty, yet stylish tone is universally appealing and translates easily to fashion, beauty, industrial design, home furnishings and interiors.

Leatrice Eiseman. Executive Director, Pantone Color Institute^®



This year's shade appeals to men and women, and is flattering on many skin tones, "a great go-to color for beauty," Pantone said. Within a few weeks of the announcement, the color typically begins to pop up on products from evening gowns to coffee makers.

A rich contrasting color, Marsala is ideal for use in graphic design and packaging. Eye-catching, but not overwhelming or bright, consumers are immediately drawn to the hue, making it an alluring shade at point-of-purchase. As packaging becomes increasingly more artistic, Marsala will be a natural fit for both high- and low-tech materials, including on-shelf periodicals as well as printed assets, like calendars and stationery.


Source : Pantone, CNN, USA Today

Been a while since I posted something on my blog. I've been exploring many things, distracted by the ordinary daily life. Sometimes, it just have to flew that way. And sometimes, it just hard to keep yourself creative, live it the extra-ordinary way. You may feel empty, just a blank page without knowing your own life. At that time, realize how blessed you are.

This is my latest Instagram post. You can use it as daily reminder, on your desktop, or other gadgets. Available for download as wallpaper. Download 1920x1080

This 7 steps tutorial will helps you make hand lettering placed on top of pictures. Easy to follow step by step with pictures. Time required : 20-60 minutes. Yeah that's a long process!

What you'll be making :





I've been exploring hand-lettering further lately. Shot a picture, and give touches on it, colors, and effects on it. So I posted it on my Instagram.




So I'll give you the way to achieve those kind of style. Results may differ through the process.
You can check my previous post for some texture resource. Please note this tutorial is not for absolute beginner on Photoshop, at least you know the interface, tools and menus. The version I'm using is Photoshop CS6 and running on Windows.

Step 1 : Prepare your lettering

After you finished your hand lettering, you can scan or just take an image using camera and edit it on Photoshop. Don't worry if your letters not perfect or imbalance, we will take care of it. The goal of this step is to get the shape of the letters. That's a one quick lettering.


You can take a picture of your letters, or even better scan your work in black and white mode. The picture above is taken using my smartphone Xperia ZR.

Step 2  :  Getting Pictures ready on Photoshop

Open your Photoshop, File - New, then set Width: 612px Height: 612px Resolution: 300dpi (or up to you). Then drag your photo or scanned file to the work space, position it on center and press Enter.


On the Layers panel, right-click the active layer - Rasterize Layer.

Step 3  :  Black and White

If you're using scanner you still have to do this to make the image better but it's easier since the paper is plain white instead of shades of grey like on the photo.

Go to Image - Adjustments - Levels (Ctrl+L). Now using the black and the white slider, try to make the black just plain black, and whites just plain white. You should experimenting on this.

Step 4  :  Selecting

Go to Select - Color Range. And choose highlights as selection option.


Then white area will be active as selection. Press Shift+Ctrl+I (Select - Inverse). And the selection now active on the text.


Now go to Select - Refine Edge (Alt+Ctrl+R). This part is a bit tricky since there is no defined way to make this just right. Lots of experiment I must say.

First, choose View Mode - View - Black and White. Or you can try other options.
Next just move the bars till you get the best result. I usually put it like this :
- Smooth : 2-5px. It will make the object bit smooth on pointed edge.
- Feather : < 5px. You can increase them and the contrast to make the object thicker.
- Contrast : < 40px. Increase them not too high, try too get rid of blurry edge, but don't make it look jagged or rough.
- Shift edge : 5-10 %. Increasing or decreasing the selection.

After you click OK button. It will turn back as Marching Ants active selection. Leave the selection active as it is.

Step 5  : New Object on New Layer

Make new layer by pressing Create New Layer button on bottom of Layers Panel. Or Shift+Ctrl+N for shortcut. Then click on the Layer 1 (just created) too make sure it's active (blue background panel). And Hide the layer contains previous picture by pressing eye icon on the layer.


Now you got Marching Ants selection with no color on the workspace. Press the Paint Bucket Tool icon on left tools panel (shortcut G) and fill the selection with color Black or White (can easily change later by pressing Ctrl+I while layer active, but I prefer Black first). Now you get a nice clean text object on a new layer with Selection still active for next step.

Step 6  : Applying Texture

With the selection still active. Make new layer Shift+Ctrl+N. Fill this selection on new layer with patterns (check my previous pattern post). So I'm using Pattern Stamp tool with big brush to fill all selection. After fill them, press Ctrl+I to Inverse Color.



Hold Ctrl then click Layer 2 (on the name) and still holding Ctrl click Layer 1, release Ctrl. Both Layer background will be blue means both active. Right click on one of them, Merge Layers.
Then change the Layer blending to Multiply.

Step 7  : Placing Pictures

You can get your free image online on unsplash[dot]com or pexels[dot]com, or maybe using your own. Drag you image file to the workspace. And place the image layer beneath the text.



If you want the text White, press Ctrl+I while layer active (it's gone!), you have to change the Blending Mode to Screen. (Remember! Black - Multiply, White - Screen)

You can add noise pattern. Many free on Internet, buy at creative market, Ian Banard's textures is one of the best and easy to apply. I got some mine HERE. Put it on top layer, Invert (Ctrl+I), then Blending Mode to Screen. Use Ctrl+L to adjust the size of the noise.

Also check out this free noise texture from Medialoot.

And you're done!



There you go. I tried my best, hope you doing well following my tutorial. Sorry if something's not clear or I'm doing it the wrong way. If you have any questions, just leave comment below.

There is an easier way : Put you image, make it black and white, invert (Ctrl+I), blending mode screen, put image, done. But without noise or texture.

It's not the picture that makes the lettering looks good, but practice does. This is just a way of presenting lettering.

If you have followed my tutorial, I really want to see the result, so post it on your Instagram and mention me on the comment @laurensiusadi_ with #texturetutorial.

Share if you find this helpful!


Thanks a lot guys!