Sickdesigner

Sometimes achieving a certain effect seems easy with a quick fix. But what separates the boys from the designers is the ability to see (in your mind) variations from the easy fix that change the mood and quality of the photo entirely. And this is what I’ll try to explain in this Justin Maller inspired tutorial.

Justin Maller is one of my personal design idols and a world renowned graphic design genius. Since his portfolio got a quick update this month, I found it fitting to pay my tribute to his amazing works by doing a tutorial to achieve the effect of his  “Overload” project.

Of all of Maller’s latest works, “Overload” impressed me the most because it’s, seemingly, a simple design. It doesn’t seem to have anything more than a few stock photos stitched together and a photo filter. But, if you look closely, you’ll notice the lowered contrast, the almost posterized feel of the photo (without actually having that horrific effect) and even the varied sharpness. All these things change the mood of the scene into a very serene, almost dreamy environment.

So, our project will involve one stock photo (free to download, as usual), courtesy of user tomatie of SXC, though you can certainly follow this tutorial using a photo of your own, there aren’t really any restrictions, photo wise.

So let’s get started by importing our stock photo. Usually, I would tweak the perspective to something more suitable for the project at hand, but this time I think the photo looks pretty well framed as is.

01

Using any number of sharpen techniques (I’d suggest a plain old Sharpen or a High Pass set on Vivid Light) let’s add some shine and focus to our photo.

02

Next, we’ll do the opposite. Copy the original photo into a layer on top and add a Blur to it. It can be any type of blur, this is your call. Just don’t over do it. What we’ll be doing with this is adding a bit of Depth of Field.

03

And then we’ll mask out everything but the girl and the sand under her in this new blurry layer, leaving her in focus and the background in a nice, camera-like blur. This effect brings the viewer’s eye to the subject that you choose to be in focus; in my case, the girl.

04

It’s usually good to have a color palette (like a painter has) but for this project it is absolutely crucial. Whether you decide to go with a palette similar to what Maller used in his “Overload” project (like I have) or go with one of your choosing, please, set aside a layer and just draw your colors there. It’s a very useful practice that will save you loads of headaches and will keep your work tight and consistent, at least as far as colors are concerned.

05

What the heck is that? – someone should ask. That is a new layer on top of everything we’ve done so far in which I suggest using a technique I like to call “going monkey”. It’s like “going ape”, but without any actual violence. Just pick up colors from your palette and randomly draw patches of color. It’s important that you keep your strokes loose and not very detailed; this will render a more natural, organic feeling to the colorization.

06

Now let’s blur the life out of it until it becomes very smooth.

07

Now let’s set this last layer to Multiply. I’ve used Multiply because it works on multiplying light values while keeping the hues intact, just as we drew them in step 5.

08

Things were looking a bit too dark after the Multiply so I added a Levels Adjustment above everything and tightened the histogram until it got a bit clearer. Be careful not to over do it, we want to keep the photo’s details, not over expose them.

09

As with any work that’s very dependent on mood, getting colors just the way you want them is very important. I’ve created another layer of colorization, this time just with red. Then we’ll mask this layer using a horizontal gradient from black to white.

10

Now here’s one thing no filter can achieve. Adding highlights in just the right places. I just used a hard white brush and drew over the places where the light creates shine.

11

Next, set this last white layer to Overlay, blur it a bit and then set it’s opacity to about 50%. The effect is subtle, yes, but it’s the subtle, little things that make the difference. Just because it’s hard to observe it doesn’t mean it’s not there or that it doesn’t do it’s job.

12

Here’s something you don’t see everyday: lowering the contrast. Just use a regular, old Brightness & Contrast effect and lower the Contrast about 70% – yes, that much. The effect we’re trying to achieve is of a serene environment, not a razor sharp, in-your-face type of photo.

13

Focus is a very fickle thing. It’s works globally and locally and depends very much on the project at hand.

We do, however, need to focus the viewer’s eyes better. This is a great opportunity to bring up a Levels adjustment again. This time, however, tighten the black until you get a very harsh, grainy look. Don’t worry, we won’t leave things as they are.

14

Now let’s fade this Levels layer to the right. This way we’re completely focused on the girl’s face and upper body and less on the background and legs.

15

Next I added a simple black layer to the left side of the photo and faded it to the right, focusing the viewer even more on the right side.

Wait a second! But this isn’t exactly like Justin Maller’s design! No, it’s not. And it shouldn’t be. This tutorial isn’t about replicating someone else’s work. It’s about learning to change the feeling that an image conveys.

Well, hopefully you’ve learned a thing or two about making an image all dreamy like. If not, hit that Home button and start over!

by Radu Chelariu