New product at ALLOURSTOCK.com:

Alright y'all, it's that time again. I'm going to create some cool graphics using a new product from the stock site: http://allourstock.com/product/product_id/439 (now I think THIS is my favorite so far, but I think that will probably change soon.)

1. First make a document that is 800x600. For these projects I like to do small stuff.

2. I'm going to drop the collage in as the background. But I don't just want to use it as a background this time, I think I'm going to go the route of type treatment.

3. I typed out some text -- "Typophile" that will be my theme for this project. You can use any font you like, I think I'm going to do some typographical experimentation and break it into two lines: "Typo-" and "phile" and make each line a different font. For the first line, I've chosen a great classic, Avenir. It's a well design sans-serif font with many weights and a very precise design. It's like a more modern helvetica with some actual character. (by the way, if you're interested, you can buy it here) My other font is a slight modification on the classic Bodoni: Bauer Bodoni. You can also check that one out at MyFonts.

4. Since the type is going to be the "figure" in this figure/ground relationship, I want to make it prominent. I'll do that by using the collage as a mask, vs. letting it fill the entire background.

5. Before that process I'll just clean up the font by kerning the letters and adjusting the leading to make it nice and neat and make sure none of the characters are running into each other.

6. After masking the background with the type outline, Voila! Instantly a great looking piece. For simplicity we could leave it as-is and it would still work well. But let's see if we can't touch it up a notch (or "BANG" ala Emeril.)

7. I want to maintain the clarity of this piece but I still want to add some flare to it. Firstly I think I'll add a radial burst for the background, the ramp gradation going from white to yellow.

8. Then I'll turn down the opacity a notch just to make it more subtle and keep the background from garnering all the attention.

9. I think now I'll duplicate the original background collage, and set it to soft light with 70% opacity to get a subtle texture going on.

10. This is purely optional, as we've got a nice looking graphic to use, but I want to keep the theme of typography going and add some little graphics to enhance that feel. I'm going to add some lines along the horizontal of each part of the type (baseline, x-height, descender and ascender.) I'll make these white and put them behind the type. Very subtle, but still a nice finishing touch.

And here's the final product:

Woohoo!

Now head on over to www.allourstock.com to check out more free stuff! (And email your results so we can showcase it!)