I'm not saying these are the best albums musically (even though they're all amazing), I'm just basing it on cover art alone.
It's very hard to separate the music from the art - especially for iconic albums and covers.
Let me know if l've missed anything!
#AlbumArt#GraphicDesign
Photoshop's Harmonize tool - masked subject, mismatched background, one click. Matches lighting and color, detects reflections, gives you three options to choose from.
This composite would have taken hours before this existed.
#Photoshop#Compositing#PhotoEditing#AdobePhotoshop
Photoshop Remove Background getting it wrong on complex images? Go to Photoshop > Settings > Image Processing and switch from Device to Cloud. Hold Shift and click the mask to compare. Big difference.
#Photoshop#PhotoEditing#graphicdesign#DesignTips
Illustrator eraser trick: hold Option or Alt while the Eraser is active and it switches to straight-edge precision mode. Clean cuts through type and shapes, no cleanup needed.
#Illustrator#DesignTips#VectorArt#GraphicDesign
Build custom smoke and debris brushes in Photoshop from any photo. Define preset - adjust spacing, Size and Angle Jitter, Scattering, Flow Jitter. Save after settings or you'll lose them. Paint on layers behind and above subject. Convert debris to Smart Object and add Motion Blur
Vector halftone on live text in Illustrator - all through the Appearance panel.
Radial Zoom blur - Rasterize - Pixelate Halftone - stack effects - save as Graphic Style. Expand and Image Trace to vectorize. Compound Path to unify the dots.
Text stays live the entire time.
Wave distortion in Photoshop - one filter, non-destructive, endless variations.
Smart Object - Filter - Distort - Wave - Square type, 2 generators. Hit Randomize for a new result every time. Paint back detail on the mask. Add content inside the Smart Object and it updates live.
This ASCII vector art trick is one of those techniques you'll keep coming back to.
Head to https://t.co/4mKU9dSiyk, drag in your image, adjust characters, brightness, contrast, and density, pick a gradient preset, then export as a text file. Open it, reduce the text size, export
Stranger Things double exposure in Photoshop - portrait silhouette, forest texture on Screen blend mode, Vecna composite, red color grade. All held together with layer masks and adjustment layers.
#Photoshop#DoubleExposure#PhotoManipulation#StrangerThings
Linear halftone skull in Photoshop - vectorizable in Illustrator when done.
Line tool + Transform repeat - Smart Object - Threshold adjustment - Gaussian blur on lines and subject - Warp with horizontal splits for distortion.
Threshold, blur, opacity, and rotation all adjustable.
This shape in Illustrator is trickier than it looks.
Polygon tool for the triangle guide - circles snapped to corners - Transform Each to scale overlaps - Shape Builder with Option click to remove strokes cleanly - Delete Anchor Point to trim curves - Join tool to connect points
Paper texture in Photoshop from a single crumpled paper photo.
Screen layer β highlights. Multiply layer β shadows. Clip Black & White and contrast adjustments to each.
Two layers, fully separate control over highlights and shadows.
#Photoshop#PaperTexture#graphicdesign
Vintage ribbon in Illustrator using 3D Classic + Map Art.
Line patterns saved as Symbols - squiggly path - Extrude and Bevel - Map Art to wrap patterns onto faces - Scale to Fit each face.
Tip: re-apply Scale to Fit if symbols shift after adjustments.
#Illustrator#graphicdesign
Turn any image into an 8-bit vector in Illustrator using Object Mosaic.
Rasterize at high res - Object Mosaic to tile it - adjust tile count - clean up with Select Same Fill Color. Fully editable vector result. Works on illustrations and photos.
#Illustrator#PixelArt#VectorArt
3D text poster in Illustrator - extrude, expand to wireframes, clean up doubles, fix round letters manually, Shape Builder to merge and color.
Not fully automatic but the control you get over the final result is worth it.
#Illustrator#3DText#GraphicDesign#AdobeIllustrator
Colored bounce light in Photoshop
Hue Sat + Colorize for bounce color - Blend If to push it into shadows - Select Color Range to sample for bloom layer - Gaussian blur on top. Smoke colorized to match, white rim lights on Overlay to finish.
Non-destructive all the way through.
Gradient Mesh in Illustrator - underused and worth learning.
Object > Create Gradient Mesh > set rows and columns. Drag swatches in or select anchor points to apply color. Move points and handles to shape the blend. Color Halftone via Appearance panel for texture on top.
Blend If in Photoshop - no layer masks, completely non-destructive.
Clip a Gradient Map to each image, double-click the top layer, drag the Blend If slider down. Top image only appears in the dark areas below. Stack more images for more complex results.
#Photoshop#graphicdesign
Pro glow setup in Photoshop - non-destructive and color-adjustable any time.
Black layer on Screen β clip paint layer + color adjustment on top β soft brush for hard glows β Gaussian blur duplicate for soft glows.
Change the color once, updates across the whole stack.
Create this Warp split effect in Photoshop.
Marquee to split β single column stretch to fill the gap β Distort to align β Warp to shape the wave. Group the layers, set to Normal blend mode, add your adjustments inside.
Isolated, non-destructive, and easy to push further.