In this tutorial we are going to show you how to easily create digital abstract smoke using both Illustrator and Photoshop. One of the best things about this technique is that it’s very customizable and you can do it pretty quickly.
As I said before, we will use Illustrator a bit, but actually you can use whatever vector software you have. The only requirement is that it have a similar tool to the Blend Tool in Illustrator.

In this tutorial, we’re going to use the Path Tools in Photoshop to draw a shield-like shape. Then using some gradients, we’re going to give it a metallic edge and shiny center. I actually made this tutorial when making the default icons for some posts here on Brain Hackers, so if you go to the main listing on the site you’ll see them in action.

Step 1:

We begin with a dark grey to black gradient. I drew this with the Radial Gradient, which long-time readers will know is my favorite gradient tool. Anyhow don’t worry too much about these colors, because midway

In this tutorial, we’re going to use some simple circles and gradients to make a cup of coffee viewed from above. The end result isn’t that useful, but the process is interesting nonetheless.

Step 1:

We begin with a nice pastelly-blue gradient. Note that with the gradient, I’ve put the lighter part in the top right. This is important because we are giving the impression that light is coming from the top right and this is will decide what direction other gradients need to go.

In this tutorial, we’re going to create some really sharp-looking glow effects using a combination of layer styles, the Pen Tool and Color Blending. The end effect is quite stunning and hopefully you’ll pick up some tips you didn’t know before.

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Step 1:

As with pretty much every tutorial I’ve ever written, we begin with a radial gradient. This one is pretty harsh and goes from a reddish brown color to black. Here are the exact color codes:

This tutorial is about making a “mac” style background. You can use these in all sorts of situations, including the obvious –your desktop– as well as part of your designs or for corporate work (Powerpoint presentations, Flash work, etc). Naturally, you would want to use this exact set of steps, but following them will give you a good idea of the technique. Good luck!

 

This tutorial is about making a textured red background and using Photoshop’s Shape Tool to add a design element. You can download the sample PSD file from the link at the bottom of the tutorial.

 

 

In this tutorial, we’re going to create a metallic effect using layer styles and gradients that you can apply to different objects. We’ll put it on a nice background and create a style for lettering that makes it look like it’s embedded into the metal. You can download the sample PSD file from the link at the bottom of the tutorial if you’d like to simply copy+paste the layer styles.