Deke's Techniques

Today, I show you how to create and assign custom variations on the classic type styles Carved and Shadow to any typeface any time you like. And because you'll be doing so using dynamic effects in Adobe Illustrator, you can apply the Carved and Shadow styles to live, editable text without any need to convert the type to outlines. Fix a typo, change out a few words, or adjust the formatting, and your custom Carved and Shadows styles update automatically.

Here's the official description from lynda.com: Read more » 

This week, I show you how to do something I already showed many of you how to do a long time ago. Only, now, I do so more judiciously and accompanied by a concrete example. (But, you know, gosh, that ancient 4-year-old episode of the now-dead dekePod with the Spirographs and junk holds up pretty well. I watched it before making this movie and---although I'm ashamed to admit it---I learned a thing or two.)

Today, I show you how to make a Spirograph-like pattern in Illustrator. No, not one. Three Spirograph-like patterns in all. Here's the official blow-by-blow description from lynda.com: Read more » 

This week, I have two very special treats for you. The first is a video in which I show you how to employ Photoshop's Dissolve blend mode to create the effect of letters hand-carved into wood. The second is a blow-by-blow text description of the technique, complete with graphics, as written by the Content Curator for lynda.com, Colleen Wheeler.

It's an experiment, so we're eager to hear your thoughts. But I'm guessing you're  gonna like it. Take it away, Colleen:

In this week's free Deke's Techniques, Deke uses Photoshop to create the effect of hand-carved letters in a wooden sign. I don't mean embossing typed-out text into a wood background, but rather making hand-drawn letters look like they were manually carved many years ago into an old wooden sign and weathered over time. To create this effect, Deke uses a blend mode that's fairly uncommon: Dissolve. Because it results in old-style dithered edges, Dissolve is seldom used. But for this particular effect, it provides the gritty, worn edges that we're looking for.

I titled this week's post "Explained" because I thought I'd show you the steps to this technique right here in the blog post. Here's how it's done: Read more » 

In today's episode of my weekly video blog, I show you how to create a party with yourself in Photoshop. Specifically, a pool party. Not one involving bathing suits, but rather billiard balls. Just you and a bunch of your favorite clones armed with big sticks and ready for battle.

What the hell am I talking about? Read the official description from lynda.com and find out: Read more »