dekeStuff

The Symbols feature in Illustrator allows you to create master objects that can be changed en masse when you change your mind. If you have a document that has repeated instances of a certain embellishment---whether it be a logo, ornament, or even a text element---you can save a master version of that element which can be easily duplicated, replaced, or updated en masse when you (or your client, or your boss) have a change of heart. 

To demonstrate how symbols work to efficiently duplicate and iterate graphics, I stole this tutorial from Deke's upcoming Illustrator CS6 One-on-One: Mastery course due out at lynda.com this week. In this project, we'll take a simple page icon and make variations of it in Illustrator, as if to visually document a completely abridged history of the written word from the advent of a single sheet of paper on (sorry, no stone tablet icon to work with). Like this (although I'm not sure what phase of communication technology the clipboard is supposed to represent): Psst: If you want to follow along, you can download the file I'm using at the end of this post.

Here are the step-by-step illustrated instructions. (If you're not a member of dekeOnline, you can become one here, it's free.)  Read more » 

Today's Photoshop tutorial covers a scenario that, for reasons beyond my comprehension, I encounter often. That is, how to make text that inverts against its background. Or how to make text that inverts its background. The semantics are different, the effect is the same. 

Or, as Deke once put it, "You make text that inverts unambiguously. Where the image is white, the text is black; where the image is black, the text is white. And where the image is gray, or near gray, the text provides as much contrast as possible."

And when you've created this text, you can actually move it anywhere in your image and get the same effect, with the text adjusting to its surroundings like a gorgeous black-or-white chameleon that can assess shades of gray and make a call which way to go. 

There's a relatively simple set of steps to follow to create this delightfully accommodating text:  Read more » 

An ambigram is text that squeezes "two different readings into the selfsame set of curves." That's a quote from the coiner of the term, Douglas Hofstader. You can tell he said it and not I, because he uses the word "selfsame," which even I—with my unhealthy love of pompous words—do not know how to use it in a sentence. The particular type of ambigram we'll consider today is one in which you turn the letters over, only to find that nothing has changed:

What with having a new pope and all, I got to thinking about Dan Brown's novel Angels and Demons and its tale of Vatican conspiracies. It was the first place I was delighted by ambigrams (if not by sophisticated word choice). And so, I thought I'd share this tutorial, first considered in video form in Deke's Techniques 069. By the way, under normal circumstances, 69 is an ambigram, but Deke likes to add a preceding zero, which unfortunately makes it 690 upside-down. I have no idea what that means. The conspiracy continues. 

Meanwhile, here's how to use the power of Illustrator's ability to create your upside-down mirror on-the-fly, in the service of creating a message so inscrutable that you can decipher it from multiple directions.  Read more » 

Greetings, intrepid dekeReteers. In today's tutorial, I am going to reveal an ingenious use of a hidden Japanese typesetting secret, dug out of the secret caves of Illustrator preferences and put in the service of elegantly creating professional-style movie poster credits. 

Join me on this journey to the the Warichu feature, which is designed for stacking characters within a single line of type. Some time ago, a mysterious message officially known as Deke's Techniques 099 (a lost video that can only be found here under the code name Deke's Techniques 056: Creating Great Movie Poster Credits in Illustrator), revealed how Warichu allows you to gracefully stack two words one on top of another, perfectly setting the titles of all the people who helped make your imaginary opus possible.

Join me in these illustrated steps that reveal the awesome mystery: Read more » 

Greetings, my dekeTical Illusionists. Today, I wanted to share Deke's technique for creating a "rounded windows" style work of Op Art. Like the "Inflated Checkers" piece Deke created in Deke's Techniques 105: "Op Art Experiment 1a: Inflated Checkers in Photoshop," this project requires no stock art, no drawing capability, and no sample file to start with.

(Note if you prefer your instruction in video form, Deke covers this very project in the lynda.com member exclusive episode Deke's Techniques 190: "Op art experiment 1b: Rounded Windows," which you can find here. Not a member? Go to lynda.com/deke to sign up for a free week trial.) 

Nope, armed with just Photoshop's Pattern Maker and some clever use of the Transform command, you can create this space-bending Bridget Riley-inspired piece of art by simply following these illustrated steps: Read more »