5 Minute Design: Tilt Shifting

5 Minute Design: Tilt Shifting
09/21/10

‘5 Minute Design’ is a biweekly blog post that features tricks, tools and techniques in design. I only have 5 minutes to complete it, so I will make the design as basic as possible, use shortcuts, and cheat if at all possible. It is my hope that other designers, with your superior skill and intelligence, will have a quicker, cleaner and more precise way to achieve the design. Then you will punish me for my ignorance and lack of talent by posting your own solution.

And so it goes.

Tilt Shifting. I’m sure many have been over-using this technique for years.

I just started over-using it last week.

It is a style by which you take a photo from a high angle (from above), and manipulate it in Photoshop to draw attention to a specified area by masking and blurring out the peripheral. This makes it look like a scale model, and apparently, so awesome that it needs to be done to every photo hipsters take.

Lets get started.

1. Grab your iPhone and go to a high place with a sweet view of a low place. I chose the parking garage across from work.

2. Take some photos. Choose the best one. I liked this one:

3. Open that photo in Photoshop.

4. Press the ‘Q’ key to enter Quick Mask Mode.

5. Grab your “Gradient” tool from your tool bar. Choose a Black to White Gradient, then click the “Reflected Gradient” option from the top tool bar. Click on the focal point (for me it’s that car crossing the intersection). Drag your mouse in straight line until the entire height of the area you want in focus is covered in that transparent red color (This might take some experimentation, enjoy it!).

6. Now that you have your vertical space quick masked, we need to shorten the horizontal focal distance. We do this because a camera lens does not focus a straight line, instead it focuses on a specific distance, and blurs from there. Even though tilt-shifting is not reality-based, we do want to keep some degree of photographic dignity alive. So, select a White to Transparent gradient and click the “Linear Gradient” option from the top tool bar. From the right side of your image click, and drag your mouse toward your focal point. Stop and release at a point near where you want your focus to stop.

7. Repeat on the left side of your photo.

8. Click the “Q” key to exit “Quick Mask Mode.”

9. Now, start whistling “The Ants Go Marching One-By-One” like I always do, as your mask changes to the “Marching Selection Ants.” Immediately go to the Filter > Blur > Lens Blur menu item. A pop-up will appear.

10. Play a bit, but really you only need to touch a few things. Make your “Radius” between 30-40. Make your “Blade Curvature” between 30-40. And make your “Threshold” between 225-250. Check your preview to make sure you like, and click “OK.”

11. Click the “Command+D” keys to deselect your focal area. And WOW! look at that. Pretty cool.

12. Almost done. We need a bit more contrast, so under your “Layers Pallete” click the “Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer” option. Select the “Curves” Adjustment Layer. Make a standard, but subtle “S Curve.” Click at the top of the diagonal line (not the very top) and drag that point to the left a bit (15px). Near the bottom of that diagonal line, click a point near the bottom and drag that to the right a bit (5px). You want more rich dark and bright white areas. Click “OK,” or just be done when your done (CS4-CS5).

13. We are going to saturate the crap out of the image. This will make the things in the photo look like they were painted by hand. Really bright colors. Go back to the “Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer” and choose the “Hue/Saturation” option.

Bring your Saturation up to about 20-40 depending on the resolution of the photo (iPhone smaller, DSLR larger). Click “OK” when you like it, and you’re done.

Not to bad for 5 minutes. Impress your friends on Facebook. Maybe your mom will hang it on the Fridge.

Now, designers … What did I do wrong? Tweet me @robhutti or comment below.

Typeface Decider from Julian Hanson

Typeface Decider from Julian Hanson
04/29/10

In every industry there is some dumb, stupid and pointless topic which has no correct answer that for whatever reason is discussed and argued about ad nauseam.

For a designer like myself that topic is Typefaces. Yeah! Fonts. You know Times New Roman, Arial, Century Gothic. Most people spend their entire life just caring about which font makes their 8 page paper appear to be 12, but not us. We define them, give them personalities. Use words like contemporary, trendy and distressed. Ascender, Decenders, Serifed and Sans Serifed. We kern them, we lead them. We stretch them, we slice them. We know which ones work well together and which ones don’t work well at all (ehem… I’m talking to you Hobo and Comic Sans!)

I only use this. How dare they use that. IKEA is switching to what!?! It goes on and on.

I’m guilty. We all are.

But this nice illustration/map/chart called “So you need a typeface?” from Julian Hanson might make at least the whole decision process a lot easier.

It also give some good justifications for why to use a font, which is applicable to both designers and the average lay person. Takes you through the whole process.

Take a look and follow the yellow brick road to you ideal typeface.

Fun work

Martin Luther King Tribute
06/1/10

I wanted to attempt this style  in February, and being Black History Month I chose the Rev. as my muse.

His face is made up of the words of his epic Lincoln Memorial “I have a dream…” speech.

Take a look. I am having it framed as I type.

Smoking Goat Branding
04/1/10

I like beer.

Beer high in flavor, alcohol and price. I brew at home, but wouldn’t consider myself very good at this point. I’m working on it.

We have friends in Louisiana who I would consider really good. I designed some branding for their forthcoming brewery down there.

The Smoking Goat will hopefully be amazing, especially if I get some good beer out of the deal.

Have a look. Then drink a beer and have a look again. Continue this process until the logo looks awesome.

New Poster
02/4/10

This is a poster I made for my buddy Dustin.

A classic quote from him as we drove by Effingham, IL’s infamous and huge cross.

I thought it would look good in his new apartment.

Sheltered Perceptions
01/6/10

I recently got the chance to work on a project for the Humane Society. Given the fact that every time I walk into an animal shelter I have to be talked down from taking home every animal in the place, I was happy to help in anyway I could.

With the majority of pet buying in the United States coming from breeders, mall pet shops and unfortunately mills, animal shelters (specifically the Humane Society) are left overflowing with pets that need loving homes. They are running into a perception problem however, and many misconceptions about shelter pets are accepted as fact, and often repeated as such.

To get past this, we decided to take the problem head on, and address the most common misconceptions individually.

Here is where we landed:

Lauren and Dan sit’n in a tree…
01/5/10

My good friend Lauren is getting married in July, and though I am extremely jealous of her fiance Dan (don’t tell my wife), I made their save the date cards.

I use VistaPrint to print these types of things. Though the quality suffers, and the rumor is that they are destroying local community printers nationwide, for the price they can’t be beat. Check them out next time you want to customize your own holiday card or invitation.

Here’s how Lauren’s STDs turned out: