STEP 1
Before starting out with the flyer design itself, let us first setup the flyer document. You will need to set the proper dimensions so that you can easily send this design for mass production. Once you start up Photoshop and create a new document, you can use these settings as a base.
a. Width: 8.5 inches
b. Height: 5.5 inches
c. Resolution: 300ppi
d. Color Mode: CMYK
STEP 2
Once the new document is open, you can then start on the background design already. Using plain white of course is not recommended. Instead of using a plain color though, we will use dynamic colors through the use of color gradients. First though, set the foreground and background colors to two of your theme colors. Here we are using a light brown and dark brown color.
STEP 3
We then just click and drag the gradient tool into the white canvass to get gradient color effect. Make sure to choose the “linear gradient” setting in the options bar above. It is usually the default, but sometimes people change it.
STEP 4
The gradient color is nice, but it may not be enough. So from this generous person from deviant art, we download some grunge textures and paste it in our canvas. Take note that you can scale the image by pressing CTRL+T and then drag the anchor boxes to increase or decrease its size.
STEP 5
Then, just change the blend mode of this grunge texture to “Overlay” and then reduce the opacity to around 70%.
STEP 6
Now, we type in our flyer slogan. Just use the Type tool to add your title. We are using a theme color here as a direct contrast for the background. Here we are using a more creative font named “Hotel Corral Essex” from dafont.com. Just size it as needed for your design. Also, remember that you can easily edit the spacing of text as well as many other attributes by going to the character panel.
STEP 7
Next, we will add some interesting typographic effects on the title itself. First, we get this nice typographic arty from deviant art here. Then we paste it into your design, just on top of the text.
STEP 8
Then, right click on the new art layer we just pasted. Then, in the context menu that opens select the option to “create clipping mask”.
STEP 9
Once the clipping mask is applied, you will see that the top layer get clipped to the shape of the text.
STEP 10
Then, we change the clipped layer’s blend mode to “overlay”. We also reduce the opacity of the layer to 70%.
STEP 11
Now, we will merge the text layer and our clipped art layer. To do this, just select both in the layers panel. Hold down the CTRL key and click on the layers. Once both are highlighted right click on them. In the context menu that opens, select the “merge layers” option. This turns our image and text into a pixel layer.
STEP 12
Great, now we will add part of the shattered effect on our text. First, use the polygonal lasso tool to select a slightly warped rectangle on part of our text. Just select the tool in the tools panel. Then click on four points, to inscribe the polygon just like the image below.
STEP 13
Then, press CTRL+SHIFT+J. This shortcut will cut the selected layer using your selection as boundaries, creating a new layer for the cut one. Once the new layer is cut, use the move tool (shortcut V) to shift the layer a few nudges to the right and a few upwards. Just use the arrow keys to be precise with the nudges.
STEP 14
You can then repeat the same tricks for the rest of the “parts” of the text. This achieves our shattered or broken effect for our text. It is best to always move each broken layer into opposite directions to get the best appearance. We also expand the movement a bit upwards and downwards for the layers to add a little space between them.
STEP 15
For the final effect. We will use some nice shattered glass brushes. We will use these free brushes here . Just download them up. Now, we will install them. To do this, simply select the brush tool. Then, right click on your design Once the context menu opens, click on the right arrow icon. This brings up another side menu. Select “load brushes”.
STEP 16
Just navigate to the brush file you just downloaded to add those glass brushes. Now, create a new layer to add those brush effects on. Do this by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+N. Name this effect, glass shatters.
STEP 17
Now, right click on the canvass to bring up the context menu again. Look for the new brushes we just loaded in the brush gallery. Select one that you think is ok for the design.
STEP 18
Then, set a theme color as the foreground color. This will be the color of the shattered glass effect. Once set, just inscribe the effect through the brush.
STEP 19
We repeat the process several times to get a nice shattered effect on top of everything. It is best to vary the sizes of course and use all the different varieties of the brushes that we got.
STEP 20
Then, we just add all the rest of the important text information that the flyer design needs.
FINAL IMAGE
Once done, we have a nice finished shattered style full color flyer. Congratulations! Now you know how to do the same effect for your own customized flyers.
