The ‘out-of-the-box’ Photoshop Bevel and Emboss tool is ok but it needs to be tweaked to create bevels that don’t look heavy and ugly. Using Illustrator and it’s Mesh tool to create bevels can give you greater control and produce more pleasing results.
Whilst working for DB Education I designed a character as part of the DB Primary learning manager product. The character was designed for the Key Stage 1 age group (4 to 11) and had to appeal to boys and girls and be robust enough to feature in both the interface and the branding.
Drop shadows get a hard time in the design world. Photoshop makes it really easy to add a drop shadow by way of a filter which looks, at best, passable and because it’s so easy to use you see it all over the place with out any thought put into it. With a little bit more time you can create a more realistic and pleasing drop shadow effect.
The Adobe Creative Suite is a brilliant collection of powerful design and web development programmes. Whilst Adobe lead the field with desktop publishing and image manipulation programmes, they do come with a hefty price tag so I’ve compiled a list of alternatives below.
There are lots of fonts and Photoshop brushes out there that will give you the effect that you see below but creating your own headings with a pencil and a piece of paper can be quite satisfying – A bit like growing, cooking and eating your own vegetables. The end results will also be unique so you know you’ve created something from scratch.results will also be unique so you know you’ve created something from scratch.