Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect and Icons

Posted on 13. Jul, 2009
by Tutorials Etc in Text Effects

In this Etc Tutorial we will be creating a blue retro grunge floral text effect. This text effect is vary versatile and looks good on a variety of fonts and Photoshop shapes.

Here we’re going to show you how to create the Blue Retro Grunge text effect on Webtreats ETC.

This style works great on icons as well and you can download roughly 2000 icons in this style here: Blue Retro Rusted Grunge Icons.

Blue Retro Grunge 608 Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons

STEP #1

First you will need to download the two patterns below and convert them into photoshop patterns for later. To do this simply open each image then go to “EDIT >> DEFINE PATTERN” in the menu.

Blue 300 Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And IconsThe blue pattern from Citrus Moon used in the text effect.
Wood 300 Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons

The wood grain pattern used in the background.
Zip Download Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons  webtreats-woodgrain.zip

STEP #2

Create a new transparent document 670px * 400px at 72dpi as seen below.

New670px Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons

STEP #3

Create a new pattern fill layer by going to LAYER >> NEW FILL LAYER >> PATTERN in the menu and choose the wood pattern you created in step #1 as seen below.

Wood Background Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons

STEP #4

Above the wood layer create a new gradient fill layer by going to LAYER >> NEW FILL LAYER >> GRADIENT in the menu with the settings seen below.

Gradient Overlay Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons

STEP #5

Open the layer styles dialog box by going to LAYER >> LAYER STYLE >> BLENDING OPTIONS in the menu and enter the settings you see below.

Gradient Layerstyle 1 Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons Gradient Layerstyle 2 Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons Gradient Layerstyle 3 Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons

STEP #6

Now activate the text tool by typeing T. Then open the character pallet and choose Arial Black at 310pt with a vertical stretch of 110% as seen below and enter some text.

Text Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons

STEP #7

Duplicate the text layer you just created by going to LAYER >> DUPLICATE LAYER . Then activate the layer styles pallet on the top text layer by going to LAYER >> LAYER STYLE >> BLENDING OPTIONS in the menu and enter the settings you see below.

Retro Blue Text Layer1 6 Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons Retro Blue Text Layer1 5 Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons Retro Blue Text Layer1 4 Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons Retro Blue Text Layer1 3 Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons Retro Blue Text Layer1 2 Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons Retro Blue Text Layer1 1 Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons

STEP #8

Open the layer styles dialog box on the botom text layer and enter the settings you see below.

Retro Blue Layer Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons Retro Blue Layer 2 Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons Retro Blue Layer 3 Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons Retro Blue Layer 4 Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons Retro Blue Layer 5 Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons Retro Blue Layer 6 Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons Retro Blue Layer 7 Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons

STEP #9

To create the frame activate the shape tool by typeing U, make sure you have the rectangular tool selected, then draw out a rectangle at the bottom of the image as seen below.

Frame Bottom 608x419 Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons

STEP #10

Activate the layer styles pallet on the rectangle shape layer you just created and enter the settings below.

Frame Layer Styles Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons Frame Layer Styles 2 Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons Frame Layer Styles 3 Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons Frame Layer Styles 4 Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons Frame Layer Styles 5 Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons

STEP #11

Duplicate the rectangular layer you just created by going to LAYER >> DUPLICATE LAYER then activate the move tool by typeing V and move the duplicated rectangle up to the top as seen below.

Frame Top 608x445 Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons

STEP #12

Now to add a title first create a new layer above the rectangular frame layer and activate the text tool by typeing T. Then open the character pallet, choose Cochin at 24pt then type in your title as seen below. When you’re done set the layer opacity to 90% so the title doesn’t stand out too much.

Title 608x454 Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons

STEP #13

This next step is optional. If you would like to create a shadow beneath the text create a new layer beneath the two text layers, activate the brush tool by typeing B choose a basic round brush with the settings highlighted below. Then paint in a shadow at the base of each layer as seen below.

Shadow1 Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons

STEP #14

To clean up the shadow use the motion blur filter by going to FILTER >> BLUR >> MOTION BLUR in the menu and enter the settings below.

Motionblur Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons

STEP #15

Finally take the fill opacity of the shadow layer down to 80% and set the blend mode to multiply as seen below.

Blend Mode Shadow 608x388 Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons

Thats it!

You should now have something that looks like what you see below.

Blue Retro Grunge 608 Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect And Icons

Didn’t get the exact same results? Want to save some time? Download the source files below.

Learn More
Free Download
Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect and Icons Premium PSD’s

What’s Included in the Download:

• Fully layered source PSD
• .ASL file containing the layer styles for both text effect layers
• .PAT file of the wood pattern used in the background – ready to install!
• .JPG file of the wood pattern used in the background

BONUS: 36 fully layered popular icons in this style as seen in the preview.

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19 Responses to “Blue Retro Grunge Text Effect and Icons”

  1. kinali

    27. Aug, 2009

    Hi! great tuto…but you forget to said where we can get the pattern in “STEP #7″ text layer… : /

    Reply to this comment
    • Pamela

      27. Aug, 2009

      Thanks for bringing it to our attention. The patterns are default photoshop patterns. If you don’t see them try loading the pattern set “Artist Surfaces”.

      Reply to this comment
  2. ashley.

    03. Sep, 2009

    its good, but the color when were making that steelish looking outline thats like a.. green/brown, you never told us exactly what color it was.

    Reply to this comment
    • Pamela

      03. Sep, 2009

      Thank you – we will keep that in mind in the future. In this case the exact color is not so important – any murky color will do. You can also download the free source psd above if you would like to use the exact same colors.

      Reply to this comment
  3. Grafikerler

    09. Sep, 2009

    thank you.

    Reply to this comment
  4. Blind Acre Media

    01. Oct, 2009

    Thank you for this great tutorial. I was looking for a different and unique way to spruce up a logo I was working on. The pattern was just what I needed.

    Reply to this comment
  5. lea

    12. Jun, 2011

    So it’s really easy to see but a bit hard to customize. But it’s the matter of getting used to. It’s beautiful.

    Reply to this comment
  6. Matt

    12. Jun, 2011

    That is very helpful tutorial. Been meaning to do something similar for my site. Helped me a lot.

    Reply to this comment
  7. Tworzenie stron www

    14. Jun, 2011

    Thank you for useful information. Waiting for new posts.

    Reply to this comment
  8. juries

    17. Jun, 2011

    Superb mind twister you have posted that helped me have a keen idea on developing my site. More posts please.

    Reply to this comment
  9. Nora

    27. Jun, 2011

    This is a neat text effect tutorial – it’s clear and concise, and (imo) easy to follow without needing a practical application to understand the process. Honestly I can’t see myself actually applying it the way you have set up here, but I like the technique and will keep it in mind for future projects that might require a good grungy look.

    Thanks for putting it together, I’ll definitely be checking out your other tutorials for inspiration!

    Reply to this comment
  10. Patricia

    30. Dec, 2011

    This is such a treat! I am always looking for photoshop tutorials.
    Thank you,
    Patricia

    Reply to this comment
  11. Trackbacks

    17. May, 2012

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