Sports Poster - Need Creative Help Please

Guido44 · Jun 17, 2009

Hi all,

I was hoping some of you more "graphically creative" folks could throw in a few ideas for me to help me with the layout/design of this PS image.

I'm using Photoshop CS. I have a few more photos to work with if need be.

The coach is a friend of mine, and he asked if I could create something for Tim as a graduation gift. The guy in the corner is his father, and he helps coach the team also. He asked me if I could put his father in the image too.

I'd like to create something special. I am going to try and make some "motion trails", and maybe make the Name 'Glow a bit.?

Thanks for any help.

Dan

Here's a few more photos I have of Tim.

SrBiscuit · Jun 18, 2009

i think the photo you used is def the best one for the job.
the basket is cut off on one, and hes looking at the camera in another.

i think as far as the poster elements...
if red isnt the school color, i would avoid it. personally, i would go with a dark background (maybe some gradient or lighting effects). maybe add some outer glow around him to pop him off the page? i would also consider some graphic elements like some geometry, or some lines...maybe add a name and his jersey number?

i would google some professional sports posters, and see how they do stuff.

the only thing i would have a hard time placing, is the picture of his father/coach. sorta looks just dropped in right now, but i dont have any alternatives to offer.

good luck, and post some of your results. i am interested to see what you come up with.

Blank · Jun 18, 2009

Hi Dan,

I do quite a few of these and I have posted a few examples of my work. I started this as an extension to my business, which is very profitable for me. The more I do, the more confident I feel. I recommend a Google search on "Lacrosse Posters", you will see lots of links to lots of ideas. I need inspiration and I dont mind getting ideas from others work.

Secondly, check out Photoshop sites for paintbrushes, gradients and styles. Lots of cool designs for background and gradient use. Most of these are free for personal use and if you buy for commercial use, make sure you follow the license.

Thirdly, check out sites that carry different fonts. There is a ton more fonts available for free personal and commercial use. Again follow the licences or artists requests.

I know you never asked, but as a guide, I charge an hourly rate for development of these posters (usually have a draft approved for print from the customer no more than 3 hours total time) and charge obviously print production cost + margin and shipping. To say the least a 16 x 20 on a 10pt UV coated print is about $100, including design and print.

This particular poster contains 2 images (one with reduced opacity) from an event, gradient b/g, a brush layer, 2 layers of text (one with drop shadow and one with an emboss.

This poster was done for a local radio station. Lots of images (selective coloring on main and thumbnails for strip and a vector graphic (film strip). The checkered flag is from the sewing department from Walmart and photographed with a transparent gradient applied. The lightning is a brush.

This poster is obviously for an event earlier this year. A main image with a black to green (whatever color it is) overlay. Lots of text as per client specification. The title has gradients and I just used a variety of fonts, some default, some I purchased, some free. Again I used the flag and the tree branches and starbursts are both brushes.

I could have done more, but I have to resize for here and I thought 3 was plenty. Anyway, this is what I come up with and my clients like them, some for personal wall space, some need 250 for advertising.

Bottom line, check all over the internet for ideas. There is no shortage of great posters out there. Good luck with your designs. Post some when your done.

Josh66 · Jun 18, 2009

I would make sure that where you have the red fading out, the text doesn't fade with it.

Guido44 · Jun 18, 2009

Thanks everyone.

I may have to take DAD out of the image. It doesn't look right.

BLANK- I have seen your posters before, and I am still impressed. Very nice work!

I will definitely be searching around for more fonts etc.
Until I develop my own style, I will probably be cheating by "borrowing" ideas from you and others I see online.

thanks again.

Dan

Guido44 · Jun 19, 2009

OK guys,

Here's an Updated copy. I'm not done. It's definitely needs more "POP".

I hate the font. I tried for a long while last night to load in some new fonts into my Mac without success. GGGRRR.

Maybe it's my software? I have PS CS. Any advice to do it right would be appreciated.
Let me know what you think.

Thanks,

Dan

SrBiscuit · Jun 19, 2009

font is copperplate?
here's a great resource i use all the time.

www.dafont.com

one thing on the new design...i dont think i would make that middle pic BW...looks a bit out of place. also, i would consider cropping the top and bottom pics on the right to match the width of the middle one...
and finally, i think i would leave the boy's neck and shoulders in the faded pic...it;s looking a bit macabre the way his head is detached from his body

looking better though! :thumbup:

(is red the school color?)

Blank · Jun 19, 2009

dafont.com

Has an extensive variety of fonts for Personal Use. You save the Zip file to wherever on your Mac you want (I use PC, i'm sure the process is the same). Extract the Mac file (make sure it has a Mac OS X file), once extracted place the file in (again, I dont know Mac, so I'll navigate through PC, hopefully you can follow, or a Mac user can help).

Hard Drive C: - Program Files - Common Files - Adobe - Fonts (drop the extracted file here) and open CS. It should be in your drop down font menu.

As for poster variation suggestions (these are my suggestions only):
I would try to get a hold of the shirt logo. If you have illustrator, try get the .ai vector or a .psd if available. Use it on the b/g.
I would also re-insert the grass horizon (just the grass).
I dont know if your thumbnails were meant to be odd sizes (it caught my attention thats all).
I think in this case, the red doesn't work, it's to much of a contrast to the overall theme. Bright colors should be used as impact (like text or vectors, not as a canvas, imo)
I think Tim Smith should be horizontal.
Maybe use his number in there somewhere.

I'm echoing SrBiscuit, after reviewing my reply, we both seem to be offering similar advice. Keep posting your efforts.

Guido44 · Jun 19, 2009

Thanks everyone for your ideas. I'd like to do some motion trails for the player running, and add something more, Not sure at the moment.

By the way, it turns out I had the wrong kid for the background watermark. oops! And one of the other thumbnails was the wrong kid also. Double oops. It's hard to tell w/ the helmets.

1.

2.

PS Question:
When I'm working on the layer for the Name, I was trying to make adjustments to the drop shadow (spread etc.), . It was also effecting the shadow on the other layer for the player in motion. Why is that happening?

Thanks again,

Dan

Blank · Jun 20, 2009

Dan,

In your drop shadow dialog box, deselect the "Use Global Light" (located next to the Angle of Light dial) from the layer you want to work on. This will allow you to cast the drop shadow any angle independant of any other drop shadows on your canvas.

I am assuming your aware of your top thumbnail mis-aligned?

Also having the right kid on your art is a good move.

Blank · Jun 20, 2009

Here's a quick example of trails using the motion blur filter. I posted the original and photoshopped version. I had this done in about 10 minutes.

I made a copy of the b/g layer, then I used the magnetic tool to quickly run around the guy, placed him on a new layer and quickly ran around him with a 6pt soft on the eraser and cleared some stray pixels (now I have 3 layers), on my copied layer I added the motion blur filter and set it to about 250 (make it as drastic as you want), then I hid the motion layer (eye icon), selected layer 3 (guy only and placed him on himself seeing my original b/g layer.

Sounds long but it's not, and there are several ways you can do this, I just chose a quick way. Just an idea.

Guido44 · Jun 20, 2009

That's pretty cool. That sounds pretty fast also.

I was thinking more along the lines of how this tutorial image looks: (scroll down the page) .
I don't have CS3 or CS4 yet, so I can't do "warping", but I think I can do everything else.

CLICK HERE

One of my son's friends showed me a very cool looking baseball card he had done. That's why I'd like to try it.

Thanks for the tips. I'llbe posting again soon. I finally figured out how to load a couple new fonts.

dan

Update: Here's my first effort with motion trails. I actually think it's a decent first try. I save each one of these as a new image so I can go back a try new techniques.

EDIT: One more. I switched the other 2 thumbnails to B & W and I made some changes to the background image. His head looked cut off. I also made his name bigger.
The good news is that I have an order already for 2 more! One is a freebee for my own son, and another team mate. These are my son's best friends, so I'm doing them on the cheap. Now that I have a bit of a templet to work from it should go a lot faster.
In the fall when school starts again, I'm thinking price wise will be around $50 for an 11 x 17 and $75 for a poster.

Starbursts! Too easy. I downloaded off of Adobe's site. I love it!

c.cloudwalker · Jun 20, 2009

My favorite design so far is the last one. Horizontal name is easier to read and the blue tone goes nicely with the gray of the uniform. But it has two big problems.

1/ the two subjects (one person, I know) should look at each other. I would flip the background image and move it to the left of the main area. Then I would moved the foreground image to the right as far as possible. That also takes care of problem #2.

2/ in a layout, there should always be more space on the side that the subject is looking at. And I'm hoping his elbow is being cropped rather than missing from the image.

Learning by copying other people is just fine. Why re-invent the wheel? Most of us start that way. So, if you're going to get inspired by Blank, go ahead and steal his film frame idea for the series of pictures on the right but them all either color or B&W. I tend to think B&W may actually look nicer. Another thing you could steal from Blank is the star effect he uses in his third sample to add some pizzaz to the text. Said text will also benefit from a funkier font (we're talking about a kid here, after all) and from a different color so as to get away from the blue/graytone.

This is all about this kid, so don't be afraid of making his name larger

One last thing to know about design although I've known designers to understand it the opposite way that I do. When scanning a scene, the eye travels from left to right. To me that means that I want the most important part of my design to the right where the eye will stop.

Good luck with your poster.