Repulsive Graphics [CFCU]

25 🔸️ How I banner

Banners
Don't you dare underestimate the effects something as silly as banner or page breaks have on a reader. Remember that a lot of people read a giant wall of text and not all of them like seeing and endless waterfall of words. One way to combat this very unique digital issue are the aforementioned banners and breaks.

I don't just slap text and textures on a canvas and deliver it. One thing you guys will notice or have noticed is that I work very closely with clients to make designs very specific to their stories. Go ahead and ask them how much I yammer in PMs or in the Ink discord, as well as how many drafts I send.

The result of this process are some pretty nifty banners, if you'll allow me to boast a little.

Anyways, I received a request from the amazing PaigeCunha22 a while ago for some banners for her fantasy story (which wears my favorite cover design btw). So I thought it was fitting to show you my process on designing banners; plus I meant to publish this tutorial before my hiatus, but well....lol.

The Request:
-must have "Morgana"
-black and purple scheme
-dark, wicked vibes
-fantasy
-needs crystals or a motif of it

Design Process: 4 hours
This request was pretty straightforward, so I sped through this one easily.

I always start with a black layer. Just a thing I do. I typed up the name and centered it. The font used is called Anabel and it's in grunge style, which means it comes with these little jagged and worn bits, which is perfect for the dark mood.

I beveled/embossed it and shaded the edges a bit so it looks submerged in the darkness.

Next, I added these stock crystals I got from Envato (which I have a subscription to for design purposes). It's deadass the same picture just rotated and cut in different ways. I'm too lazy to go searching for different pictures lol.

I took my airbrush and created a color dodge clipping layer over the folder containing the crystals. To give the crystals an eerie or magical glow, I just painted the edges and tips of some of the crystals.

One thing I love about photoshop is the smoke brushes I'd found a while ago. I can't really use them in Krita and I'm forced to paint my own smoke in Correl or Medibang, so the convenience of these brushes is GREAT.

Anyways, all I did was add some black and neon pink/purple? smoke. To achieve that fading effect on the smoke, I just created a mask on the layer and airbrushed the edges with the same smoke brush I used until it seemed like they were disappearing.

The last step was to add a few more bits of details like the glow kissing the font and some cleaning on the smoke.

Wow, Reppie. That's a lot of work for a banner.

It is, but you don't have to do it. I'm a perfectionist who hates generics and repetition. I go over the top so I can make someone else's story that much more memorable. And to also appease my need to make everything distinct and fresh. I'm in search of how far I can push the boundaries of Wattpad and cover designs. So why bother designing something I've already seen before?

Anyways, thank you for checking out this very brief tutorial. I hope it was of some help or inspiration to you. I will post a more recent and detailed banner tutorial covering the way I do them now, so look forward to that if you want to see more of how I banner.

Have a wonderful day!