TUTORIAL

This is my first tutorial, hope you like it!
We'll be making this:
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I use PS7, but perhaps it's also possible in other Photoshop programs. I think you need the basic knowledge for icon-making to completely understand it, I tried to make it as clear as possible though.


It’s not the best icon I ever made or whatever, but just thought I’d share it anyway…

We’re starting with this picture , that I resized to make it 100x100:


[x] sharpen it once
[x] duplicate layer and set the saturation to –100 (You can do that by holding ctrl + u)
[x] duplicate the bottom layer again (the colored one) and set it to screen (100%), then drag it above the saturated one
[x] duplicate the screened layer and set it to overlay (100%), this layer should be on top
[x] duplicate overlay layer and saturate it to –100, set the opacity at soft light, 78%

You should have this now:

Okay, now make a new layer and fill it with the color #010613 and set it to exclusion (I do this with almost every icon, it’s very handy)

Make another new layer and fill it with the color #D7B9B9 ( light pink color) and set the layer to soft light:


The color layers only make it slightly different, but still…

Another new layer, and this time we’re using a brush. Choose the normal round brush, with a diameter of 13. Make sure your color is completely white (#FFFFFF).
Now, while holding down the shift-button drag a line at the left side of the icon. In this way you can make your own border, like in the picture.


Create another layer and hold down the following keys: ctrl+shift+alt+e
In this way you copy the entire icon on a new layer. Resize this to the size I used in the icon (you can resize by holding down ctrl + t ). Drag the small picture to the right place and sharpen the layer.
To make the small pic stand out more I made a white border around it. You can do this in several ways. I did it by creating another layer which I made sure was under the layer with the small pic. Then with the ‘rectangle tool’ I made a small white square (the square is behind the pic so you only see a thin border) I hope this is clear.


Now I duplicated the small pic and set it to ‘difference’. I wasn’t sure where to put it, in the end I dragged it to the bottom of the icon. This is how it looks now.


I made two new layers. One of them has a flowery white brush, it’s placed a bit randomly. On the other layer I added a tiny-text brush in a dark red color.


In another new layer I added this gradient which I think is by crumblingwalls, correct me if I’m wrong :) The layer is set to color burn.


I wanted to have some sort of dark border on the right side. I picked a random texture and copied it on the layer, then dragged it to the right (It doesn’t really matter what texture or picture you choose, as long as it’s dark). I made sure this layer was behind the gradient layer.

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To finish it I added the text ‘WHY’. The font is ICT Garamont, size 14. I made sure the text was very longdrawn (180%), then I rasterized the layer and (while holding down shift so that I could make a straight line) I erased the very bottom part of the letters.

Well, I hope that was clear! If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Please don't copy and make the exact same icon I made, that would be totally useless. You can take the icon, but please comment and credit me.
If you liked my tutorial, I would love to see how you used it *curious*!