How do you make a football design? How do you make this? What is this effect? What is this texture/brush? It are questions that people ask me quite often. Because it’s not always a simple answer and because I get the questions quite often I’ve decided to made this tutorial article. Down below I try to tackle all the questions that you ask me the most. If you would like to know more feel free to send me a message and I might add it in the next update!
What software do you use?
For me there’s only one program that I use and that is Adobe Photoshop CC, it’s part of the complete Creative Cloud package which I’ve got. If you’re a student you should look for the deals in your country because quite often Adobe offers a quite big student discount. If you’re not ready to buy it yet you can always try out the free trial first. Adobe Photoshop CC is a program for your desktop. Sometimes I receive the question which app I use, I don’t use any apps for designing.
Which plugins do you have?
Next to the software I use you guys also wonder what plugins I’ve added to my Photoshop, I got Topaz and Nik Collection, For me Topaz can be useful because I believe the DeNoise tool works really well especially to make the somewhat older pictures of icon players from the past better to work with, next to that I also use the Nik Collection at the end of most of my projects to give the colors an extra boost. I feel the plugins are a good addition to Photoshop but that they are best for small tasks, in the end Photoshop itself has so many tools already with which you should be able to receive a good result!
Where do you find your brushes and textures?
Basically everywhere, over the course of time I’ve met a lot of other designers and exchanged textures and brushes, most are found on sites like Google and Flickr but also sites like Sellfy. I started with just downloading all the free packages I could find, later on I started categorizing and making collections. Once in a while I’ve also bought the Sellfy bundle which offers a huge collection with a big discount. Nowadays I know what I’m missing in my collection and can selectively search for something.
How can I improve?
First, just practice, keep on practicing and try to make your designs as best as you can, don’t get satisfied immediately when you got an ‘okay’ design but put it away for a few hours or a day and work on it again, the best way is to spend a lot of time on your design until you really feel it is the best you can make. Next to that feedback from others help a lot, form a group with other designers that are on the same level as you are and give each other critical feedback, together you can grow into better designers.
Which tutorials should I follow?
Down below I’ve made a selection of tutorials I’ve found across the internet which I believe will help you become a better (football) designer. Sometimes the tutorial itself might not be focussed on football at all but in the thumbnail I’ve shown the technique applied on a football design. I split the tutorials up into two categories, Essentials and Advanced, the essentials are really the basics which mainly explain the functions which I use most of the time, the advanced section shows you how to apply functions into a design. If you want to learn more about photoshop be sure to subscribe to the channels I featured below which are PHlearn, Tutvid, FootyRenders, Glyn Dewis, DailyRender & K1 Production
Would you like to know more? Did I forget about something? Let me know what you would like to know and I might add it in the next update of this article!
Essentials
Essentials show you the most import functions of Photoshop, these tutorials will teach you how to use layer masks, blend modes and how to cut renders
Advanced
Advanced tutorials focus more on specific subjects which can help you get your design to the next level
I love you so much for this man. Check out some of my works at – @gunnarball