Harness CS6’s vector shape tools

A piece of design often achieves impact through the things you take away or choose to omit, rather than the elements you might add. Clarity of message and impact are two essential aspects to bear in mind when designing a book cover, or anything that relies heavily on its outer packaging to sell what’s inside.

Through this tutorial I’ll show you how to create a simple, bold, typographic cover for an imaginary new design journal, which I’ve (with tongue firmly in cheek) named Moving Shapes. I’ll run you through the basics of setting up a cover template and making type choices, and show you how to produce some striking effects using a few of Photoshop CS6’s new features.

We’ll look at the new vector shape layers, which enable you to combine different vector shapes in a non-destructive manner – much in the same way as Illustrator. The new erodible pencils are a great addition for any digital painter or illustrator, and shouldn’t be overlooked by designers either. With a little imagination these new features can be used in conjunction with other Creative Suite programs to create striking, eye-catching designs with ease.

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The Creative Bloq team is made up of a group of design fans, and has changed and evolved since Creative Bloq began back in 2012. The current website team consists of eight full-time members of staff: Editor Georgia Coggan, Deputy Editor Rosie Hilder, Ecommerce Editor Beren Neale, Senior News Editor Daniel Piper, Editor, Digital Art and 3D Ian Dean, Tech Reviews Editor Erlingur Einarsson and Ecommerce Writer Beth Nicholls and Staff Writer Natalie Fear, as well as a roster of freelancers from around the world. The 3D World and ImagineFX magazine teams also pitch in, ensuring that content from 3D World and ImagineFX is represented on Creative Bloq. 

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