Remember that Old 'Distressed Type' Trick?

"Would you happen to know right off how to create a 'worn' or 'wrinkled' effect to text or graphics? Thanks--D."

The main way I’ve always done it is:
1) Create the artwork and print out a ‘clean’ hardcopy of it,
2) Crumple the print and then flatten it back out, maybe erasing toner along a few of the paper creases,
3) and scan that into Photoshop, manipulating the image further from there.
You know, how we did it in college!

Unfortunately, in the sometimes high-stress, always ASAP!, world of corporate design, we can rarely afford the time to play and experiment like that. Heck, in most 'graphics departments' these days, you'll be hard-pressed to find a single Pink Pearl or X-Acto! (Which is actually kinda sad.) So following are a few suggestions which may achieve the same effect in a bit less time...and not quite as much mess:

here's a slight twist...
An alternate to the above technique (which takes out a couple of physical steps) is to scan your ‘clean’ print through a piece of tissue paper, adjusting the scanner settings to get the desired effect. From that, I will put a “Stamp” filter on the scan in Photoshop, to make the image look more worn. (Depending on your artwork, the Stamp filter alone might work; but the scanning first usually helps.)

or maybe try this...
Also in Photoshop, you can ‘superimpose’ the image of a texture onto the artwork of another layer by Linking the two layers and Grouping them. (The steps are probably a bit more involved than that, but I don’t remember right away.) If you already have a texture you want to use, this is probably the easiest, quickest technique.

and if all else fails...
Finally, of course there are CDs that come with textures and Photoshop Actions that you can use to easily do the same thing. misterretro.com features one such product.

okay, enough already!
Geesh, so much lip service paid to a single graphic effect? Obviously, there are as many ways of 'agitating' graphics as one would have the time and inclination to figure out--or market. (Any- and everything from good-ol' hand drawing, to manipulating digital photos of type.) And that sense of experimentation is what keeps us fresh as designers.

So in all of our day-to-day corporate antics--filling requests for sterile PowerPoints, hour-long meetings to discuss a new product brochure, etc.--let's try to hold on to some of that creative energy. Go distress some type today!

(Okay, maybe a bit over the top--but you get my point. Now go!)

Note: The graphic examples used above were previously created for freelance or in-house assignments. They can be viewed in full context at my online portfolio site terrygriffindesign.com.

Copyright 2006. All graphics are subject to legal protection and may not be used, copied, or distributed in any way.