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Not all Photoshop study materials have to describe techniques that you will find genuinely useful for the rest of your creative existence.  This particular tutorial, for example, details a fun and entertaining way to make a personal logo for a forum.  Its pretty simple to follow and shows you what's possible with Photoshop and an inquisitive mind.

Step 1: Create a new document 1280x1024 pixels in size and Edit > Fill the background with a dark grey color. I used #4C4C4C. Create a new layer on top of the background and, using the rectangular marquee tool, create dozens of horizontal and vertical lines filled with a solid white (or light grey) color.  If you want to be a little bit funky you can even create separate layers for the different lines with varying blending modes... but this is up to you. When you are finished, run Filter > Distortion > Pinch on your line layer with a strength of 50% and use Layer > Merge Visible to merge all layers together into a single background.

Step 2: Duplicate your background  layer three times and select the new layer at the top of the layers palette.  Ensure that your color swatches are set to #4C4C4C for the foreground and solid white for the background.  Now choose Filter > Texture > Stained Glass from the main menu, setting a Cell size of 8, a Joint Width of 1 and a Light intensity of 5 before pressing OK.   You should end up with something that looks a little like my image on the left.  If this is correct, set the layer opacity to 50% before proceeding onto the next step.

Step 3: Select the second layer from the top and change the foreground color to #FF0000 (i.e. a bright red), then use the Stained Glass filter with the same settings as Step 2 above. Repeat this again with the third layer from the top.  Don't worry - each layer will come out a little differently because the filter has an inbuilt randomness. When you have completed this step, set the layer opacity of the two 'red' layers to 50% as before.

Step 4: For the main logo, I created a new layer on top of all the others and made a tribal-style shape in that layer  using Photoshop's inbuilt tools.  I won't go into making the shape in detail, because that's basic knowledge and you should be able to do simple things like that before progressing onto more advanced tutorials like this one!  ;)       Anyway, when you have drawn your shape, select the layer in the layers palette and change the layer blending mode to Linear Dodge.

Now for the fiddly bit!  With the tribal layer still active in the layers palette, select Layer > Layer Style > Bevel & Emboss from the main menu and enter in the settings to the right.  When you have finished, mark the checkbox next to the Contour section and set a Linear contour with a Range of 50% in its options. Press OK and then repeat these settings for the Grey Mosaic layer, but leave its blending mode and opacity unaltered.

Step 5: Now for the text!   I used the  Freshbot font with a size of 131.75pt, smoothing sharply. Select Layer > Layer Style > Drop shadow and enter the following settings: Structure Blend Mode: Multiply (Color: #000000) Opacity: 75%    Angle: 120° (default) Distance: 5px     Spread: 0% Size: 5px Quality Leave on default (i.e. no changes). Switch to the Bevel & Emboss section and enter the settings we used in step 4. Press OK & set layer blending mode to Linear Dodge.

Step 6: Make the logo layer active in the layers palette again and, using the Magic Wand Tool, select the triangular area inside the tribal logo.  Create a new layer on top of all the others, make it active in the layers palette, and Edit > Fill your selection with the dark grey color you used in Step 1 (i.e. #4C4C4C).  Now just for a change (or not) select Layer > Layer Style > Bevel & Emboss from the main menu and enter in the settings that we used in the other steps... except this time use a Size setting of 13px, and set the 'Highlight Mode' to Screen with an opacity of 75%.

And there you have it - a completed logo, suitable for use in signatures and, with a few changes, also suitable for desktop wallpaper use!   I hope this tutorial was easy to understand and follow.  Quite a few of the steps are detailed, but nothing is so hard that it can't be followed by anyone with even a small amount of Photoshop experience.  Have fun, and don't forget to leave some feedback!

- Tutorial written by Stryke De Lorme

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