Home » Tutorials » Layout Tutorial: Simple Fall Header

In this tutorial you are going to be making a simple header with the theme of fall/autumn that looks like this right here. This tutorial is going to require the program Adobe Photoshop; I am using PSCs2. I have received a lot of questions asking how I made my header and if I could make a tutorial, so I decided to make one. No other resources have been used in this tutorial and was 100% done by Kwinsturr.com. If you are ready to follow along in this tutorial, then please keep reading and goodluck! Credit is required for this tutorial.

1. Make a file with the size of 1000x400 and select a background color (You may noise your background if you want). I am going to use the color #dab973. To add some noise, go to Filter > Noise - Settings:
Amount = 3.48%
Distribution = Uniform
Check "Monochromatic".

2. Place in a text or your domain name. The font I am using is "Cocaine Sans" with a size of 187 pt. To have a white dropped shadow like how I have below, go to Blending Options > Drop Shadow - Settings:
Blend Mode = Normal
Color = #ffffff
Opacity = 75%
Angle = 120
Distance = 2px
Spread = 100%
Size = 0px
Noise = 0px


3. Select the brush tool (B) and in the default brushes, you should see a leaf. Select the leaf brush and pick a size; I have chosen 74px.


4. Make a new layer (Shift+CTRL+N) and select two colors. The two colors I picked are #f85947 (pink-redish) and #bcec42 (lime-ish). For the new layer you made, click+hold and brush quickly diagonally over the text as if leaves were flying from the top left corner to the lower right. The default leaf brush is defaulted as a scattered brush, so no need to change the settings of the brush. Make sure you use both colors so then it would look like there are more colorful leaves falling.


5. Time to make the ice rink. Select the Ellipse Tool (U) and choose a light blue color, #d1f8ff. Between the text and BACKGROUND layer, make a new layer and create an oval right beneath the text.


6. After you made the oval, right click the layer and go to Blending Options. Check the Gradient box and go to it's settings. Make sure your settings match mine and make sure the gradient color is the same color as the light blue from before, which is #d1f8ff and the darker blue is #54cfe5; giving the ice rink an illusion of the farther part of it in the back.


This is what it should look like after you have finished the gradient settings and clicked OK.


7. Now create another new layer beneath everything but the main colored background.


Select the Pen Tool (P). The settings for the pen tool (located at the top horizontal list) should be selected "Path" and "Pen Tool". Now try to make a branch looking vector. It might take you awhile to get the right image of it, so take your time. When you are done, connect the dots (by clicking the dot you first started with and closing with the one you ended with), right click, select "Fill Path", and pick a brown color in which my case is the color #773b17. press the backspace when you are done to get rid of the pen tool's after-path. You can make more branches if you want to.


8. An optional final touch: Snow. Pick a small sized soft default brush with the color white, #ffffff. Place it wherever you think looks right and then you're done!


Thank you for reading this tutorial! Wasn't that so easy? E-mail me any results you may have of this tutorial if you tried it yourself =) . I would be glad to see what you have made, thanks!
Having any difficulties? Contact me.