Photoshop is a reasonably easy program to use once you get used to it. A newbie design student can be shown a few basics, how to lay out text, cut elements out, adjust colors and the like in minutes. That’s not to say that the student will then be knocking out high end design work but they can from then on get used to the program and experiment. However if the same pupil is shown the way to the tempting effects within Photoshop, the filters and most dangerously the ‘blending options’ pallet then they tend to get more of a satisfying buzz dragging the ‘outer glow’ or ‘bevel and emboss’ sliders up to 100% than they would do learning e finder points of text layout. We have all been there as beginner designers. The fun of playing with the effects and sliding those sliders up and down watching text instantly morph and change, as opposed to learning good layout skills is appealing. But that’s just the thing. Overly ‘effected’ text is a sign of a novice and anyone doing ‘professional’ design work or looking to brief a designer needs to realize that it’s a sign of incompetence rather than skill.
(Perfect example above... Thin horrible text with glows to provide 'impact'. Much better of using a simpler stronger font and holding back a bit)
You see this is my point there are many designers out there who are trained. They can layout text and images into a piece of design work with much care and technical skill giving the piece impact without the need to whack uber glows onto text to help it ‘stand out’
That’s not to say never ever use a glow style effect. They can really help lift a piece. Glows and bevels and all those other effects do have their uses. Usually it is best to use the subtly, if the artwork demands it and in combinations with other effects or techniques so you create your own way of giving the text impact or that little bit extra.
If you are going to use a glow use a few layers to build it up and experiment with overlaying colours, using the soft light, hard light and blur filters to create a more realistic or subtle glow effect. Don’t just whack on the outer glow set to white or yellow and smash the slider up to 100%. This does not give your text impact. This gives you text a very dated, tacky look.
If you are a budding designer and find yourself in the rut of turning to effects when the going gets tough remember that glow and bevel effects are there as an extra element to help lift text, or add subtle depth to an image don’t rely on them as the direction of your design. If your text layout isn’t working without glows and bevels then it really wont look much better with them added to the extreme.
The applies double to logos.
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