Experimenting with Layer Styles

When making my advert one thing I wanted to experiment with was the 'banner' displaying the stars of a rating from a review at the top of the advert.  Although I could keep it flat on the page I wanted to take it further and develop my skills in styling the layer so it stood out in a page.

 

I started by looking at the different style icons next to the history bar on Photoshop. When hovering over each gave a brief description as to the effect of it. Pressing on the one circled below, it came up with making the layer have a drop shadow, gradient overlay,

bevel emboss and stroke.

 

 

I started by adjusting bevel and emboss. Changing size and depth gave a clearer outline for the shape appear to be printed on, whereas shading would then deepen the lines and have them come out the page more. Moving the angle marker would then vary the way in which the shape would stick out. For my version, I made it point downwards as if looking down on the rest of the words.

 

 

Secondly I readjusted the drop shadow. Much like the shadow levels of the emboss tool, I could rotate the angle of the shadow to fit my image. Also the distance could change how far away the shadow was from the shape. I thought I would readjust it so the shadow was the same distance the clock gave to the backdrop.

 

 

Changing the gradient was quite simple, giving a gradual change in colour across the stars. Also scale could adjust how strong it was over the image.

 

Finally creating a stroke was one of the simple but most effective buttons. Just moving the size marker could increase the width of the stroke around the object, with  preview to the right of the box. Looking at the preview display was useful in all different layer styles as it prevented having to keep going over the same style if you wanted to alter it.

 

 

This was my final outcome which showed a clear difference from my first design. The layer styles were successful in making it stand out from the page, as if hovering over the image itself. The emboss styles also gave a more texturized feel to the shapes, making them almost appear like medals been awarded to the band. Experimenting with these editing tools were very useful in the development of my product and my own skills, as now I've used and understand their purpose I can apply them to future projects and creations.