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Creating a cartoon version of my city hall


The T-Shirt is for a yearly event. Its our Eigth year doing it. I'd like to recreate a simple version of the building so I can manipulate it and intertwine it with the number 8. I do like the simpsons style, probably not for a t-shirt though :) I assume you just used a filter?
 
stock-illustration-7306855-building-background.jpg

The look I am going for is like the building in the example from this post. I'd like to keep the general shape of the building but make it "cartoony". Note that I'm just looking at the building above, not the excess art. Another example. If you look at the one below, the buildings kind of curve around the earth. I'd like to manipulate my building to fit inside of the bottom portion of the number 8... Techniques/suggestions? Hoogle, I like that 8 pic. I'm just learning so I'm a bit slow :)

stock-illustration-8187581-city-explosion.jpg
 
well unfortunately there is some special day going on at the moment so being nagged at for sitting at the computer fine for her to take all the time she wants to get ready lol. I will try and have a look at it tomorrow for you.

so your basically after vector art
 
buffalo.jpg

Maybe this kind of alteration comes close? I would continue to dim the windows and it needs a lot of cleanup from the find edges filter. I think this could fit easily into a figure 8; didn't get to that yet.
 
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i think the number eight just make picture ugly.. better i will put name of your event not number.. :D
In my opinion i will put it like this:

simpsons.png
or if you really wanna number eight :
simpson1s.png
i hope i helped you.. if you need changes contact me :D
 
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You don't understand what he wants Sean. The building should sit in the lower half of the figure 8. I will try to improve my design effort when I finish an errand this morning (3 hours difference -- I'm on west coast).
 
IDK, I imagine the event information or part of it! :mrgreen:

This is my idea. It's all I have time for today. If you like it or where it's going let me know and I can send you the separate pieces. That way if you want a different figure 8 than I can make, you can still put the bldg together with any trouble.

Buffalo8.jpg
 
Thank you all for the help. ibclare, you have the right idea :) Sean, The city hall is only part of the idea, I just needed to figure out a way to recreate the building and also manipulate it i.e. curve it so it looks like its protruding from the bottom of the "8". Do you think switching to vector graphics will get me to where I'm headed?
 
ibclare!! YES! That is EXACTLY the idea I was going for. Any help you can give me so that I can give it a shot myself? I was thinking about replacing the top part of the 8 with text but I'm not sure that wouldn't completely remove the idea of the "8". Also, since i'll be bringing this to a screen printer for T-shirts, the cost is decreased with less colors used... Do you think its a good idea to maybe make the windows transparent and have them be the color of the shirt? Or will that overload the visual with excess color?
 
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ibclare aha mate events info up.. but on my photo you can still put text.. idk how he want it :D

simpson2.png
 
Ha privit, transparent windows! You go! Just Kidding. I think 1) yeah, all transparent windows would detract from the basic shape, and 2) who you gonna get to cut out every window... you got kids?!! OTOH, it could be an interesting graphic to pick out a number of windows like they were occupied and make them transparent. You could test how that looks by making a colored layer the shape of the bldg below it.

One thing you might want to consider is replacing the 8 with text that runs along the 8's path. That might not work as well on the bottom where it would interfere with the bldg. But you could leave your 8 in place and still create a text path over as much of it as you like. Also, I would not think of the top of the 8 as part of the design necessarily. In other words, you can run your text right over it and let it blend into the background.

As far as making the building as I did it, here's a long-winded explanation. Wasn't sure of your PS level so my apologies if I'm talking beneath your experience. Hope this helps. If you have questions, just let me know.
  • Duplicate layer - original photo of bldg - and hide it
  • Desaturate new layer; image>adjustment>desaturate. Name it bldg or ... (I'm suggesting names because the number of layers can get confusing)
  • Use filter>stylize>find edges
  • Add layer mask and with a soft, low opacity brush (set to black), brush over the part of the building with windows in order to decrease their intensity.
  • Now select that same area but more carefully all the way down to the treetops. Stay above the portico and below the 3 upper sections of the bldg (no architect here; I'm sure they have a name).
  • Create a levels adjustment layer and bring the white point and the gamma (middle slider) sliders way over to the left to make the walls whiter.
  • Now select the portico and do the same thing except slide the black point a bit to the right and the gamma a bit more. What I did was make the portico area closer in tone to the upper levels - for balance and visual interest.
  • Make an new layer. Using the pencil tool (which hides below the brush) choose black and make the pixel width fairly thick for upper sections and thinner for the vertical delineations. Just trace over the contours you'd like to accentuate. Here's a tip: click with the pencil tool, hold down shft and click again for the pencil to make a straight (ish) line. Be sure to release the shift and click the pencil first or you'll get connecting lines.
  • Make a new layer. This one is to add color to the leaves. Pick a green and use a soft or medium soft brush. 100% opacity is fine because you are going to set the blending mode to color and that will soften it and even blend the edges down.
  • Select all the layers (except the original in full color) to "merge copy." Hold down ctl + alt (cmd + opt mac) and press "E" (ctl+ alt + e).
  • One more step before changing the shape. Contol click on the thumbnail of the tree color below. This will select it. Invert the selection, shift + ctl + i. Be sure your merge copied layer is selected and go to image>adjustment>desaturate (this step removes the color added by the find edges filter, but not the tree color you added).
  • This is the final step, the fun part. Ctl + t to transform the shape. I can't tell you exactly how to do this but here are the basic steps for what I did; right click and choose warp; pull both bottom edges in towards the middle (not center, just middle of the bottom line), move different handles and corenrs to tug the shape around; right click and choose perspective and one of the top corners out. You may want to start with perspective. I also played with the width and height scaling a bit.
  • Those are pretty much the steps I used.
  • I did make a new layer before I finished because the bldg shape had some transparancies. To do that, control click the thumbnail. You'll probably have some unevenness. So grab the quick selection tool and add those back. Make a layer below all and fill the selection with white. Don't do this before you make your transparent window selections unless you saved that selection by one means or another. Or just do this first then play with your windows.
 
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This helps a TON. I appreciate it. I started looking into vector graphics last night (in inkscape). I think I'm spreading myself a little too thin as a beginner so I'd like to attempt this using photoshop...
 
Wow that is 1 detailed explanation lol the patience of a saint Clare

Mine woulr be

Filter> stylize> find edges

filter >distort > sphearize crank up to full settings to the right

add a levels adjustment layer and slide the right slider in towards the middle until your happy

and that would be about it lol
 
I do appreciate all the help. I've read books on how all the tools/filters work but I'm not quite experienced enough to know WHEN to use them :) Thanks a ton for the help!
 
Hmm, yes, spherize would probably do the exact trick of all the screwing around in transformations!! Didin't even think iof it Hoog. To me it's one of those really obscure -- when in the heck do you use it -- kind of filters :} .

Privit, there is enough to keep you busy in Photoshop, so stick around a while! Lots of vector graphics discussion here too. Illustrator has more potential but there are a number of vector tools in PS. I created the figure 8 with a pen tool. As for filters, half the trick is reading about them or better yet, following a tutorial, and the other half is playing around with them yourself. And the 3rd half is hearing how others apply them.

Poot! I left out a step. It will become pretty obvious at some point. Deleting the white background. Because of the nature of this logo (being kind of organic by this time!) I used the quick selection tool and just checked the edges up close. Having every speck of white BG removed from the edges (which becomes a problem with most of the quickie selection tools) isn't as important and will be easier to clean up later on.
 
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