How to Create Poster Design with Chromatic Glitch Text Effect

Even with the omnipresent landscape graphics format being used as a default one for the majority of design projects, vertical layout doesn’t stay way behind. The poster format is largely used in social media such as Instagram stories and many promotional digital shots. Let’s create a dazzling, distorted poster, applying a warped glitching text effect to it!

First, let us shed some light on a concept of displacement maps, contributing largely to all sorts of distortion effects for warping objects, texts, or photography. Displacement map is basically the textured layer, which makes the graphics borrow the same texture when applied: if you’re dealing with a displacement map, replicating crumpled paper, then the photo you use with it will have the same wrinkles. In order to create a displacement map, it’s required to have an image with texture, switch it into black and white tons, adjust the contrast and save in a displacement map format. Thankfully, we’ve already prepared all the glitch maps for your convenient and easy workflow!

Using Chromatic Glitch Text Effect

Step 1 - Open the downloaded Chromatic Glitch Text Effect, which contains 6 PSD files with different glitch styles packed into various artboard orientations. We picked a vertical PSD with a smashed glass screen effect for the future poster design.

Step 2 - The file is created with a Smart Object Layer — it contains the same image settings as the source layer but allows non-destructive file customization. This layer is marked green in the current file and called “Your text.” To open the Smart Object Layer, you need to double-click its thumbnail (not the layer itself). Clicking the Photoshop layer triggers the other settings we’re not planning to use for this tutorial.

Step 3 - Here’s the new popped-up layer you need to edit by typing the required text. But first, delete the “Delete Me” layer used for presentation purposes.

The choice of typeface is important as script and display fonts won’t look impressive enough compared to sans serif or serif characters. Keep in mind that the source PSD is wrapped around moving and twitching lettering, so this stage of the editing process is entirely artistic.

Play around with size and spacing between letters to make the deformed text look like you need. When the preparations are over, close the Smart Object Layer and click “Save” in the appeared window. Or save the changes by using Cmd+S or Ctrl+S hotkeys.

Step 4 - You get redirected to the main tab with the applied effect. Now locate the yellow-marked “Text effect” folder, right click it and select “Merge Group” command for the further effect customization.

Taking care of the background image, you need to have a downloaded photo or illustration. We took this free music concert photo to fit the mood. Click the Background blue-marked layer to select it, drag and drop the image. Name the layer “image”, right click it and pick “Rasterize Layer”. The opacity should be set to 50% on the layer’s settings menu.

Step 5 - The typeface part with the applied effect gets presented in one raster layer, called “Text Effect.” You can cut the layer in themed broken glass-like pieces by selecting the parts via the Rectangular Marquee Tool, then right-clicking them, and using the command “Layer via Cut.” Afterward, scale the cut parts and move them around for a better visual typographic composition.

You’ll notice how the poster parts obtain more expression while leaving some space for other additional information — in this case, it’s the performing artists and ways to get tickets for the show. Voila, your poster is ready! If you need some fabulous presentation mockup scenes to put it in, we have tons of urban locations to help you out.

Chromatic Glitch Text Effect

Boiling emotions, pulsating distress and quivering movement of chromatic glitch leave you with a sense of dynamism, expressed in every character. Something that had recently been a badly scanned typography is now a vibrating grunge effect!

Pixelbuddha Shop

written by

Pixelbuddha Staff

Teamwork is something we are really good at! So sometimes we join our forces and experience to deliver even more useful, impressive content. Hope you enjoy it as much as our personal elaborations.