Icon Tutorial 01

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In this tutorial I will take you on a step by step guide to creating the an icon similar to the icon displayed on the left. The icon displayed on the left was extremely quick and easy to make, I name it 'Ninetys Kid'... because, well; I'm a ninetys kid.

To begin with, create a new blank image sized 100 x 100. Fill in the background white at 100% opacity. Then, duplicate your base layer. Go to Adjust > Add/Remove Noise > Add Noise. Match your settings to mine below:
Uniform
Monochrome
Noise: 50%
Press OK and set that layer to 30% Opacity - merge all of your layers together.

Next, create a new blank image, make it sized around 200 x 200 and make the background transparent. All you do now is take a small font and write a lot of junk all over it. The font I've used is Arial, the size 4 and the colour #9BC361. An example can be seen on the left.

Minimize this image we have just created and go back to our original image. Take the Text Tool and write in what text you want on your icon. After you have written it, cross out the first colour pallet and click on the second one; select pattern tab and choose the pattern of random words we have just created. The background of your text should now match that of the text image we made. Add any extra text you'd like to add in different colours/formats.

Merge all of your layers together. Now for the finishing touches: to make the icon look a little less bland we're going to add a texture over the top. The texture I've used is this one, which is available for download on this site. All I did is paste it over my icon as a new layer (CTRL+L), use () tool to move it around to a section I was satisfied with, and changed the settings to Screen at 100%.

Once you're satisfied, merge all of your layers together... you're done!