Notice the patterns they used that shadow the text. They’re usually best as diagonal lines. A screenshot of what we’re building is shown below:

Ready to get started? Let’s begin:

Step 1 – Create your pattern

Fire up Photoshop and create a new file. The dimensions are 3 pixels wide and 3 pixels tall:

Ctrl + Shift + N to create a new layer – leave it untitled and click okay. Zoom in to the document as close as you can (by pressing Ctrl and + at the same time). Hide the background layer by clicking the “eye” icon from the layers palette:

With the Layer 1 selected, grab the pencil tool – decrease the size to the smallest (1 pixel), set the color to black and click 3 times onto the layer (in a diagonal line). Not to worry about being perfect – it will snap into place:

Go to Edit > Define Pattern. You can name you pattern and close the file without saving. Your pattern should be saved in your options palette.

Step 2 – Set the Background

Create a new file in Photoshop – a good size is 800 pixels wide and 500 pixels height. Add a daub of color to the background layer – I chose #c8bcb2:

To amplify our text effects even more – I like to add some texture on top of our background layer. A new website called Tileables specializes in such textures. I grabbed the “Fabric” pack from the Tileables-Pack-04 collection – open the .psd file from the zip file and drag your desired texture into your file. Decrease the Opacity of this layer to about 20 percent:

Create another layer. Select the paint brush tool – set the pixel size to 600, color to #ffffff, and Opacity to 31 percent. Click on the center of your document.

Step 3 – Create your Text

Using the text tool – type in your title, set the font size to real big (I’m using New Clarendon Font type and its set to 176 pixels, and bold type)

Right click on the layer and duplicate it. Nudge the layer downwards and rasterize it (right click the layer > “Rasterize Type”).

Double click on the rasterized layer and this will bring up the layer style window. Click on the “Pattern Overlay” option and select the pattern that we’ve created from Step 1 (should be the very last swatch).

You should see our layer with our newly applied pattern. The problem is – the original white background bleeds through.

Double click on the layer again to bring up the styles. In “Blending Options” – make sure it’s on “Blend if Gray” and slide the first handle to the right all the way to the middle. This should take care of the white bleed:

By now you should be a master of duplicating layers. Duplicate the original text layer once more, rasterize and fill with #ffffff. Nudge this layer downwards just a couple of pixels. This will give it a more dramatic outline effect:

Step 4 – Embellishments

Ooh – I love that word! “E-M-BE-LL-ISHMENTS” – I like the way it rolls off the tongue. Anyway – our text is technically done. You can now add your own graphics or trimmings that would complement your new heading.

I accompanied mine with the word “flyer” – with an entire different font type, partnered with a horizontal line with an etched effect. Here’s how that’s done:

For the word “Flyer” I chose Nevis, and made it all capital letters. The font size is 36 pts, color is #000000.

Place the subtext directly in the center of the main heading:

Using the Line Tool, draw a line underneath the main heading (hold the shift key while drawing). Use a 2 pixel line with #000000 fill:

Duplicate that layer and change the fill to #ffffff; then nudge the layer a couple of pixels downwards.

Combine both line layers by selecting them, right click and hit “Merge Layers”. With the selection tool, change the feather to 2 pixels; select over the word “Flyer” with just enough padding – then hit delete:

Conclusion:

And that’s it! Take a look at the screenshot below for the final product. You can download what we’ve just created – but it will contain rasterized text layers. I did this because chances are – you won’t have the fonts that I used. Feel free to leave a comment below.

Features

The layout itself is very modern. The page is housed in a beautiful etched container with very subtle textures. The large feature section showcases the “Apps” main message with large “call to action” buttons to get the viewers to instantly join.

There’s a blue ribbon separating the main section and the latest posts / sidebar. I imagined this to be an expanding area for categories and what not. Typically a little javascript should do this trick. The rest is pretty conventional, icons, typography, grid spacing and pixel perfect alignment.

The .psd file itself is grouped, layered and organized. Feel free to use – under creative commons license. I would like to know if this type of design still suit clients out there. If you feel it’s a bit “played out”, out dated – whatever, Please let me know in the comments section. Download the file from this link.

Corporate Blue Home Page

The design is a modern layout ideally for a financial or business institution (anywhere a progress chart can be represented). A large feature area with a colorful bar graph sits right below the header. Underneath this area are three even columns with large thumbnails that can house summaries of your company profile, links or even the latest news.

Finally, the page includes a mid-size footer with a grayscale version of the logo, page navigation and copyright information. All buttons are vector shapes for easy customization. Page elements are professionally spaced using the 960 grid system, while text layers are anti-aliased to represent how real web fonts look in a live browser. You can download Corporate Blue from this link

Bang Business Cards

This second template is a submission from one of my followers: G S Vineeth. The Bang Business Cards is ideal for start ups, graphic designers or even a product. The design features bright rays of green as a background, topped with a rounded container with subtle gradients. The text elements are beautifully etched, also with the same green shade.

The fonts used are called 20th Century which can be downloaded from this link. You can view additional work from GS Vineeth from his Graphic River portfolio. Download the Bang Business Card template from this link.

Conclusion

So it has been a good couple of years. I have a steady rate of readership, a number of downloads as well as a few followers. My posts keep coming, client work is steady – all is good. Once again, I ask you to keep me going – by simply leaving a nice comment below or follow me in twitter and facebook. I hope you make use of the .psd files and maybe make your next project a little bit easier.

Step 1: Set the groundwork

In Photoshop, create a new document, 800 pixels width x 340 pixels height. Add a new guide – 70 percent from the top border of the document:

Add a dark background (I chose #292929), add a text layer and type out your words. The text settings are: 100 pt in size, color #ffffff, and type is “Myriad Pro – Black Italic”. Note that if you don’t have the same font – use something a similar italic, block type font.

Now, delete all the letters in your text layer and duplicate the layer for each letter. What we’re trying to do is have a layer in its own layer like below. Nudge each letter so they’re quite close to each other:

Step 2: Create the Text Effects

Now we’re ready to create the text effects. Double click the first letter and apply the following effects:

Drop Shadow:

Inner Shadow

Gradient Overlay

Add the following colors for the gradient (to do this click the gradient box from above). Move the color handles in the bottom bar to the position indicated. Leave the colors at #000000 and #ffffff.

Step 3: Copy and Paste the Layer Styles

Right click the first letter layer, select “Copy Layer Style”

Go to the next letter layer, right click and select “Paste Layer Style”

Continue doing this process to all the layers.

Step 4: Final Touches

Adjust your letter positioning according to your text content. The point is to just have enough spacing for subtle shadows to appear onto the next letter. I also decided to change the font color to the word “flyer” to #d30000 to match my color schema – choose your own color for yours.

Finally, create a new layer just above the background layer. Using the brush tool with these presets: (choose a really soft tip, adjust to 300 pt, with color #ffffff, opacity level to 24 percent). With just one click – daub right in the center of the document to give it that really soft glow in the background.

Conclusion

There you have it, a simple yet beautiful logo from nothing more than layers of text subtly overlapping each other. Play with the effects to your heart’s desire. You can even adjust the vertical positioning of each letter – just to add a bit more kick. Feel free to Download the PSD file.

Features

The one pager Sifiso has all the right stuff for a strong personal portfolio:

How to Edit

The source code is very pretty straightforward – simply edit the HTML with your own. The PSD contains 4 files – one for each main section of the page. All files are layered, grouped and labeled. To edit a text section – find the layer and edit the text within. Fonts used are “AR Blanca” (for the logo), and “Helvetica Nueu LT Std” for everything else.

Conclusion

Keep in mind that even though Sifiso may be full of images, it is still coded professionally to conform to standards and SEO. I hardly used any “image” tags (except for the portfolio section), and still used HTML text where it should be (see screenshot below).

*Note that I talked about how to code this way in my 3 part post: How to create a single page portfolio from scratch.

Credits to the icon developers:Coffee Mug by Omercitin, Paintbrushes by ArtDesigner.lv and Briefcase by thirteen eightyone.

The Websites:

Verizon Wireless

Sprint.com

Blackberry.com

Palm Pre

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

Nexus One

WireFly.com

Of course -The iPhone

HTC

T-Mobile

The Free PSD:

Below is a preview of the Photoshop mock up free for download. It was inspired by the list above.

Here is the download link. Feel free to check out my downloads page for other free stuff you can use in your design projects. Follow me in Twitter or leave a comment below – That’s all I ask.

As I was searching the net for good restaurant websites, I stumbled upon these 16 sites which had all the elements that my client needed. In addition, some of these websites look so good – that it would inspire many of you designers out there. Note that I included my work in the list (its my blog – I can do whatever I want).

http://thenoodlebox.net/

http://www.rubytuesday.com

http://www.twelve-restaurant.co.uk/

http://www.pizzaza.ca/

http://www.nuevo-aurich.de/

http://www.pomonavalleyminingco.com/

http://www.lapizarraproject.com/

http://www.villagerkent.com/

http://www.bertoldis.ca/

http://www.caferouge.co.uk/

http://jakesrh.net/

http://www.belgo-restaurants.co.uk/

http://www.giraffe.net/

http://www.sandiegobrewing.com/

http://www.hoddows-gastwerk.de/

http://www.strada.co.uk/

To preview what we are going to build – see the demo page. Just in case you missed the first tutorial, click here. So are you ready to get started? Let’s begin:

The Wrap, Header and Feature Divs

First of all, you will notice that our layout doesn’t really have anything in the header. This is because I’m sure you will use your own logo for your design – so I left that out. Second, is there really is no need for a navigation bar because we’re only building a single page. Although we may include some anchors in this area so we can quickly jump from one section of the page to another. Also important to recognize that most modern websites now have a large “feature” section which packs the main message of the website. This effect is proven to be pretty effective – that’s why we’re applying the same concept to our portfolio site.

In Dreamweaver, create a new HTML page, name it “index.html” and save it.

Create a CSS document – name it “styles.css” and save it in the same location as “index.html”. Link to the stylesheet from index.html by using a link tag:

<link type="text/css"  href="styles.css" rel="stylesheet" />

Now, we create the main DIV – we’ll call this the “wrap”. In this DIV we’ll house almost all of our elements (all but one: the footer – which I’ll explain later). In index.html, enter the code:

<div id="wrap">  </div><!--wrap-->

Next, we grab the body style of our page. Go to Photoshop and open our mockup. Flatten the image (“Layer” > “Flatten Image”) and grab a piece of background:

Still in Photoshop, press Ctrl + C to copy the selected area, create a new document – and paste (this will be our HTML body background that will span horizontally). Save this file as “body-bg.gif” inside a folder called “images” in our root directory.

Next is we apply some fixin’s to our CSS:

* {padding:0; margin:0}
  body{background: url(images/body-bg.gif) repeat-x #f3f2ed;}

The above code tells everything to reset to 0 padding and 0 margin. It also applies the body background to the image we just created, repeat it horizontally and apply the color #f3f2ed everywhere else. View your file in the browser, you should have something like below:

Now remember we created the main div? That is just sitting in somewhere in the page. Let’s apply some standard measurements to it and align it so it settles perfectly in the middle of our browser.

Note that in the beginning of this tutorial – I was going to use the 960.gs framework, but feel as though I’m cheating because the tutorial calls for “from scratch”. So I decided, I’m not using the framework and code everything by hand, hence – “from scratch”.

Add this code to your style.css:

#wrap {margin:0 auto; width:960px; background:#CCCCCC;  min-height:500px;}

This centers our wrap in the middle of the page, as well as set the default 960 pixels width. The background color and the minimum height properties are added temporarily so we can tell from the browser what we’re working with. Refresh your page and you should have something like below:

Go back to index.html and add the header div inside the wrap div:

<div  id="header"></div><!--header-->

Back to our style.css – add this piece of code:

#header {height:32px; background:#333333;}

Refresh your browser – and you can see where our header sits nicely on top. The background color again is temporary.

Next is our feature div. Create a new div tag in your index.html with the id of “feature”, place in between the “feature” divs. Add two paragraph tags inside with your own text. In my case – I’m using the default Lorem latin filler text:

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<div id="feature">
<p id="slogan"><!--your fantastic slogan goes here--></p>
<p><!--followed by a smaller, but also fantastic slogan here--></p>
</div><!--feature-->

Notice the first paragraph tag has an id of “slogan”. This is because this is the primary text that we are going to style with an image. We are treating it as regular text for SEO purposes.

Go back to your mock up in Photoshop and press “Step Backward” (ctrl + z + alt) several times until you get the fully layered version once again. Make sure the guides are showing – select the feature section like below:

In your layers panel, make sure you hide all the layers that shouldn’t be shown. This includes all the background layers and text elements. The only layer that should remain is the large feature image and the borders and glow to the left. Select the feature area and hit crop (“image” > “crop”). Save this as “feature.png” inside our images folder. This will be our feature div background image:

Now in our styles.css – add the following code:

#feature {background:url(images/feature.png)  no-repeat; height:394px;}

Go back to your mockup and click “Step Backward” (“Edit” > “Step Backward”) to uncrop. Unhide the slogan layer and select it according to the guides. Crop once again and save this as “slogan.png”.

Now add this code to your styles.css:

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#feature p#slogan {background:url(images/slogan.png)  no-repeat; width:390px; height:192px; text-indent:-9999px; position:relative;  top:30px; margin:0;}
#feature p {font-family:verdana; font-size:12px;  color:#FFFFFF; width:320px; line-height:20px; margin:48px 0 0 28px;}

The above code styles the two paragraph tags inside the feature div. The first one with a background image, and the next one as plain text. Now when search engines crawl our page – it still thinks both are plain text – which is a good thing.

I’ve also taken out the color property in our wrap div to see how our feature looks like. Another thing to remember is that since our feature sits in its own div – it will be easy to add a slideshow or something to that effect as replacement.

Now that our wrap, header and feature is in place, we’re ready to move to the next sections: Testimonials and Previous Work:

Testimonials and Previous Work Sections

If the feature section is our hard hitter – a testimonials area is our “counter punch”. Testimonials are a sure fire way of telling our viewers: “we’re good – read what others are saying about me!”. Also another proven way of increasing business, it is also the reason why we’re putting testimonials right below our feature section. Ready to continue coding? Let’s keep going.

In our index.html, add the code for our testimonials. Place this directly below our feature div:

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<div class="column first">
<p><!--your content here--></p><strong><!--author here--></strong>
</div><!--column-->
<div class="column">
<p><!--your content here--></p><strong><!--author here--></strong>
</div><!--column-->
<div class="column last">
<p><!--your content here--></p><strong><!--author here--></strong>
</div><!--column-->
</div><!--testimonials-->

Of course, you substitute real testimonials and authors in its place. Notice the “first” and “last” additional classes to the columns – we need this to fix our margins in our css. Next, go back to Photoshop and go backwards again so you get back to the original uncropped file. Select the Testimonials title all the way to the rightmost guide. Crop and save as “testimonials-title.jpg” inside our images folder.

Inside styles.css, append the below code:

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#testimonials {clear:both;  background:url(images/testimonials-title.jpg) no-repeat top left;  overflow:hidden; padding:65px 0 0 0; margin:0 10px 0 10px;}
#testimonials .column {width:260px; float:left;  background:#ccc; padding:20px; margin:10px; font-family:georgia, helvetica,  arial, serif; font-size:13px; line-height:19px;}
#testimonials .column.first{margin-left:0px;}
#testimonials .column.last{margin-right:0px;}

This code adds the background image that we just created to the main testimonials div. It also adds proper styling to the columns inside the div, and fixes to the margins so it remains inside our imaginary grid.

The optional “more” tab

The more tab is only necessary if you have more than 3 columns of testimonials that you would like to show. The point is just show 3 columns at first, and by clicking the “more” tab – more testimonial columns will slide below – most likely to be achieved by jQuery (I haven’t gotten there yet – remember – I’m writing this tutorial as I go!).

To add a more tab – add this code to your HMTL, right underneath the last column div:

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<div class="more">
<a id="more-testimonials">More  Testimonials</a>
</div><span id="more-1035"></span>

Note that we used a class for our div instead of an id. This is because this div can actually be reused in another section of our page.

Go back to your Photoshop file – click “Step Backwards” to the uncropped version – select the section that shows the “more testimonials” border and button according to your guides. Remember to hide the text layer over the button.

Crop and save this as “more-bg.jpg” inside the images folder. Add the code below to your .css file:

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.more {clear:both; background:url(images/more-bg.jpg)  no-repeat; height:31px;}
.more a{float:right; font-family:verdana; font-size:10px;}
.more a:hover {color:#999999;}
a#more-testimonials {padding:10px 16px 0 0;}

For the “Previous Work” section – it’s pretty much the same process as testimonials. The difference is – we are actually using an unordered list instead of div columns. Add the following code inside your HTML:

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<div id="previous-work">
<ul>
<li><a  href="images/thumbnail.jpg"><img  src="images/thumbnail.jpg" /></a></li>
<li><a href="images/thumbnail.jpg"><img  src="images/thumbnail.jpg" /></a></li>
<li><a  href="images/thumbnail.jpg"><img  src="images/thumbnail.jpg" /></a></li>
<li class="last"><a  href="images/thumbnail.jpg"><img  src="images/thumbnail.jpg" /></a></li>
</ul>
<div class="more">
<a id="more-previous-work">More Previous  Work</a>
</div><!--more-->
</div><!--previous-work-->

The thumbnail sizes are going to be 200 pixels width by152 pixels height. My sample code contains dummy thumbnails along with temporary images for the bigger image. We are incorporating a light box effect in the final product so users do not actually leave the page when viewing your gallery. Notice the addition of the “more” tab – which is again, purely optional.

For the “Previous Work” title – you do the same exact process in Photoshop as you did previously in the Testimonials title. Save this image in the images folder – name it: “previous-work-title.jpg”.

Now we add some styling to the list items, thumbnails and the entire div section:

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#previous-work {clear:both; background:url(images/previous-work-title.jpg)  no-repeat top left; overflow:hidden; padding:65px 0 0 0; margin:0 10px 0 10px;  text-shadow:0 1px 0 #fff;}
#previous-work ul {padding-left:7px;}
#previous-work ul li{float:left; list-style:none;  margin:20px 15px 20px 0;}
#previous-work ul li.last{margin:20px 0 20px 0;}
#previous-work ul li a{background:url(images/thumb-bg.jpg);  width:209px; height:165px; display:block; padding:11px 0 0 10px;}
#previous-work ul li a:hover  {background:url(images/thumb-bg-hover.jpg);}
#previous-work ul li a img {border:none; outline:none;}
a#more-previous-work {padding:10px 10px 0 0;}

I also created a couple of thumbnail image backgrounds for the active and hover states. Again this is purely optional and I won’t go over in this tutorial.

Now refresh your page in your browser. You should have something like the image below. It is also good practice to start viewing your page in different browsers. This way – you can start fixing bugs this early in the development process. Next stop is the footer.

The Footer

Let’s go back to our Photoshop file – you may have to go back in history a couple of times to get you to the uncropped, fully layered version. Another thing to remember is NOT to save your original mock up file. This file is to stay in its original form – we are just cropping, hiding layers as we go to get the parts we want. But in the whole, this mockup .psd file remains in its original state. Select the footer area – starting from the guide a few pixels above the dark brown area.

Once selected – crop the selection – but don’t save as of yet; we’re going to save a couple of images from this selection – one is the footer wrap, the other is the actual footer background.

Once cropped, select the first 20 pixels from the left and crop once again. Save this file as “footer-wrap.gif” inside our images folder. Now go back to the Photoshop file and step backwards a couple of times to bring us to entire cropped footer image. Hide the layer group named “form”, as well as all the text layers in the footer area.

Save this file as “footer.jpg” in the images folder. Unhide the text layer that says “Hire Me for Professional Work”, and hide all the background layers so you get full transparency. Select the text area using the rectangular marquee tool and crop. Save this file as “slogan2.png” in our images folder.

Now hit “Step Backward” (ctrl + alt + z) a couple of times to get to the uncropped footer image and unhide the “form” group of layers. Make sure you hide all the layers inside the form – all we need is the rounded container that embodies the form. Select this area, crop and save this file as “form-bg.png” in our images folder.

Finally, unhide the button text, shape and glow. Create guides that surround the button image and select accordingly. Crop and save as “submit.png” in our images folder.

Now go back to our index.html, add the following code right underneath the entire wrap div.

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<div id="footer-wrap">
<div id="footer">
<div id="left-container">
<p id="slogan2">Hire Me for Professional  Work</p>
<p><!--your footer slogan in this section</p>
</div><!--left-container-->
 
<form id="contact-form">
 
<div id="split-left">
  <label  for="name">Name:</label><br/>
  <input name="name" id="name"  type="text" class="formbox"/><br />
  <label  for="email">Email:</label><br />
  <input name="email" id="email"  type="text" class="formbox" /><br />
</div><!--split-left-->
  <label  for="comments">Comments:</label><br />
  <textarea name="comments"  id="comments" type="textarea" class="formbox"  /></textarea>
  <input name="send" id="send"  type="submit" value="" class="send"  />
</form>
 
</div><!--footer-->
</div><!--footer-wrap-->

The above code sets up all the content in the footer. This includes the two paragraphs on the left side and the contact form. Note that the form is still static. We will be converting this into a working form once we convert this to PHP.

Next up, is to style the contact form. Add the following code to your styles.css:

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#footer-wrap {clear:both;  background:url(images/footer-wrap.gif) repeat-x; height:377px;  margin-top:20px;}
#footer {width:940px; margin:0 auto;  background:url(images/footer.jpg); height:377px;}
#footer #left-container {width:400px; float:left;}
#contact-form {background:url(images/form-bg.png) no-repeat;  width:427px; height:169px; float:right; padding:40px 0 0 0; margin:78px 0 0 0;}
#split-left {width:170px; float:left; margin:0 0 0 30px;}
#contact-form label{color:#9e876b; font-family:verdana;  font-size:10px;}
#contact-form .formbox {padding:2px; margin:4px 0 7px 0;}
input.send {background:url(images/submit.png); width:101px;  height:37px; border:none; display:block; margin-top:10px;}
input:hover.send {background:url(images/submit2.png);}

The above code sets up our footer wrap to span the entire width of the page with its own background image repeating horizontally. Now you understand why we excluded this from the main wrap div? The rest of the code applies the styling to the footer and contact form – tied to the images we created in the previous steps.

Finally, we add the final touches to the two paragraph tags on the left side. Add this code to your styles.css:

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#footer p#slogan2 {background:url(images/slogan2.png);  width:400px; height:123px; text-indent:-9999px; }
#footer p {width:400px; float:left; font-family:verdana;  color:#FFFFFF;  text-shadow:0 1px 0 #000;  font-size:12px; line-height:20px; }

That concludes are HTML and CSS tutorial on our single page portfolio. Remember, we still have the scripting side to do – which is handled by PHP and jQuery, which we’ll cover in the next series. Click Here to see the DEMO Version of what we just created. The source code is also available to download – which includes all the files covered in this tutorial.

The Output

Below is a preview of what we’re building. The aim is to have a mock up that is fully layered, so we can optimize for the purpose of SEO and page performance. Ready to get started – Let’s begin:

Part 1 – The Fold

We’re going to design the page from the top to bottom. The fold is first part of a web page can see – without having to scroll downwards. In our case, this includes the header and the big red feature bar:

If you aren’t familiar with 960.gs – it’s a CSS framework that follows the standard 960 pixels page width rule. Download the photoshop template and check out the guides – we are building the page following the 960 grid rules:

Create a new layer – this will be the fold layer. Select the full page width, with approximately 380 pixels in height. Fill it with a solid color – in my case I chose a bright red #730701:

Create another layer for the header bar, select the full page width and 48 pixels in height. Fill this with another solid color – in my case, #bcbcbc for light grey.

Where the header bar and the fold meet, we want to add an “etched” effect. We achieve this by using 2 lines using the “line” tool. Create 2 horizontal lines at 1 pixel each (make sure you hold the “Shift” key) as you drag it across the page. Nudge one line so that they sit just on top of one another. The rule is to use a lighter shade for one line, and a darker for the other (it is important that you play with the colors, and zoom out and test if the etched look is achieved). Add a subtle gradient fill for the header bar as well.

The next step is to add a large feature image. This sits on top of all the layers to give it that 3D effect. Place in at almost half the 960 pixel page width, overlapping some part of the header and pass below the fold. Include the effects as shown:

Immediately to the left of the feature image, add your large slogan text. This is to be your attention grabbing statement, and is important to be the most prominent. I chose Rockwell at size 36 pixels, with -50 tracking. Also add the following text effects:

• Drop shadow – Normal blend mode – #000, 90 degrees angle, 1px distance, 0 spread and 1px in size
• Inner Shadow – Normal blend mode – #FFF, 90 degrees angle, 1px distance, 0 choke and 0px size
• Gradient Overlay – use default settings, reduce opacity to 34% and 90 degrees in angle

Add a gradient effect to the background layer named the fold. The rule is to use a slightly lighter color than the existing background as one color, and the same background color as the secondary color. Fill by pressing the shift key and releasing simultaneously.

Add another 2 horizontal lines right underneath the slogan text. *Use the rule as described in the previous line tools used in the header and the fold separation. Add a smaller set of text – I used Arial with 14 pixels in size, #FFFFFF color.

To complete the fold – we add a glow effect to the bottom area where the borders separate the large text and the small text. Select a small area (shown below), grab the brush tool, select white for the color, increase the brush radius (shown below) – reduce the opacity all the way to 12 percent and daub a quick light stroke.

Part 2 – Below the Fold

Below the fold technically includes everything under the fold. But for the sake of this tutorial – it includes all BUT the footer section. The reason is – this will be the only part that will need to grow. If there was additional content to be made – it will be inside this section. The fold and the footer remain static in height.

We start by creating a new layer. With the selection tool, select everything below the red feature section below. Fill this selection with #f3f2ed using the paint bucket tool. *Note that the large image layer should be placed on top of all the other layers.

We then create a new horizontal guide. This guide should be right below our feature image (allow a few pixels extra for the added shadow effect). This guide’s main purpose is to know where we will slice our divs (which I will cover once we start coding) and where our gradient ends. Grab the selection tool once more and start from where the red area ends – down to the new guide. Using the gradient tool, select #e1decf primary color and #f3f2ed and fill with a straight line (hold shift).

We then add that same “etched” look where the two layers meet. The same technique is used – create two lines with one darker and one lighter. In this case the upper line has #670600 fill and the second #faf9f3.

Next step is to create the sub heading. With the type tool, choose the Rockwell font at 24 pixels in #292929 color and type the word “TESTIMONIALS”. Directly to the left of the text – I imported the “users_two_48” icon from WeFunction and scaled the image down to 60 percent and desaturize (Ctrl + U, slide the saturation all the way to the left). Add two horizontal 1 pixel lines (#e5e5e2 and #FFFFFF) directly underneath (by this point of the tutorial, I’m going to assume you have this technique down already).

*Tip – Create a group called “sub headings” and add all the above elements in it. We will be duplicating this sub heading in following sections.

Directly below the Testimonial subheading – we create 3 text boxes with some dummy text. I used Verdana at 14 pt, 20 pt leading. Make sure you allow enough padding and margin around each surrounding box. Align according to the grid. Note that this part of the design acts only as a marker. We will use actual text for these boxes.

Duplicate the two horizontal lines from the sub headings section. Move these 2 lines right below the 3 text boxes that you have created. Create a new layer, select 124 pixels (width) x 25 pixels (height) and fill with #FFFFFF with the paint bucket tool. Move this layer right below the two horizontal lines. Using the text tool, use 10 pt Verdana, color # 6b6b6b and type the words “more testimonials” – move this directly on top of the new layer we’ve just created. This acts as end marker for the testimonials section with a button that displays more testimonials.

*Tip – create a new group for the above elements and name it “end marker”.

Next, we add a “Previous Work” section. Remember that we created a group called “sub headings” a little while back? Duplicate this group and name it “sub headings 2”. Using the down cursor in your keyboard, move the new group approximately 560 pixels downwards. Change the text to say “PREVIOUS WORK” and use another icon, scale it down and desaturate.

An image gallery will showcase our portfolio’s “Previous Work” section. Similar to the testimonials area, we are dropping some dummy thumbnails in our photoshop file, just for mock purposes. We are going to span 4 thumbnails across at 210 pixels each in width. Make sure the thumbnails align to the grid, taking 3 columns each with enough paddings in between each other. Add the following effects for each thumbnail: Drop Shadow (settings shown in below screenshot) and an inside stroke of 6 pixels and #FFFFFF fill color.

To complete the “Below the Fold” section – we create an end marker for the “Previous Work” area. Duplicate the group “end marker” and name it “end marker 2”. Move this newly created group approximately 380 pixels downwards. Change the text in the button to say “more previous work”. Our next quest is the Footer. Keep going!

Part 3 – The Footer

And now we come to the final piece of the design process – the Footer. I enjoy designing footers because they represent completion; they’re also the most overlooked section of a page that I feel that it deserves the same attention as the other parts.

The height of the footer is approximately 375 pixels. If you haven’t already done so – extend your canvas size to an additional 375 pixels – but be sure to click the anchor all the way to the top.

Create 3 new horizontal guides: first is where the “Below the Fold” background ends, then approximately 35 pixels below, and third – another 30 pixels down (this is where the footer background layer starts). Make a selection from the first guide to the next one down, make sure you’re on the “Below the fold” background layer, and do a gradient fill: primary color #e3e0d2, secondary #f3f2ed. Next, create a new layer for the footer background and add a gradient fill: primary color is #361f01 and secondary #493215. Do 80 percent for the primary fill. Finally, create 3 horizontal lines with the line tool at 1 pixel each with the following fills (in the following order): #ffffff, #000000 and #624825. Line them according the last guide you’ve created (see below).

Duplicate the text layer for the slogan (The Fold), change the content to say “Hire me for professional work”, drag downwards to the footer, and place on the left half of the footer area. Add another text area, use Verdana, 12px #ffffff, enter some dummy text, and place directly below the large text.

On the right half of the footer, we’re placing a rounded rectangle for the background of the contact form. Using the Rounded Rectangle tool – create a rectangle, center between 6 columns in the grid. Add a drop shadow and stroke effect as shown below:

Create a new layer and make 3 rectangles inside the rounded rectangle we’ve just created. These will act as the form fields. Note that these are just as markers which will not really be used in the output. We’re using real form fields in the code. Fill these rectangles with #ffffff using the paint bucket tool.

What’s a contact form without a pretty submit button? Using the rounded rectangle tool – create a button and add an inner shadow (66 percent opacity) and a 1px inner stroke – #85827e. Add the text “Submit” on top of this button using “Rockwell” at 14px.

Finally, remember I said the footer should have the same detail as the other parts of the page? We’re going to add a nice glow in the background which will highlight our large text and the contact form. Select the footer background with the selection tool. Next, pick a soft round brush at 500 pixels, select color #ffffff and decrease the opacity of the brush to 10 percent. Center the brush horizontally and halfway above the footer – click once and Voila – instant glow in the background!

And there you have it. We’ve just created a full page mockup in Photoshop. Next will be coding the HMTL and CSS – so stay tuned!

You can download the .psd from this link

The project I envisioned was a full website turn around. The company was still using static pages with old style tables and in line styling. My proposal was to completely overhaul their site into WordPress.

As you can see from above I planned on using WordPress as a CMS. A large section that will house a jQuery Content Slider or another form of slideshow that leads viewers to try out the demo. Directly below are a set of three column containers which will pull posts from different categories. A slightly different approach for the footer – which contains six mini columns as the main sitemap.

Feel free to download this fully layered and grouped PSD file from this link. Hopefully you can find a good use for the template. If one of you should become successful in taking some company away from static pages – then I’m happy.