Quick Tip : Create a Fresh Cucumber Text Effect

Follow this quick tip to learn how to create a fresh and realistic cucumber text effect. You will work with multiple appearances, blending modes and effects like: Feather, Inner Glow, Roughen and Pointillize. You will also learn to create a multipurpose water drop. Let’s start.

Step 1

Open a new web document and type "Fresh" using the Type Tool (T). The font used is called Blob Round and you can find it here. I picked it because there is enough space for the core of the cucumber slices, where the seeds are.

Go to the Object menu and choose Expand then Ungroup. Next arrange the letters so that the space between them to be approximately equal. Select them then go to Effect > Stylize > Round Corners and apply a 10 px Radius. Choose Expand Appearance and Ungroup from the Object menu and you are done with the text for now.

Step 2

Take the Ellipse Tool (L) and draw a circle then fill it with the radial gradient shown. Give it a 1.5 pt green Stroke and select Align Stroke to Inside from the Stroke Panel. Go to Effect > Stylize > Feather and apply a 2 px Radius but only for the green stroke.

Step 3

From the Appearance Panel, open the fly-out menu and choose Add New Fill. Change the fill color to the one indicated and drag the fill under the first one. Now having this second fill selected go to Effect > Path > Offset Path and apply a 2 px Offset value to obtain the peel around the cucumber slice.

Step 4

Also for the second fill apply the Roughen effect that you can find in the Effect menu under Stylize. Next go back to Effect > Stylize and this time apply the Inner Glow effect (not only for the second fill) using the green color shown.

Step 5

Select Add New Fill from the Appearance Panel and use black as the fill color. This third fill must be above the first one. Go to Effect > Pixelate and apply the Pointillize effect then change the Blending mode to Screen and reduce the Opacity to 15%.

Step 6

Now that you are done, make sure all the attributes are in the correct order then, having the circle selected, drag the thumbnail from the Appearance Panel into the Graphic Styles Panel to save the cucumber slice style. Next select all the letters and apply this style.

Step 7

Take the Polygon Tool and click on your working area to open the Polygon window. Select 25 px for the Radius and 3 sides to obtain a triangle. Go to Object menu > Path and use the Add Anchor Points option to add the middle points on the sides then draw the three lines between the points, using the Pen Tool (P), like in the image. Now move the middle points closer to the center with the Direct Selection Tool (A) and use the green lines as reference to help you keep the symmetry. When you are done select these three points and click on the Convert Selected Anchor Points to Smooth option.

Multiply the resulting shape and place one on each letter. Lightly rotate them so they don’t look identical. Fill these shapes with the yellow to white radial gradient shown and change the Blending mode to Multiply because this way white becomes transparent.

Step 8

Take the Rounded Rectangle Tool and click on your working area to open the window then enter the numbers shown. Select for this small rectangle a black fill and a 1 pt white Stroke then multiply it and arrange four in a row. Now take the Direct Selection Tool (A) and move some of the points to distort them a bit and also rotate them lightly. Group these four shapes then go to Effect > Warp and apply the Arch effect. Choose Expand Appearance from the Object menu then drag the group into the Brushes Panel and select New Art Brush.

In the Art Brush Options window select the direction and Tints as the Colorization method.

Step 9

Next draw with the Pen Tool (P) the three black paths around the shape obtained at the step 7. Stroke these paths using the Art Brush defined earlier then change the Stroke color with the one shown and reduce the Weight value to 0.4 pt. Do the same thing for the other letters but for the letters "R" and "S" select a thinner Weight because the space is narrower. When you are done with all of them, go to the Object menu and choose Expand Appearance then change the Blending mode to Multiply and lower the Opacity to 60%.

Step 10

Use the Ellipse Tool (L) to draw an oval shape having the dimensions shown then take the Direct Selection Tool (A) and move the top and bottom points to distort the shape. You can also move the handles a bit. Next multiply this shape and place them like in the image. Group them then go to Effect > Blur and apply a 1 px Gaussian Blur. Do the same thing for the other letters.

Step 11

To create the seeds first draw a straight path having a 1 pt Stroke then place an oval shape on its right side and fill it with the radial gradient shown. In the image below you can see another kind of seed that has a thinner stroke and the oval is a bit distorted using the Direct Selection Tool (A) because no seed is perfect. Multiply the seeds, rotate and place them randomly like in the image.

Step 12

This is my version of a water drop. Because I used only white, gray and black it is a multi-purpose water drop and you can use it in any other project and on almost any background color. First draw an oval shape and fill it with a radial gradient from white to black then use the Gradient Tool (G) to adjust it. Change the Blending mode to Screen. Copy and Paste in back this oval and move it a bit down and to the right. Fill it with a white to gray radial gradient then set it to Color Burn. Now you obtained a small shadow at the bottom of the water drop. Next draw a shape like the one in the image, at the top, fill it with white then go to Effect > Stylize > Feather and select a 2 px Radius. Scale this shape to obtain a smaller one and just give it a white fill (no Feather).

Group all the shapes and before you place the water drop on one of the letters, go to Effect > Stylize and apply the Drop Shadow effect. Now you can multiply it and scale it to obtain bigger or smaller water drops.

Step 13

In the final image there is a light shadow behind the letters. To add it, Copy and Paste in back the letter shapes and delete all the attributes. Fill them with black then go to Effect > Stylize and apply the Drop Shadow effect.

Final Image

You are done and here is the final image: