Coffee Coup

Hi! In this tutorial, we will learn how to create a coffee coup using Photoshop. Some basic Pen Tool and Vector Graphics knowledge is required because we will make it scalable and compatible. I used this graphic as a logo for a contest, and from 25 designs, it was in top 8 so I think it’s something worth writing about.

We will start with a new blank document of 500x500 pixels and since the color theme of this design is brown, we will fill our new document with “#b0835d” (Edit->Fill).

Step 1. The front layer.

Using the Pen Tool, we start creating the first shape of our design. I assume that you know how to make shapes using Pen Tool. Set your Foreground Color to “#b0835d”.



Now on the Front Shape Layer we will add some layer effects to make it stand out. Go to Layer->Layer Style and apply the following styles:



This should make it look smooth and a bit textured. Feel free to try to change the gradient values since that sometimes tends to get out of control on some computers.

Step 2. The Back Layer.

Let us move on to the next shape. This time we work on the “back” of the coup, the inside part. Again, with the Pen Tool selected but this time with “#e1c180” on foreground, draw a shape similar to this one.



Right now, the layer order is wrong. We have to change that by moving the “back” layer under the “front” layer.



We will add some similar effects just like in step 1 using layer styles (Layer->Layer Style):



Step 3. The Fluid Layer.

In this step we make some coffee ;)). To save some time, we will duplicate the “back” layer and resize it a bit, then move it down and make it look like a fluid inside the coffee coup.
Well then, let’s duplicate the “back” layer by selecting it, then pressing CTRL or COMMAND and J. This shape layer is the “fluid” layer, so name it this way so you don’t get confused.
Now we must resize our “fluid” layer. Hold shift+alt while resizeing to keep the same pixel aspect ratio.



Obviously, this is not the way coffee looks, so the next thing we want to do is change that! Guess how? ! Using Layer Styles (Layer->Layer Style).
Before we do that, set the color of the shape fill to “#772400” by double-clicking the layer icon. This will show us the color picker.



In addition, we should clear the layer styles from our new layer because they were “inherited” from the “back” layer and we don’t need them anymore on this layer. Now we can continue with adding our layer styles:



Step 4. The Last Shape.

I think you already know what the last part that we will draw is. Use black when drawing this. It is a tricky one! You must make it stick to the “front” layer shape.



We add the layer styles as usual (Layer->Layer Style):



We should move the last shape under the “front” layer.



Right now we finished with the basic shapes. From this point on we will add some extras.

Step 5. Extras on the “Front” Layer.

Let’s make sure we have the same layer order shall we:



We will create a new layer on top of the “Front” layer. We want to add a bit more darkness on the front part, so we have to make a selection which cover all the content of the front layer. We can do that by Command or CTRL clicking the vector mask icon of our layer.



After making the selection, crate a new layer (Layer->New Layer), and name it Effect1 to stay organized, on top of the front layer and fill it with a gradient using the default colors.



Set the opacity of the new effect layer to 25-35% and the Blending Mode to Linear Burn(Layer->Layer Style->Blending Options). I used 30% opacity.



It’s time to move to the next effect.

Step 6. The Second Effect.

Let’s create a new layer on top of all the other layers and name it Effect2. We will add some lines that warp around the coup, making it stand out a bit more.
To draw rounded lines, we will use the Pen Tool set on Path Mode. To set the Pen Tool to Path Mode (it is initially set to Shape Mode) you must click this button.



Now we can draw a line similar to this one.



Using “#e2a03f” and a smooth brush from the default Photoshop Brushes with 5 px right click the path with the pen tool and chose Stroke with Brush. Here is the dialog box that you should encounter:



The same thing we will do for the next line.



The last thing we will do for this effect is to add a cool outer glow effect (Layer->Layer Style->Outer Glow):



One last ting and we are done. :D

Step 7. The last thing.

Coffee is hot most of the time, right? How do we know when coffee is hot? Exactly! :)
Again, using the Pen Tool draw a few lines like this one:



We have to create a new layer, name Effect3. On it, we stroke the path with the same procedure used in step 6. After that we have duplicate a few times Effect3 and move it around until you get something similar to this:



We will merge al the Effect3 Duplicates with Effect3 itself because we will use a blur effect the resulting layer after that. So select all the layers that ‘came’ from Effect3 and press CTRL or COMMAND + E.



With the merged layer selected, we will apply the Garrison Blur of 5 pixels (Filter->Blur->Garrison Blur).



Now to make this effect spread we will duplicate and move the Effect3 Layer. I duplicated mine 4 times and moved the duplicates around a bit, and here’s what I’ve got.



And now, the final thing to do is to merge again the duplicates and use the same Garrison Blur Effect again (CTRL or COMMAND + F).



Thatam! It’s done! I hope you enjoyed reading and applying this as much as I did when writing this tutorial.