Distressed V (the TV series) Logo

TipSquirrel welcomes back Simon Rudd

Recently I have been enjoying the remake of an old classic, V. The logo which is shown at the beginning of every show is a big red V with bloody blobs running down it. I’m going to show you how to create your own version of this in Photoshop.

Step 1

Start by making a new document in Photoshop – I used 1024×768 but really you could use any size – but beware if you use a very big size the blobs we create later will need to be resized.

Set the background to black (#000000) and make a new Layer (Layer > New > Layer) above this layer called blobs.

Step 2

Choose the Text Tool and set the font to Arial – you can use whatever font you want, but I’m using this as most people would have it. Set the colour to red (#9e0b0f) and type a V in the middle of the screen. I set my size to 72 but you can choose whatever size you want. Move the blobs layer above the V layer.

Step 3

On the Blobs layer we want to add some noise – well lots of it really – Filter > Noise > Add noise > 400%, distribution Gaussian and monochromatic.

Step 4

Next we want to blur the noise by 5 pixels – Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur 5 pixels.

Step 5

Now we have some lovely blurred stuff on the screen – attractive no? Next we go to Image > Adjustments > Threshold and move the slider till the blobs are biggish.

Step 6

Now use the Magic Wand with continuous unticked and select some of the white then press delete to clear it.

Step 7

Go to Select > Deselect to get rid of the marching ant’s selection. Next using the move tool, move the dots around till they block out parts of the V.

Step 8

Duplicate the blobs layer and reselect the blobs by holding Control and clicking on the layer thumbnail. Next set the foreground to red (#9e0b0f) and fill it with Edit > Fill > fore colour. Move the layer around a bit to get some good blobs.

Click to Enlarge

Step 9

Add a Layer Mask (Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal all ) and paint with black on the mask to remove some of the blobs.

Click to Enlarge

Step 10

Press D on the keyboard to reset to default colours, make a new Layer as before and call it clouds. Next add clouds by going to Filter > Render > Clouds. Set the Blending mode to Overlay.

Click to Enlarge

Step 11

We want to adjust the levels of the clouds layer to make it look a little more grungy – Image > Adjustments > Levels and set the input levels to 0, 0.60, 255.

Click to Enlarge

Step 12

Next put a selection using the rectangle marquee tool around the graphic and copy merged (Edit > Copy Merged) and paste it to a new layer.

Click to Enlarge

Step 13

Flip the new copy vertically and position it under the old V, set the blending mode screen temporarily to remove the black if you having trouble positioning it.

Step 14

Right click on the new inverted V, press Control & T to transform it, and then right click on the selection and choose perspective. Pull out the bottom anchors as in the picture.

Click to Enlarge

Step 15

Finally add a layer mask to this layer and using a linear gradient on the Mask draw a line upwards from the bottom of the screen to mask out some of the distorted V.