Make a new document. 

Choose red as the foreground color, press Ok and then Fill the background layer by Alt/Opt Backspace or Edit: Fill.

Drag in a photos.com stock flower image, Edit: Transform: Scale it down to a manageable size.

Make a selection to get rid of the background excess. In this case again, using the magic wand tool.

Then, do the usual layer mask to help blend in with the rest of the image.

Drag in a dj image (from the ClubCast.tv portfolio available with the Discover Photoshop: Total Package) and do the stretch pixel effect.

You can try out different blending modes on the DJ layer (here again I’ve duplicated first). I’ve also added some dark grey reflected gradient tool to allow some of the stretch pixel layer to show through.

I’m choosing to lower the opacity of the flower layer to blend in even more with the document; the idea here is to keep it subtle. You should experiment around with naturally similar color layers in designs. Flyers will often use natural elements to balance them out.

Now let’s create some rectangular shape fill layers. First choose a color and get your rectangular marquee tool.

Create a new layer and then Fill it with the color.  The color will fill only within the selected area (the rectangle).

Create some exact clones by dragging the layer to the new layer icon. You can then Rotate as such.

Create a layer set to keep the shapes organized.

You’ll want to create a layer mask on the stretch pixel layer so the harsh edges aren’t as noticeable as it is a ‘blend’ in harmony with the document.

Go ahead and mask some more areas on the dj layer to let the stretch pixel layer show through to give more of a speedy blur effect.

Note the location of the shape fill layers...we want the dj standing out from that vector element and as long as he’s not masked in a certain area, he will be the visible layer because of his top position in the layers palette. Remember that we have layer masking going on to allow for visible stretch pixel layer ‘bleeding’.

Go ahead and lower the opacity independently of some of the shape fill layers. We want them to show ‘overlapping’ where they intersect. Create a text layer with the T tool. Type in some relevant text...you may have to have the Character palette handy to make such adjustments as this (changing the baseline shift or leading).

Add some more relevant text such as contact information for this design (essentially a flyer style business card). Oh and if you try emailing that address it probably won’t work. Mr. Demo Q. Public.

Blue stroke doesn’t work too great with this but hey, it stands out in this case; great if you don’t want people to ‘miss’ your email address. A dark red would work fine though because of the global theme and the peach fills beneath it.  You can get this actual .psd file from the iPSD Directory.

Ooh...shape layers. I go over these in great detail in the Basic Photoshop DVD Training program. They are an important part of creating flyer design. The balance of vector and bitmap is an important study to any serious graphic designer. The education must continue and your application of it. Vectors are used in many sub-genres of design. Here I’ve chosen a simple grid.

This is the poor man’s way to create a grid but it works...looks more like a prison fence actually.

Just duplicate it many times and hold the shift key down and move each layer to an equal distance apart (Ctrl/Cmd Alt/Opt Click drag also does the trick to duplicate). Here I’m not too concerned with distance accuracy.  Slapcrappy, but I go over another method in other tutorials.

Hide those guys in a layer set to give you the appearance you know what you’re doing.

Once you’re happy with it, you can Ctrl/Cmd E to merge linked layers and create it as one layer. You can also try a 3D transform on it.

Lower the opacity of the set to let it blend more into the background...with all of those elements you don’t want them fighting each other too much to take control of the viewer’s eye so I try to blend them in with the background. It’s all about design. There are a few main elements that are supposed to stand out. Text is very important in flyer and business card design so don’t let it get drowned out by too many competing elements.

Study the form of this design and be inspired from different elements everywhere you look. As a graphic designer and Photoshop user you should want to keep striving to become more versatile.

Click here to check out my full Photoshop Designer training.