In this tutorial, we'll create a crazy poster to illustrate a famous quote by Oscar Wilde: “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken”. We’ll apply various Warp Effects to create the elements easily. And we'll learn to make a gentle grain effect to give our poster a vintage look and do some freehand lettering.
To get some inspiration, check out the amazing library of vector lettering and quirky fonts on Envato Elements.
Let’s get started!
What You'll Learn in This Quirky Lettering Poster Tutorial
- How to create a fancy top hat
- How to style those crazy round glasses
- How to style the trendy hipster mustache
- How to render a funny smiling mouth and vintage folded ribbon
- How to design your whimsical freehand lettering
- How to give your poster a vintage grainy look
1. How to Create a Fancy Top Hat
Step 1
First of all, create a New Document of 600 x 800px size. Form the palette that we’ll be using in our image to make the composition vivid, while preserving the consistent look of a retro-style poster.
Step 2
Start by taking the Ellipse Tool (L) and drawing a squashed shape. Then, use the Rectangle Tool (M) to add a rectangle shape and align its upper anchor points with the middle of the ellipse.
Select the lower left anchor point and press the Enter key to open the Move options window. Set the Horizontal position value to 35 px and Vertical to 0 px, and hit the OK button. Repeat the same with the right anchor point, but this time move it to -35px.
Step 3
Keep our rectangle selected and go to Effect > Warp > Bulge, setting the Bend value to -11%.
Step 4
Go ahead and add a narrow stripe with the Rectangle Tool (M) to form the hat’s rim. This time, use the Arc effect, setting the Bend value to -20% and making the rim curved.
Step 5
Let's form a simple ribbon to make our hat a bit saucy. Duplicate the rim shape and move the copy up a bit. Select both the middle hat shape and the rim copy and use the Shape Builder Tool (Shift-M) to delete the unneeded parts by clicking them while holding the Alt key.
Step 6
Duplicate the middle part of the top hat, make it narrower, and set the Blending Mode to Screen. Repeat these moves once more and, finally, get rid of the unwanted parts, thus making a nice highlight on the ribbon.
2. How to Style Those Crazy Round Glasses
Step 1
Let’s make a pair of quirky round glasses to give our poster a unique and crazy look! Start by forming an even circle with the Ellipse Tool (L). Go to Object > Path > Offset Path and set the Offset value to -10px. Finally, select the outer shape and change its color to orange, picking it from our palette.
Step 2
Add a simple highlight and a shadow to the frame. Let’s also create a shiny fleck on the glass. Put a small white rectangle on the glass and Move it 12 px horizontally. Hit the Copy button to create a copy of the rectangle. Add two more copies and place them under the first two.
Step 3
Group the highlights and apply an Arc effect with a 20% Bend value. Object > Expand Appearance of the shape and apply another effect—this time Arch—with a 23% Bend value.
Step 4
We need to add a reflection to make the glasses glossy and vivid. Just copy the inner glass shape, make it brighter, and use the Shape Builder Tool (Shift-M) to form a curved reflection.
Step 5
It’s time to form the glasses! Add the second part of our glasses and connect them with a narrow rectangle. Add a highlight and a shadow similar to those on the frame.
Step 6
Group all the parts of the bridge together and apply an Arc effect with a 40% value to bend the bridge upwards.
3. How to Style the Trendy Hipster Mustache
Step 1
We need to make a simple brush in order to form a curled mustache in a few clicks. Start by making a circle, and use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to grab its side anchor point and drag it to the right. Click it with the Convert Anchor Point tool (Shift-C) to turn it into a sharp corner.
Move the shape that we’ve formed onto the Brushes panel and create an Art Brush. I’ve left the default setting here as I don’t need to change the color or size of the shape later, but you can return to this menu and edit the settings any time by clicking your brush twice in the Brushes panel.
Step 2
Create a curved line with the Pencil Tool (N) or Arc Tool and apply the newly created brush. Go to Object > Expand Appearance. Select the Smooth Tool (or click and hold the Alt key while the Pencil Tool (N) is selected) and stroke the shape to reduce the quantity of the anchor points, making it smoother and neater.
Step 3
Add a gentle shadow to the lower part of the mustache, picking the darker red color from our palette. Place the mustache under the glasses and use the Reflect Tool (O) to make the second half of the mustache by mirroring it over the vertical axis.
4. How to Render a Funny Smiling Mouth and Vintage Folded Ribbon
Step 1
Grab the Rounded Rectangle Tool, set the Corner Radius to 20 px, and make a sausage-shaped object. Apply the Arc effect to bend our object horizontally -38%.
Step 2
Add a smaller shape to form the inner part of the mouth and to emphasize the lips. Continue by adding two white circles in the corners of the mouth. Those will shape the teeth. Select both circles and go to Object > Blend > Make, setting the Spacing to Specified Steps, 3 in the Blend Options.
Step 3
Select the Blend group with the Direct Selection Tool (A) and edit the line, making it a bit curved. Put a copy of the inner shape of the mouth above the other objects and Make Clipping Mask to hide the unneeded parts of the teeth.
Step 4
Add two more circles to our mouth and hide them in the Clipping Mask as well, forming the tongue. Use the Paintbrush Tool (B) and make a smooth stroke with the same brush as we’ve created for the mustache.
Step 5
Expand your stroke and modify it by cutting off the unneeded upper part. Make the tip of the tongue smoother and more realistic with the Convert Anchor Point Tool (Shift-C) and, finally, add a gentle shadow with the Pencil Tool (N).
Step 6
The last but not the least element of our composition is an elegant vintage ribbon, which is very easy to make. Create two turquoise stripes with the Rectangle Tool (M) and skew them by selecting the side anchor points and dragging them up with the Direct Selection Tool (A). Add darker background parts of the ribbons and, finally, use the Arc effect with a -10% value to bend the ribbon slightly.
We’ve finished the facial elements!
Let’s move on to the letters!
5. How to Design Your Whimsical Freehand Lettering
“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken” — Oscar Wilde.
Step 1
Choose the Pen Tool (P) and start blocking out the first letter of our quote: the “B”. Make straight lines and cut out the center parts using the Minus Front function in the Pathfinder panel.
Step 2
Let’s decorate our letters with bright “bulbs”. Put several circles in the corners of the letter, and use the Blend Tool (W) to connect them into a nice garland.
Step 3
Form the “E” in the same way, and make the letters more three-dimensional by adding a shadow. Duplicate the basic shapes and move the copies a few pixels down and to the left.
Place the letters on top of the hat.
Step 4
Now grab the Pencil Tool (N) and freehand the first part of our next word—“yourself”—in a simple cartoon handwriting.
Draw a brighter yellow shape above the upper parts of the letters and edit them with the Shape Builder Tool (Shift-M), turning them into nice highlights.
Put the letters in the center of our cylinder hat.
Step 5
Use a nice calligraphic font to depict the second part of the word. In this case I used the “Adventure” font, but you can choose any italic script to your liking. Expand the font and give it a nice look by adding the highlights and shadows. Use the Arc warp effect to give the object a gentle bend, so that it fits the hat brim perfectly.
Step 6
The next word will be “everyone”. Let’s make a simple Pattern Brush for some whimsical writing. Create a stripe and put a dashed line above it. Make a simple shape consisting of circles, which we’ll use as the tips of the letters.
Expand the line, group it with the rectangle, and create a Pattern Brush with default settings.
Take the Paintbrush Tool (B) and make a few strokes to form each letter. Attach the circled elements to the tips of every letter.
Step 7
There is also a “lazy” way to create the whole word. You can add the circled tips to your pattern brush as well. Just drag the element and its reflected copy to the Swatches panel, and then add them in the Pattern Brush Options window as the “Start Tile” and “End Tile”.
This way, you’ll be able to make a line with figured tips, but sometimes they become deformed and don’t look very nice.
However, the word will be quite small compared to the size of other objects, so it’s up to you to decide which technique to use. Below you can see a comparison of these two methods.
Put the letters on our image and distribute them nicely around the glasses. Add a bright shadow to separate the letters from the objects below and make them more noticeable. Further down, form the word “else” with the Pencil Tool (N) and place it on the mustache.
Step 8
Let’s try out another handy Adobe Illustrator tool: the Blob Brush Tool (Shift-B). Check out my settings in the screenshot below and form the word “is” on the tip of the tongue, decorating it with simple doodle sparks.
Step 9
Finally, shape out the two last words—“already taken”—in the same way as we shaped the word “your” with the Pencil Tool (N). Place the letters and rotate them a bit to fit the ribbon.
6. How to Give Your Poster a Vintage Grainy Look
Step 1
Now that we’ve finished with the main elements of the composition, we need to add a nice, simple background that won’t distract us from the picture and, at the same time, will emphasize the vividness of our poster. I’ve played with the colors, changing some of them, so that they are clearly visible above the background. As you may notice in the screenshot below, I’ve changed the colors of the words “be”, “everyone else”, and “is”, still using the colors from our basic palette.
Step 2
Add a rectangle the same size as your Artboard for the background, and fill it with a bright radial gradient from vivid yellow in the center to orange on the edges.
Step 3
It’s time to make a vintage grainy look! Select the top part of our hat, Copy it, and Paste in Front (Control-C > Control-F). Fill the shape with a linear gradient from white to dark red, and switch the Blending Mode to Multiply.
Finally, go to Effect > Effect Gallery > Textures > Grain and apply the effect with Sprinkles Grain Type, setting the Intensity to 72 and the Contrast to 55. You can alter these values anytime by choosing Grain in the Appearance panel.
Apply the same Grain effect to other elements of our picture, selecting appropriate colors for the gradients.
Yay! Congratulations on Finishing Your Crazy Poster!
Great job! You’ve just finished creating a funny retro poster with quirky lettering. I hope it has motivated you for some great new art creations and given you some useful tips and tricks. Stay tuned and follow your inspiration!
The Best Quirky Fonts From Envato Elements
Still looking for quirky fonts to create a crazy poster? If you're into weird lettering, this selection from Envato Elements is for you:
1. Shinelof Retro Business (OTF, TTF, WOFF)
Shinelof is a retro typeface ideal for anyone who's crazy about weird lettering. This font was made in a unique shape to stand out from any retro fonts. Shinelof has 20 types of ligatures and 41 types of alternatives for you to experiment with. Your download includes OTF, TTF, and WOFF font formats. It is a great choice for blogs, logos, movie titles, and of course any retro poster design.
2. Naskle: Groovy Retro Font (OTF, WOFF)
Create a crazy poster design with this font. Naskle is a fun and psychedelic font that you can use for retro posters or any kind of creative project. The funky style of this font will resonate with 70s and 80s lovers. You'll also get a versatile font family to play with.
3. Lettro Retro Layered Script (OTF, WOFF)
Nothing says "crazy poster" like a bold script font. Lettro is a great example. Create an amazing retro poster design with this 70s / 80s inspired font. You'll get a ton of stylistic alternates, swashes, and ligatures. This download also comes in five styles: Regular, Extrude, Extrude Outline, Double Extruded, and Double Extruded Outline. This is perfect for memorable quote designs for crazy posters, T-shirts, and packaging.
4. Popsmile: Retro Pop Fonts (OTF)
If you love retro poster design, you need to try this font. Inspired by the retro pop culture, Popsmile is a great choice for a crazy poster. This font has a classic, playful style that could work perfectly for a cool T-shirt design or even an online promo.
5. Hofisem Retro Serif Typeface (OTF)
Are you into weird lettering? Hofisem Retro Serif is the font for you. With this download, you'll get a 70s style font with a funky handmade style. The thickness of this font fits perfectly with retro styles to make an amazing retro poster design. Hofisem also features stylistic alternates, stylistic sets, and ligatures. It could work not only for a crazy poster, but even for a crazy logo or a crazy T-shirt design.
Learn how to design a crazy poster and other lettering tricks. Check out our tutorials and articles below:
Retro Design Trend: Create the 80s Style With Fonts, Text Effects, and More!
A Look at Graphic Trends That Define the 70s (Retro Fonts, Text Effects, and More!)
How to Create a 70s Background in Illustrator
How to Create a Retro Long Shadow Text Effect in Adobe Illustrator
35 Cool Funky Fonts (Funky 70s and Retro Disco Fonts)
24+ Best Free Retro Fonts (50s–80s Fonts to Download)
Editorial Note: This post has been updated with contributions from Janila Castañeda. Janila is a staff writer with Envato Tuts+.
