How to Create a Hope Poster in Affinity Photo

In this tutorial, we’ll learn how to create a hope poster in Affinity Photo. This famous style design was used in 2008 for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. It was designed by Shepard Fairey who’s a graphic designer, contemporary street artist, illustrator, activist, and founder of Obey clothing.

Before you begin, go to the following link to download the picture used in the tutorial.

Woman

Step 1

Go to File > New. Next, go to Print and select the A4 document. This is 210 mm by 297 mm or 8 in by 11 in. Then, click Create.

Step 2

After that, grab the Rectangle Tool from the Tools Panel. Draw a rectangle that covers the whole document.

Step 3

With the rectangle selected, go to the Swatches Panel. Double-click the white color to bring up the Color Chooser. Se the rectangle to the following hex code color #FEE2A2.

Step 4

Now, grab the Rectangle Tool again from the Tools Panel. Draw a rectangle that covers the bottom part of the document. Go to the Swatches Panel and bring up the Color Chooser. Set the rectangle’s color to #002F54.

Step 5

In the Tools Panel, grab the Rectangle Tool again. Go to the Toolbar and turn Snapping on. Take the tool and draw a rectangle that meets the halfway point of the document.

Step 6

With the rectangle still selected, press CTRL + Shift. Make sure the cursor turns into the four arrows. Then, drag a copy of the rectangle to the other side of the document.

Step 7

Next, go to the Swatches Panel. Set the color of the selected rectangle to #F90E00.

Step 8

Select the rectangle on the left side and set the color of it to #688FA3.

Step 9

In the Layers Panel, select the red rectangle and the two blue rectangles. Press CTRL + G to group the rectangles together.

Step 10

Select the group. Go to the Transform Panel and click on the Lock Aspect Ratio. Then, with the Move Tool, resize the group and make it slightly smaller.

Step 11

Once you’ve resized the group, take the group and center it on the document.

We’ll now select the image that will be used to create a hope poster.

Step 12

Go to File > Open and select the picture of the woman you downloaded.

Step 13

Next, grab the Selection Brush Tool from the Tools Panel. In the Context Toolbar, make sure you’re in the Add Mode. Check the Snap to Edges box. Take the tool and select the woman.

Step 14

After you’ve selected the woman, press CTRL + J. This will make a copy of the selection and place it on a new layer. Press CTRL + D to deselect.

Step 15

Copy the new layer. Then, go back to the poster document and paste the woman. Resize the woman as you see on the screen. Place her in the center of the vertical rectangles.

Step 16

In the Layers Panel, click the Adjustments icon. Select the Posterize adjustment. Drag this layer inside of the woman layer so that the adjustment only affects this layer. Set the Posterize Levels to 5.

Step 17

Now, click the Adjustments icon again. This time select the Gradient Map adjustment. Drag this adjustment into the woman layer in the Layers Panel.

Step 18

Select the red color stop. Go to Color. Next, click the RGB Hex Sliders and enter the following hex code #002D48.

Step 19

Click on the line and add another point to it. Go to Color and set the color to #ED151E.

Step 20

Now, click the green color stop. Go to Color and change its color to #7095A1.

Step 21

After that, click on the line to add another point. Then, go to Color and change the color to #FDE6AC. Copy the hex code color.

Step 22

Click the blue color stop on the right side. Go to Color and paste the hex code number you copied which is #FDE6AC. There should be a total of 5 points on the gradient map.

Step 23

In the Tools Panel, grab the Artistic Text Tool. Take the tool and click and drag on the dark blue rectangle. Go to the Font Family and select the Gotham font you downloaded. Select Gotham Bold. Then, type the word you want to use for the poster in ALL CAPS.

Step 24

Select the text and make it the same color as the rectangle on the left side. Grab the Eye Dropper from the Swatches Panel and place it on the rectangle on the left. Then, click off it. Go to the Swatches Panel and click the colored circle next to the eye dropper.

Step 25

After that, resize the text to fit the poster. Then, place the text in the center of the dark blue rectangle.

Step 26

In the Layers Panel, select all the layers. Right-click on the selection and click merge Visible to place all the changes onto one layer. Turn off the other layers.

Congrats, you’ve completed this tutorial! You know now how to create a hope poster in Affinity Photo. For more tutorials on Affinity Photo, check out this tutorial on how to create a halftone effect.