How To: Subway Art

Subway art is kind of a big deal, if you didn't know. I think it's a cute, fun idea to showcase favorite quotes, house rules, etc. You could go out and buy something that sort of fits your home or you could do it yourself...let's focus on the DIY aspect of it.

These instructions are for Photoshop, btw. I tried to keep it as simple as possible so I present: Subway Art in 10 steps or less! (It's really 10 steps so you can see how the whole thing came together.)

First, create a new canvas by going to "File", "New", and then creating the actual canvas. I started out with an 8x11 72ppi blank canvas then used the paint bucket tool for the background color.

Then I used the Text Tool to create each layer. I created a screen shot of each layer I created so you could see the text and font size of each layer. These images can be made larger by clicking on them.

To create the sideways text, I simply typed in the text box then used the arrows to turn the text box.

Using different size fonts is key. You want to make it look random without it actually being random. Plan it out in your head & make changes as necessary.

I wouldn't suggest using more than 3-4 different types of fonts. If you use more than that it looks less like subway art & more like a 3rd grade collage.

 I made "stand out" in a different color because I thought it would look appropriate. I mean, it would make the words, ya know, stand out.

The last step is cropping and flattening the layers. This is the finished project.