Midcentury design elements feel familiar to each and every one of us, no matter what generation we actually belong to. For those who actually lived through the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, they are instant reminders of an idyllic childhood, one that perhaps watched “Leave It To Beaver” during its first run. For the younger whippersnappers of the Gen X and Millennial generations, midcentury design likely brings back memories of time spent at our grandparents’ homes, and syndicated episodes of black and white television shows. (After all, how many grandparent’s had cable, back in the day?)
There is a certain comfort found in midcentury design, and that’s the rare and unique specialization of RetroSupply Co. Dustin Lee, founder of RetroSupply Co., discovered his own inspiration in treasures tucked away inside of his grandmother’s house and garage. Her home became what he likes to refer to as his “retro lab,” a place where he could explore a treasure trove of midcentury items like hardware boxes, pulp comic books, product packages, and more. During an extended stay, he pored through those objects, among many others he found in local antique stores, to find ways to extract the “old” from vintage objects and recreate those aged effects digitally.
RetroSupply Co. has earned its place and a solid reputation as one of the very best online resources for midcentury graphic design assets, offering fonts, brushes, layer styles, print effects, and textures. Beyond Dustin’s incredible skill at replicating effects that are normally only attained through decades of wear and tear, it is his method that enables him to achieve such beautiful and authentic results in his work. He uses real objects to make many of his digital design assets, including wood, ink, and paper, 60-year old wax oil crayons, foil, garage grime, and even coffee and oil spills. His entire portfolio is a thing of beauty if you love midcentury design elements, and the work he’s put into his resources enable graphic designers to shave hours off of their workflow.
One of Retro Supply Co.’s more recent releases is Grave Etcher Vector Engraving Brushes, a scary awesome collection of 118 realistic Illustrator brushes that enable designers to craft vintage artwork effects in a snap. Dustin was inspired to create this set after studying vintage illustrations done by other artists in Illustrator, and asking himself “How in the hell did they do that?” The answer, of course, is through hours spent working on tediously-drawn etching lines and hoping that your efforts weren’t in vain by the end of it all.
Grave Etcher Vector Engraving Brushes opens an entirely new world of possibilities for graphic designers who want to achieve that same vintage etching effect but don’t have precious hours to waste on hand drawing every line. This brush set enables a designer to create beautiful effects in just minutes, using either a mouse or a tablet, and it’s perfect for any project you can dream of: posters, logos, advertisements, menus, book covers, illustrations, digital artwork, product packaging, labels, and so much more.
A variety of short, medium, and long brushes will accommodate every design situation and application. Whether you’re working on a logo or a roadside billboard, these vector brushes are designed to scale. There are 78 multiple line engraving brushes of varying size, and 50 single line brushes for filling in the finer details.
When RetroSupply Co. set out to create this set, they tried to anticipate every type of line work a designer could possibly take on, so they went to great lengths to ensure that designers could find exactly what they needed in Grave Etcher Vector Engraving Brushes. To that end, this collection offers 26 short multi-line etching brushes, 26 medium multi-line etching brushes, and 26 long multi-line etching brushes. It also offers ten each of extra short, short, medium, and long single line etching brushes. RetroSupply Co. also provides a handy instruction guide on how to install the brushes, along with a quick reference brush guide so you can preview each brush up close and two illustrator files of preview artwork to serve as inspiration.
Grave Etcher Vector Engraving Brushes is compatible with Adobe Illustrator CC and CS6, and once you’ve purchased this set, you’ll have access to free updates – for life!
RetroSupply Co. currently offers more than a hundred products on YouWorkForThem, a variety of brushes, textures, print effects, and fonts with a purely vintage vibe. If you adore midcentury design, we highly recommend you check out the rest of RetroSupply Co.’s portfolio because it’s jam-packed with assets you’re going to want to have on hand for your next project!
