Malu Rodrigues, a self-described “color enthusiast,” discovered her passion for design at a young age. The Brazil-based creative is self-taught in Photoshop — something she picked up at age 10 by swapping tips and tutorials with online communities on Tumblr — and went on to study art in college, with a focus on graphic design.
Now a designer at the clothing apparel company Farm Rio, Malu creates digital ads by day, and dedicates her free time to developing personal projects, which includes plenty of upbeat fan art. “A lot of it is around K-Pop fan art, which I’ve been creating since high school, and I think that helped me become a better designer,” says Malu, who loves to draw on deeply saturated colors, grainy textures, and styled-up lettering with glassy, airbrushed-looking effects.
As 2022 comes to a close, Malu has created a set of free, end-of-year social media templates for you to customize in Photoshop. “The end of the year is a time to reflect,” she adds — your biggest wins and proudest moments, hard lessons learned, or everything in between. As you reflect back on your own year, try out Malu’s templates and tips.
Level up your year-end Reels and TikTok recaps with customizable cover templates.
STEP 1/6
Choose your template.
Open up Malu’s Photoshop file and take a look at each template. Each design has editable features you can customize, including live text, color gradient backgrounds, illustrated stickers, and texture styles. Head over to the Layers panel, which contains each template organized by folder.
STEP 2/6
Recolor gradients.
Swap out or adjust colors in a pinch. In Template 1, select the Layer labeled “Edit all colors,” which will open up a Properties panel. Use the three sliders for Hue, Saturation, and Lightness to adjust color settings for Malu’s gradient. Play around and find the gradient that matches your mood.
STEP 3/6
Adjust textures.
Turn up the noise—or turn it down. Adjust the background texture in Template 2 by double-clicking the thumbnail for the Layer labeled “GRAIN TEXTURE.” This will open up a window to further customize the Layer Style. Increase the Blend Mode Opacity settings for a rougher texture, or decrease it for a softer, smoother look.
STEP 4/6
Switch up character styles.
Edit font choices, colors, and style effects to get a totally new vibe. Open up the Layers folder labeled “TEXT AND SHAPES” to poke around and adjust color settings for your text and shapes. Click into the subfolder “Text,” which contains a different Layer for each letter, number, and symbol. Click any of these to edit the font choice in the Characters panel, or double-click Stroke to adjust the thickness and color of the outline.
STEP 5/6
A change of heart.
Resize, rotate, or add more heart stickers in Template 4, or move them around. To do so, first hide the Layer titled “GRAIN” by clicking the eye icon to the left. (This is only temporary; you can always make the texture overlay visible again by turning the eye back on.) Then, open up the folder titled “HEARTS,” and use the Move tool to adjust the placement. While using the Move tool, click Cmd+t on your keyboard to rotate or resize the heart. Once you’re done making adjustments, click the checkmark to save your changes.
STEP 6/6
Export and post!
Once you’re all finished, head to File > Export > Export As. Check the template(s) you want to use, or Select All to export all five. For posting on social, we recommend exporting these as JPGs. Then simply click Export to finish.
Keep tinkering and adjusting Malu’s additional settings and rev up those recaps. Show us your year-end best by tagging us at @adobecreate.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Malu Rodrigues is a multidisciplinary designer based in Brazil. With a passion for making everything colorful, she believes design should be fun and inclusive. Outside of work, you can find her playing Animal Crossing, listening to K-pop or watching cats on TikTok.
