Design a Shiny Photorealistic Apple Remote
In Designing by Constantin PotoracApple has so many beautiful products. Their product designs consistently attain a sought-after status, which distinguishes them as an innovative company. In this tutorial, I'll teach you how to make a shiny new apple remote.
Step 1
First of all, create a new document and fill it with black.

Step 2
Make a new shape like the next image using the Rounded Rectangle Tool with a Radius of 5px or so. You decide. Name it "Remote shape."

Step 3
Make a selection of this Remote Shape. Create a new layer, and using the Gradient Tool, drag from left to right. Use the settings in the image below, with left color (#ffffff) and right color (#e4e4e4). The gradient is not very strong, but it is needed to stand out a bit.

Step 4
Now we will add some simple shades to the shape to make it look more real. Make a white shape similar to the image below. Make sure it is higher than the remote shape. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and use a small Radius.

Step 5
Now using the same technique, make a darker shape. Make it thinner than the white one. Apply a Gaussian Blur using the settings below.

Step 6
Now get the white and the grey shapes closer. Move them to the left side of the remote shape. Next duplicate them, rotate them, and move them to the right side.

Step 7
Now we need to make the upper part of the remote. To do this, you need to make a new shape using the Rounded Rectangle Tool. Fill it with black. Then place it behind the remote shape.

Step 8
We need to mask the white and gray shapes for the remote. Ctrl-click (MAC: Command + Click) on the remote layer to make a selection. Then Ctrl + Shift + Click (MAC: Command + Shift + Click) to add the remote head to the selection. Make sure you have selected one of the shade layers in the Layer Palette. Go to Layer -> Layer Mask -> Reveal Selection. Do this for each shade.

Step 9
Now crank down the opacity of the gray and white shapes till it looks something like this.

Step 10
You can make the background a light gray color because now we can see the product better. The shape of the remote is finished. Now we need to add some buttons to it.
First we will make the MENU button. Start by making a circle using the Ellipse Tool and the settings below.

Step 11
Now we need to make the Play, Pause, Fast-Forward, Fast Backwards, Volume Up, and Volume Down buttons. Start by making a new circle above the first one, making sure it's bigger.
Next, we need to subtract a circle out of this one. To do this, hold Alt and Minus (MAC: Option and Minus). At this point, a Minus will appear near your cursor. This indicates that you will subtract a piece out of your shape. Click and subtract a circle starting from the middle of this big circle while holding the Alt and Minus (MAC: Option and Minus) and dragging a circle (press shift to make a perfect circle). Look at the images below to see the result.

Step 12
Fill this shape with (#f6f6f8) and add the settings below to the Blending Options.
Step 13
Now make the last button, which will be used as the Play/Pause button. You need to make it exactly where you just subtracted a circle. After you make it, fill it with (#f6f6f8) and use the settings below.

Step 14
We need to add the text that goes on the buttons now. Use Arial Black for the font and this color: (#c4c4c4). For the shapes, use the same color. Make them by using the Rectangle Tool and Custom Shape Tool. Do the same thing for the Volume and Forward/Backwards buttons.

Step 15
Now it's time to make the buttons a shinier. We do this by simply making a selection of the Play/Pause button by Ctrl + Click on the button. Then subtract from this selection with the Elliptical Marquee Tool. Hold Alt and drag a circle over the selection. Make a new layer. Move it on top of the other layers. Fill the selection with white.

Step 16
Next repeat Step 14, but this time do this shiny effect for the volume button.

Step 17
The remote is finished. Now we need to complete a very important step. The way we present the products is very important, so we need to make a simple and attractive background.
Make a new layer and place it behind the remote. Using the Gradient Tool, set the Radial Gradient from black to white. Make sure that Reverse is selected. Now click and drag from the middle outward. Next, decrease the Opacity of this layer to 33 percent.

Step 18
Now duplicate the remote folder. Merge this copied remote into one single layer. Do this by right-clicking the copied remote folder and then selecting Merge Group. Next, rotate the copied remote upside down. Move the gradient layer you just made over it. Then select the remote layer again. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Set the Blur to 2 percent. Next move the copied remote lower.

Step 19
Make a selection. Create a new layer. Make a shiny floor for the remote to reflect onto using the Gradient Tool. Click and drag from up to down. Move this layer over the remote copy.

Step 20
Now make the shadow that the remote will reflect onto this floor. Make a shape similar to mine. Move it on top of the gradients. Then go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Use 8%. Next decrease its Opacity to 7 percent. Well done! You just finished the design.

Bonus
Below is a bonus for you guys. It covers how to simply change the color of the remote in a few seconds.
Go inside the remote folder and look for the Remote Shape layer. Above it is the Gradient layer that you need to make invisible. Now go back to the Remote Shape. Chose a color for the foreground color. Then press Alt + Backspace. Tadaaa! You have a red remote.
Do the same thing for the play button layer and the volume button layer. Lastly, decrease the opacity of the shiny volume button and shiny play button. And of course make the reflection for this one as you did for the first remote. Good Luck!

Conclusion

Comments
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Aloke Pillai
April 2nd, 2008
Awesome stuff!!
Me want more! lol
Wolle
April 2nd, 2008
looks awesome, thank you very much
Has.n
April 2nd, 2008
Cool!! Try to do the Iphone!!!!
Sean
April 2nd, 2008
nice tut, great work on the glare
Constantin Potorac
April 2nd, 2008
;). I am happy you like it guys.
The Mafalian
April 2nd, 2008
well done, very nice
thanks a lot
Mark
April 2nd, 2008
cool!
Zach
April 2nd, 2008
very cool. liked the DOF in the final comp.
more please.
giackop
April 2nd, 2008
well done constantin!!
jaunzim
April 2nd, 2008
nice techniques!
Learned something cool today x)
thank you constantin!
hood
April 2nd, 2008
white is great.
Bruce Alrighty
April 2nd, 2008
Very nice effect.
Good job Constantin.
Jonathan Solichin
April 2nd, 2008
Nice tutorial.
JokR
April 2nd, 2008
Looks great man great tutorial . . . it’s a little late now in romania but I can’t wait to try it out tomorow
Sean Hodge
April 2nd, 2008
Hey Everybody! Constantin did a great job on this tut. I’m helping out with posting. At first I had posted an early version of the tut with only 13 steps. There are actually 20 and a bonus. Its updated now in all its glory. Now you can enjoy the last 7 steps and the bonus rapid coloring as well. Thx.
Adam
April 2nd, 2008
Very good job!
Andrew D
April 2nd, 2008
Awesome tutorial! I loved this one
Kakumei
April 2nd, 2008
Very nice tutorial! And very descriptive!
I got to the end and I was putting the text in and it wouldn’t want to go in the middle of my circles. Lol, Not sure why it can’t simply move the text to the center of the circle.
Oh well, I had fun trying to make it.
Aaron Shupp
April 2nd, 2008
Beautiful, beautiful work.
Joefrey Mahusay
April 2nd, 2008
Its very clear and simple steps and it would come up a great work! Thanks for sharing.
Rohan Prabhu
April 2nd, 2008
nice.. thx for sharing
Matt
April 2nd, 2008
This is awesome, I was just looking at my apple remote the other day thinking that I should try to make it.
kailoon
April 2nd, 2008
clear explanation and simple. thanks!
Kim Dolleris
April 2nd, 2008
Great work!
Nono
April 2nd, 2008
Nice one.
Just something that bothers my eye
:
the upper part of the remote present a perspective angle different from the rest of the composition. Its corners seem to go down which suggest that the remote is seen from far below…
Nono.
Constantin Potorac
April 2nd, 2008
Thank you very much Sean for updating the tutorial.
filipe
April 2nd, 2008
nice work,
someday i’d like to see you tech us how to do a notebook.
Shane
April 2nd, 2008
Hey there Constantin - great tutorial - great result. Thanks very much for posting!
Ben Griffiths
April 2nd, 2008
Great tutorial, thanks!
Daniel
April 2nd, 2008
nice tutorial ! thanks a lot!
very cool reflection effect too.
as we say in french ” du beau travail”
Ana-Maria
April 2nd, 2008
Thank you all. Merci beaucoup Daniel.
Constantin Potorac
April 2nd, 2008
Merci beaucoup Daniel.
Ali
April 2nd, 2008
Good tutorial!
Though im getting tired of saying that, can we just request tutorials now?
I need more tutorials on Web Designing and Layouts. You guys have only ever done one.
Constantin Potorac
April 2nd, 2008
Hey Ali. I think I will be writing some great tutorials about Layouts soon.
Just to find some free time and I will see what I can do.
Bare with me.
Gen
April 2nd, 2008
hey Constantin, great tut…i found it very simple to follow and very detailed…great work!
Mr_LeE
April 2nd, 2008
I think you should do one standing and one laying down sideways behind it
Great Tut mate
giackop
April 2nd, 2008
even better with the last 7 steps..
Mikkel/MikBeck
April 3rd, 2008
Nice tutorial. A little bit difficult to understand, but very nice
Tom
April 3rd, 2008
Amazing work, the classic white version is definitely the best.
Keep up the good job!
Tonny
April 3rd, 2008
Hmm… Ok it looks good but I’m just wondering why do you often teach people to mostly use raster/rasterized layers? It’d be way faster/easier to work with vector gradients, paths, shapes etc. You could then change colors, reflections, shades with a flick of a finger. And what’s more important scale it to whichever resolution you need. And yes of course sometimes it’s faster to work with raster layers but then once you changed it, you can’t really go back/modify it as you like. I respect the author of this tutorial but I just don’t get it why rasters. Especially in this kind of object, eh?
Oguz Celikdemir
April 3rd, 2008
Awesome…
thanks for efforts, much appreciated you.
Arthur
April 3rd, 2008
It’s a great tutorial, but there’s just one thing that’s bothering me. The reflection with the 3 remotes isn’t correct. Shouldn’t all the reflections start directly beneath the remote. Since the middle one is more infront of the others, you probably made the reflection that way. But I think you should imagine what it looks like in reality. A reflection starts directly under it’s object (it’s should at least in this example).
Next to that, I really love this website and what it does. Great way to share techniques and help others get better in Photoshop and in Design overall.
Toan
April 3rd, 2008
Awesome!
Thank you!
Alex
April 3rd, 2008
Nice!
Sebastian
April 3rd, 2008
The reflections in the final image with the 3 remotes are wrong!
You can’t just merge those 3 remotes into one layer and flip it vertically.
goldenthunder
April 3rd, 2008
Way cool! I love how you did the lighting on the sides! Very nice - thank you!
b00m
April 3rd, 2008
Not bad. But the white is the best of them.
Constantin Potorac
April 3rd, 2008
Yes I know. I like the white the most.
The other colors are just for fun.
Akaichi
April 3rd, 2008
DAMN!!
Very COOL…!!!!
I love this such tuts !!
(^_ ^ )
Thanks..
Constantin Potorac
April 4th, 2008
Hey Arthur,
You are wrong about the reflections as they are meant to be that way. If you look closer at the final image you will see that actually the remotes are floating and in this case the reflections will not start directly beneath. :p
ZaFaR
April 4th, 2008
Great! but still have to workhard to get awesome work
ryaninc
April 4th, 2008
This rocks! I learned a lot of tips in here…especially using the white and gray lines to give it the 3d, reflecting light look. Genius!
An Onym
April 4th, 2008
I can’t even get past step five to get to step six. Photoshop won’t allow me to push the two new thin shapes closer together. In fact I can’t even select any of the thin shapes I just made
Ars'lan
April 4th, 2008
Can’t comment hypnotized……………… Surprising stuff I’m really excited to try that THANKS Potorac.
Constantin Potorac
April 4th, 2008
You Welcome Ars’lan.
Arthur
April 5th, 2008
@Constantin Potorac: Now that you mentioned it, it actually makes sense. Since they are floating, the reflections are indeed correct. But, if they weren’t it wouldn’t be, that’s why I made my previous comment. But I have to admit that I’m wrong, they did it correctly.
Enes Kaya
April 5th, 2008
Well done mate, hope I can get a real someday
l2eaction
April 6th, 2008
Very Great man
Constantin Potorac
April 6th, 2008
Arthur - No problem Arthur. We all make mistakes. :p
HaKoR
April 6th, 2008
Nice!
web design cheltenham
April 8th, 2008
nice tutorial to be honest i think i might just take a pic of my remote on a white background and cut it out lol. but some nice touches and tecniques still worth following the tutoirla
Daniel
April 8th, 2008
Great tutorial but I don’t like step 15 :-/
Doesn’t look realistic to me.
Daniel
Constantin Potorac
April 8th, 2008
web design cheltenham - I could write a tutorial to teach you how to cut the remote off the background of your shot but that would be too easy.
Greg William
April 9th, 2008
Pretty good tut!
BCHurricane89
April 12th, 2008
Great tut! Im having alittle trouble on step 13. How can I get the cirle for the play button EXACTLY over the one I subtracted earlier? Its bugging me. any help? Thanks!
Allahparast
April 26th, 2008
tanks
ralph
May 29th, 2008
really professional!!
excellent finish!!
thank u potorac!
@bchurricane:u might use a new eleptical marquee or do not hold alt(ie -) but just take anew marque over the big cirlce and perform layer via cut
jamesss
June 4th, 2008
Thanks a lot!! nice tut.
Andrew
June 4th, 2008
i learned some things from this tutorial, but it is largely incomplete. there are several steps that are not fully explained, and it took me a lot of time to try to figure out what you are talking about, and i am no beginner with photoshop. thanks for the time, but if you’re going to put this much work into something, please follow through completely.