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How to Create a Psychedelic Chromatica Ball Poster

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Grace Fussell
Read Time: 13 min
Adobe InDesignPoster DesignMusicPopVintageArt Nouveau

Learn how to create the iconic Chromatica Ball poster in this beginner Adobe InDesign tutorial. Taking inspiration from the psychedelic style of the Lady Gaga Chromatica posters, this simple tutorial is an exercise in abstract psychedelia graphic design, which takes influences from Art Nouveau, 1960s psychedelic design, and futuristic cyborg styling.

A poster mockup image of the finished Chromatica poster.A poster mockup image of the finished Chromatica poster.A poster mockup image of the finished Chromatica poster.
Create a Lady Gaga Chromatica Ball tour poster in this fun and simple tutorial for InDesign. The poster mockup image is via Envato Elements.

What Is Psychedelic Graphic Design?

The Chromatica poster style makes a nod to psychedelic design, a hallucinatory style of graphic design favoured by bands like The Beatles, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and The Rolling Stones in the 1960s and early 1970s.

Psychedelic design was undoubtedly influenced by the wide availability of hallucinogenic drugs—and LSD in particular—with the artwork replicating a drug-induced psychedelic experience. The trippy neon colours, optical illusion typography, and collage photography were teamed with Art Nouveau-inspired shapes, resulting in a fluid style that visually embodies the carefree spirit of the Summer of Love.

canobis psychedelic fontcanobis psychedelic fontcanobis psychedelic font
Canobis is a psychedelic typeface with fluid lettering that is sure to give your designs a groovy vibe. Download Canobis psychedelic font.

The Chromatica Ball poster updates psychedelic art styles for the digital era, replacing the ornate and nature-inspired shapes of Art Nouveau with futuristic, cyborg-style elements. Read on to learn how to put the poster together, creating your very own Chromatica art tribute in the process.

What You’ll Need to Create the Chromatica Ball Poster

This Chromatica poster uses a range of psychedelic art styles and psychedelia design elements to surreal, mind-bending effect. Vintage-inspired psychedelic fonts are teamed with futuristic industrial graphics and alien-styled photography to recreate the style of Lady Gaga’s Chromatica posters, used to promote her iconic world tour in 2022.

To create the Chromatica poster design in this tutorial, you will need:

You’ll also need access to Adobe InDesign for creating the poster layout and Adobe Illustrator for creating the graphics.

Once you’ve downloaded the images and installed the font files to your computer, you’re ready to start creating your psychedelic poster!

the completed chromatica ball lady gaga posterthe completed chromatica ball lady gaga posterthe completed chromatica ball lady gaga poster
Read on to create your own Chromatica poster using Adobe InDesign.

1. Prepare Your Chromatica Ball Poster in Adobe InDesign

Step 1

Open InDesign and go to File > New > Document.

Set the document to portrait Tabloid size (11 in by 17 in) and set the Margins to 0.75 in.

If you want to print your poster professionally, make sure to include a Bleed of 0.25 in on your document, before clicking Create.

create a new document in adobe indesigncreate a new document in adobe indesigncreate a new document in adobe indesign
Create a new document in InDesign.
include a bleed on your new documentinclude a bleed on your new documentinclude a bleed on your new document
Add a bleed to your document for printing.

Step 2

Open the Layers panel (Window > Layers) and rename Layer 1 as BG (Background). Create a further three layers in the sequence Type, Image, and finally Texture at the top.

create a new texture layer in the layers panelcreate a new texture layer in the layers panelcreate a new texture layer in the layers panel
Create a sequence of layers to organise your poster design.

Lock all the layers except BG, which we’ll work on first.

lock all layers except the background layerlock all layers except the background layerlock all layers except the background layer
Lock all of the layers except the bottom BG layer.

Step 3

Go to the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches) and click on the New Swatch icon at bottom-right. Create two new CMYK swatches, a Green (88, 29, 84, 18) and a Coral Red (0, 75, 57, 0).

create two new cmyk color swatchescreate two new cmyk color swatchescreate two new cmyk color swatches
Create two new CMYK swatches to use on your poster design.

Then select the Rectangle Tool (M) from the Tools panel (Window > Tools) and drag it across the whole page, up to the bleed edge. Set the Fill to Coral Red.

set the background color of the poster to coral redset the background color of the poster to coral redset the background color of the poster to coral red
Set the background of the poster to Coral Red.

2. Give Your Chromatica Artwork a Cyborg-Style Photo

Step 1

Lock the BG layer and unlock the Image layer. Use the Pen Tool (P) to draw the left half of a tablet shape, with rounded corners and a straight edge on the right-hand side.

draw a half image frame at the top of the posterdraw a half image frame at the top of the posterdraw a half image frame at the top of the poster
Draw a half frame shape on the left side of the poster.

For a symmetrical effect, Copy and Paste the half-tablet, and Right-Click > Transform > Flip Horizontal.

flip the frame horizontalflip the frame horizontalflip the frame horizontal
Flip the pasted frame.

Line up the two image frames together, then go to Object > Paths > Join, to create a single image frame in a tablet shape. Set the colour Fill of this frame to [None]. Edit > Copy the empty image frame, but don’t paste it yet.

join the paths in indesign to create a whole framejoin the paths in indesign to create a whole framejoin the paths in indesign to create a whole frame
Join the two shapes together to create a single large frame.

Go to File > Place, navigate to your chosen cyborg-style image and Open. Allow the image to fill the whole image frame.

place your cyborg image onto the chromatica posterplace your cyborg image onto the chromatica posterplace your cyborg image onto the chromatica poster
Place your cyborg image into the frame.

Step 2

If you’re working with this image, you can add a couple of overlay effects to make the image more in line with the style of the original Chromatica Ball poster design. First, go to Edit > Paste in Place to drop a new frame directly over the original.

Set the colour Fill of this frame to [Black] and go to Object > Effects > Transparency.

Adjust the Blending Mode to Overlay and the Opacity to around 50%, before clicking OK.

apply an overlay blend mode to the copied shapeapply an overlay blend mode to the copied shapeapply an overlay blend mode to the copied shape
An Overlay Blend Mode will increase the contrast in your image.

Edit > Paste in Place again, creating a third frame, and set the colour Fill of this to [Black], as before. Go to Object > Effects > Transparency again, this time setting the Mode to Hue and Opacity to around 75%. Click OK.

apply a hue overlay to the pasted graphicapply a hue overlay to the pasted graphicapply a hue overlay to the pasted graphic
Set the Blend Mode of this second frame to Hue.

Edit > Paste in Place a third frame shape, making this slightly larger and setting the Fill to Green. Right-Click > Arrange > Send to Back, to create a green frame around your photo.

send the green frame to the back of the layoutsend the green frame to the back of the layoutsend the green frame to the back of the layout
Create a green copy of the tablet shape.
use the green shape to frame the poster imageuse the green shape to frame the poster imageuse the green shape to frame the poster image
Send the green frame behind the photo.

3. Create Psychedelic Typography for Your Chromatica Poster

Step 1

The typography on the Chromatica Ball poster has a chunky, psychedelic style, which we can create using fonts from the download list above.

Lock the Image layer and unlock the Type layer. Use the Type Tool (T) to create a central headline, reading ‘GAGA’ below the image, set in Fraget Black, Size 255 pt.

set the headline in fraget font for impactset the headline in fraget font for impactset the headline in fraget font for impact
Set the headline text in Fraget Black.

To adjust the look of the font to make it feel more similar to the original Chromatica artwork, select the text frame and go to Type > Create Outlines.

create outlines of text to vectorise typecreate outlines of text to vectorise typecreate outlines of text to vectorise type
Outline the headline text to vectorise it.

With the text outlined (vectorised), you can now stretch the headline to make it wider, giving it a chunkier appearance. Adjust the Text Color to Green.

expand the type to create a wider effectexpand the type to create a wider effectexpand the type to create a wider effect
Expand the type to make it appear wider.

Step 2

Repeat the same process to create a smaller subheading for the location of the event. Outline and expand the Fraget Black text and place it above the headline.

outline the subheading to mimic the style of the headlineoutline the subheading to mimic the style of the headlineoutline the subheading to mimic the style of the headline
Outline the subheading to match the style of the headline.

You can also mimic the style of the Chromatica album logo by using the Endma font. Set this centrally above the subheading, with a Green Text Color and a 46 pt Font Size.

the chromatica logo can be recreated with this text effectthe chromatica logo can be recreated with this text effectthe chromatica logo can be recreated with this text effect
The Chromatica Ball logo can be mimicked using the Endma font.

Step 3

Create additional type frames to the left and right of the subheading, and below the headline, for ticket details, dates and locations. Set the Font of this typography to Exensa Grotesk Bold, Size 15 pt, and a Green Text Color.

additional text frames for events and dates of the concertsadditional text frames for events and dates of the concertsadditional text frames for events and dates of the concerts
Additional text frames replicate the crowded type style of the Lady Gaga poster.

An additional Exensa Grotesk Bold text frame can be placed at the top of the Chromatica Ball poster, reading ‘SUMMER STADIUM TOUR’.

add a text frame at the top of the poster designadd a text frame at the top of the poster designadd a text frame at the top of the poster design
Add an additional text frame to the top of the Chromatica poster.

4. Create Futuristic Graphics for Your Lady Gaga Poster

Step 1

File > Save your InDesign poster artwork and keep InDesign open in the background. Open the set of Art Nouveau graphic elements in Adobe Illustrator, and identify the circular graphic on Artboard 3.

use artboard 3 graphic to create a circular shapeuse artboard 3 graphic to create a circular shapeuse artboard 3 graphic to create a circular shape
Copy the graphic on Artboard 3.

Copy and Paste the graphic onto a new artboard. Select the three central sections of the graphic, as shown below, and Copy and Paste them next to the original. Right-Click > Ungroup each element.

ungroup elements to be able to edit the graphicungroup elements to be able to edit the graphicungroup elements to be able to edit the graphic
Ungroup the elements.

Use the Pathfinder panel (Window > Pathfinder) to Minus Front each of the three sections. Add a framing circle with an outlined stroke around the perimeter of the three sections, setting the Fill to [Black] for now.

pathfinder minus front cuts out the smaller circlespathfinder minus front cuts out the smaller circlespathfinder minus front cuts out the smaller circles
Use the Pathfinder panel to cut out the smaller circles.

Then select the whole graphic and Edit > Copy.

create an outside circle to frame the graphiccreate an outside circle to frame the graphiccreate an outside circle to frame the graphic
Create an additional circle around the graphics.

Step 2

Return to your poster layout in InDesign, and Edit > Paste, to drop the graphic onto the Type layer. Position to the left side of the poster, below the image, and change the Fill to Green.

paste the circle vector onto the indesign posterpaste the circle vector onto the indesign posterpaste the circle vector onto the indesign poster
Paste the circle graphic to the left of the headline.

Paste additional circle graphics, as shown below, using them to create a border effect at the top and bottom of the layout.

create a border effect with more pasted circle graphicscreate a border effect with more pasted circle graphicscreate a border effect with more pasted circle graphics
Create a partial border using copies of the circle graphic.

Step 3

To replicate the look of the Chromatica poster, I’ve created a vector graphic in Illustrator in a cyborg style. To achieve the same shape, you can either draw the shape out using the Pen Tool (P) or Right-Click > Copy the graphic below, pasting the JPEG image into Illustrator.

use the pen tool to create a vector shapeuse the pen tool to create a vector shapeuse the pen tool to create a vector shape
If you feel confident with vectorising, use the Pen Tool (P) to draw the shape above.
copy this image into illustrator to trace a graphiccopy this image into illustrator to trace a graphiccopy this image into illustrator to trace a graphic
Alternatively, Copy and Paste this image into Illustrator to use for tracing.

With Image Trace open (Window > Image Trace), click to select the image and set the Image Trace Mode to Black and White. Check Ignore White and click Preview.

use the image trace panel to trace the imageuse the image trace panel to trace the imageuse the image trace panel to trace the image
Trace the image provided above to quickly create the graphic.

When you’re happy with the trace, go to Object > Image Trace > Expand. Then Edit > Copy the vector shape.

expand the traced image to create a vectorexpand the traced image to create a vectorexpand the traced image to create a vector
Expand the traced shape.

Step 4

Return to InDesign and Edit > Paste to drop the graphic onto the Type layer. Adjust the Fill to Green, and position it to the left side of the headline and subheading.

Adjust the color of the graphic to Green.Adjust the color of the graphic to Green.Adjust the color of the graphic to Green.
Adjust the colour of the graphic to Green.

Edit > Copy, Edit > Paste this green shape, and on the new copy, Right-Click > Transform > Flip Horizontal.

flip the cyborg graphic horizontalflip the cyborg graphic horizontalflip the cyborg graphic horizontal
Flip the graphic.

Position it symmetrically opposite the first shape, creating a futuristic framing effect.

create a cyborg frame effect using the graphicscreate a cyborg frame effect using the graphicscreate a cyborg frame effect using the graphics
Create a cyborg frame effect.

5. Bring Some Vintage Texture to Your Chromatica Art

For an authentic vintage gig style, lock the Image layer and unlock the top layer, Texture. Use the Rectangle Frame Tool (F) to create an image frame across the whole page, extending to the bleed edge.

File > Place, choose 24.tif from the folder of A1 halftone textures and Open it, filling the whole image frame.

With the image frame selected, go to Object > Effects > Transparency, setting the Mode to Screen and bringing the Opacity down to 10%, bringing some subtle texture through.

use a screen blend mode to add subtle texture to the poster in indesignuse a screen blend mode to add subtle texture to the poster in indesignuse a screen blend mode to add subtle texture to the poster in indesign
Reduce the Opacity of the texture.

6. Export Your Poster Design

If you want to create a PDF copy of your poster you can send to a printer, follow the steps below. Alternatively, simply File > Export your design as a JPEG image for sharing online or on social media.

Step 1

Go to File > Export. Choose Adobe PDF (Print) from the Format options, name your file, and click Save.

In the Export Adobe PDF window that opens, choose [Press Quality] from the Adobe PDF Preset menu at the top.

export your poster as a press quality pdfexport your poster as a press quality pdfexport your poster as a press quality pdf
Export your poster artwork as a print-ready PDF.

Step 2

Click on the Marks and Bleeds option in the left-hand menu, and check All Printer’s Marks and Use Document Bleed Settings. Click Export.

add a bleed to your exported PDFadd a bleed to your exported PDFadd a bleed to your exported PDF
Be sure to include the bleed in your exported PDF.

Your exported PDF poster design can be sent off to the printers for professional printing. Great job!

your finished poster is ready for printingyour finished poster is ready for printingyour finished poster is ready for printing
Your finished Chromatica Ball poster is ready for printing and sharing!

Conclusion: Your Finished Chromatica Ball Poster

Your Lady Gaga Chromatica poster is ready to share with friends and family—awesome work! It's a fitting tribute to the Chromatica Ball. You’ve learned how to use Adobe InDesign to create a poster featuring psychedelic graphic design, vintage gig-inspired elements, and Chromatica artwork that would make Lady Gaga proud.

Why not try a twist on your Chromatica poster design with different psychedelic fonts, like the mind-bending typefaces below?

Discover Fantastic Fonts for Gig Posters and Fan Artwork

From cyborg-influenced typefaces to psychedelic fonts, discover more fonts and resources from Envato Elements to use on poster artwork.

Endma Display Font (OTF)

Download Endma display typeface. Download Endma display typeface. Download Endma display typeface.

The perfect Gothic tribute to the styling of the Chromatica Ball posters, Endma is a blackletter-meets-futuristic font with an edgy personality. Use it to create impactful logos or headlines.

Noventa Futuristic Font (TTF, WOFF)

noventa futuristic display fontnoventa futuristic display fontnoventa futuristic display font

Noventa is a futuristic display font with wide characters that maximise the legibility and impact of the typeface. Use this tech-inspired font to bring a sci-fi mood to a range of designs, from posters to web banners.

Fraget Display Sans Font (OTF, WOFF)

Download Fraget display font. Download Fraget display font. Download Fraget display font.

Featuring a blend of mid-century styling and psychedelia alongside a gently futuristic edge, Fraget is a high-contrast display typeface with plenty of quirky character. Use it for social media or website designs for a kooky vibe.

Macron Cyber Display Typeface (OTF, WOFF, TTF)

macron mechanical typefacemacron mechanical typefacemacron mechanical typeface

Macron takes its inspiration from cyborgs and dystopian sci-fi. It's high-impact and mechanical, so use this unique typeface to bring an industrial attitude to cyberpunk-inspired designs.

Surreal Psychedelic Typeface (OTF, TTF)

surreal psychedelic typefacesurreal psychedelic typefacesurreal psychedelic typeface

Bring a groovy vibe to social media posts or event flyers with this psychedelic font. Hand-drawn and featuring fluid Art Nouveau-inspired characters, Surreal is a carefree display font with vintage appeal. 

Explore More Tutorials and Resources

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Grace Fussell
Grace Fussell
Graphic Designer & Design Journalist
Grace is a graphic designer and design writer, and heads up creative agency Blue Whippet Studio, based in Manchester, UK. A self-confessed 'print geek', Grace loves to share her experiences of graphic design with others and has written about creative trends and design history for a wide range of publications and blogs, including Adobe, Shutterstock, Envato and InDesign Magazine. Grace studied social anthropology and the anthropology of design at Cambridge University and UCL, before working in marketing and graphic design roles in agencies and in-house. Today she balances running Blue Whippet alongside top-ranking design blog InDesignSkills.com. Visit bluewhippetstudio.com and indesignskills.com.
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