June 10th, 2009 Plastic Surgery Disasters (Photoshop style)
See this guy on the left? He’s a comedian, but that’s not what’s funny about this picture. Notice how he sort of looks like he’s been recently embalmed? That’s the work of a true Digital Hack. Designers often have to make tweaks to photos or images to make them work better, but this is a nightmare.
When I worked for Coors’ agency (so, so many years ago), we handled a lot of print work for the Coors family of brands. One of the brands we worked with was Keystone. While the bigger name brands such as Coors Light and Killian’s got top-shelf spokesmodels, Keystone had a tighter budget. The models for Keystone were still very attractive, but they were a little…um…sluttier looking.
Even as attractive these models were, we still often ended up doctoring them quite a bit. Thinning out arms and legs, taking inches off of their hips, thighs, etc. Oddly enough, they never had us doing digital breast reductions. By the time we got done with these models, they were the print equivalent of a Barbie doll, with measurements that just aren’t natural looking.
I ran across a website recently that I hadn’t seen before (and I’m sure there are more like it) highlighting some really horrible Photoshop work. The link below shows a headshot that has been worked…and worked…and worked…until the guy barely looks human.
Fred June 10th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Dude, ouch… I’ve never considered myself a PS wizard but I can definitely hold my own. This example makes me want to cry that I don’t get paid for the stuff I do for funny fun. But then again, I’d hate to be on your site for what I did wrong too.
Lance Hill June 10th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Some people should just not be allowed to use photoshop.
Here’s another photoshop disaster site that is kept pretty up to date:
http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/
Shawn June 12th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
@Fred What’s worse about most of these examples is that it wasn’t just a guy doing the job…it went through rounds and rounds of revisions and not once did anybody raise a red flag?
@Lance I agree. I have always felt that you should need a license to operate Photoshop. It’s just as dangerous as any motorcycle I’ve ever seen. Also, love the other site. Thanks for the link!