Common darkened inner glow effect on solid colour in Photoshop and Illustrator

Question

This SHOULD be really simple, but I can't seem to achieve it effectively with Inner Glow. The effect is so commonly used; nearly every logo here features the effect of a subtle gradient effecting a slightly darkened edge to the base background colour.

I can't seem to get an effective gradient between my dark outer tone and base inner tone, instead stuck with a "banding" effect in Ps. I've yet to try in Ai, but any tips to creating it there would be sincerely appreciated too!

Many thanks in advance!

Answer 1

The technique I believe you are referring to is 'vignetting' and is a reference to old time photography where due to lens distortion and/or light conditions the edges of the image are darker than the center.

This isn't really a technique for the logos itself, but is simply a way to spruce up the presentation of the logo.

The problem you appear to be having is called 'banding' where you see the actual divisions between each step of the gradient. As scott states, a common technique is to apply a bit of noise to the layer the vignette is on. It doesn't take much to break up the banding.