Brandon Flowers Icon Tutorial
Go from this: 
to this:
1. Open your image. I use Photoshop CS. This is the image I started with:
2. Crop down to 100x100.
3. Go to Filter >> Sharpen >> Sharpen Edges.
4. I think that's a little too sharp, so I faded it by going to Edit >> Fade Sharpen Edges, then I turned the Opacity down to 50%.
5. Go to Image >> Adjustments >> Desaturate.
6. It looks a little dull, so we want to fix that by going to Image >> Adjustments >> Brightness/Contrast. I turned Brightness up by 5 points and Contrast up by 15, but you may want to do more or less depending on your image.
7. Go to Layer >> Duplicate Layer. Set the new layer to Screen, and mess with the Opacity until the image is bright but not too washed out. My Opacity was 60%.
8. Go to Layer >> New Layer. Fill this layer with a semi-dark blue color. I chose #00446B. Set this layer to Exclusion, and set the Opacity to 60%.
9. Go to Layer >> New Layer. Fill this layer with a light blue color. I chose #99C5DF. Set this layer to Soft Light, and set the Opacity to 60%.
10. Go to Layer >> New Layer. Fill this layer with a light pink color. I chose #DF9999. Set this layer to Soft Light, and set the Opacity to 30%.
11. Use the Rectangular Marquee Tool to select your image. Go to Edit >> Copy Merged. Then go to Edit >> Paste. Make sure you paste this as the top layer. Set this new layer to Color Burn, Opacity 100%.
12. Add text and borders to your liking.
And you're done! Feedback is encouraged, and feel free to check out my past tutorials. More icons like this are located here.
to this:
1. Open your image. I use Photoshop CS. This is the image I started with:
2. Crop down to 100x100.
3. Go to Filter >> Sharpen >> Sharpen Edges.
4. I think that's a little too sharp, so I faded it by going to Edit >> Fade Sharpen Edges, then I turned the Opacity down to 50%.
5. Go to Image >> Adjustments >> Desaturate.
6. It looks a little dull, so we want to fix that by going to Image >> Adjustments >> Brightness/Contrast. I turned Brightness up by 5 points and Contrast up by 15, but you may want to do more or less depending on your image.
7. Go to Layer >> Duplicate Layer. Set the new layer to Screen, and mess with the Opacity until the image is bright but not too washed out. My Opacity was 60%.
8. Go to Layer >> New Layer. Fill this layer with a semi-dark blue color. I chose #00446B. Set this layer to Exclusion, and set the Opacity to 60%.
9. Go to Layer >> New Layer. Fill this layer with a light blue color. I chose #99C5DF. Set this layer to Soft Light, and set the Opacity to 60%.
10. Go to Layer >> New Layer. Fill this layer with a light pink color. I chose #DF9999. Set this layer to Soft Light, and set the Opacity to 30%.
11. Use the Rectangular Marquee Tool to select your image. Go to Edit >> Copy Merged. Then go to Edit >> Paste. Make sure you paste this as the top layer. Set this new layer to Color Burn, Opacity 100%.
12. Add text and borders to your liking.
And you're done! Feedback is encouraged, and feel free to check out my past tutorials. More icons like this are located here.