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Changes have been made. And they include altering the direction of the wood-grain, throughout, and adding lighting effects to Creative.
Changing the direction of the wood-grain gives the tree and dandelions a more organic feel. This same change beneath the grass allows for greater definition and distinction between earth and sky; there's a shearing effect now just below the grass that convincingly separates earth from sky-- I'm happy with it. I haven't decided whether or not to add any highlights to Hegemony.
The highlights give Creative a 3D feel... more depth, and breaks up the monotony of the wood-grain. Hegemony is broken up by the rays of light, so I thought to extend the faceted feel to Creative by creating two curved lighting effects and highlights at the top of each letter. I did have to spend some time correcting the curves of each letter so as to let the Stroke effect flow smoothly around each letter, but it was worth the effort. If I do anything else it will be to add similar lighting effects to Hegemony, but my thinking now is it would likely be an exercise in Overkill.
So far I've managed to:
- Pare down 160+ layers to just 96
- Spend 36+ total hours on this project
This project began simply as an attempt at following a step by step tutorial offered at PSDTuts.com (what I've got here doesn't look anything like the tutorial). What I did was take the skills I learned in the tutorial to strike out on my own and create something uniquely me.
I'm just showing off my skills in the present and working toward something freelance or at a genuine design shop in the future. I still have a long way to go... a lot more to learn.
Don't think that just because this design looks cool (I think so, at least) that I'm a master designer. I'm not. What it does show is my ability to start with an idea and a few tools, and run with it... in a new direction. To use a football analogy, someone punted the ball, I caught it, and took off in a new direction... not to the punters goal, but to my own.