This project was time consuming and a bit stressful but also equally as fun. The tutorials followed came from Photoshop Down & Dirty Tricks for Designers Vol. 2.

The first image is based on the Virtual Macro Effects tutorial. I decided to use the logo of one of my favorite bands, Underoath, as the focal point. What I was going for here, ultimately was a cool looking shadow with a lot of nice texture going on. The texture mapping was easy enough to grasp but the most difficult part was getting the shadows and lighting just right. Unfortunately I couldn't get exactly what I wanted. The shadow isn't as thin as I would like it to be and the lighting affected anything else I placed in the composition in a manner which I didn't want either. So that was a challenge. I ultimately settled on viewing the design from the front and adding a bar above and below the logo to balance things out and create a bit more interest. 

Despite the lighting difficulties, I really do like the textures applied here. I think they add a good amount of interest that sort of offsets the lighting issues.

The second image is based on the Really Badass 3D Logo Effects tutorial. Honestly, all I was going for here was a bunch of cool textures to apply to my personal logo. I just wanted to see what all I could do with the 3D texture effects. I'm pleased with those results. Again, I tried messing with the lighting to get something else going on with the shadows, but I didn't want to copy what I did with the first image or come close to it. So I decided to leave it with a rather standard shadow coming from the front. I also love the background texture, I think it goes nicely with the logo and its effects.

Overall I enjoyed this project and I definitely foresee myself working with these features in the future, even if just for fun. I will also work further on these projects to see if I can get the exact results I'm looking for.