I like holidays and weekends because I get time to play around and advance my graphic design chops — I made this almost from scratch, with the help of this great "web badge" tutorial and the SF Transrobotics font.

Things I learned and reinforced:

• Shading of just about any kind adds depth.

• When in doubt for depth, add more layering.

• It's hard to justify overusing an effect if it's ubiquitous in the offline world. (Hello lens flares!)

• Some accents are best painted by hand (I have a Wacom tablet).

• The Skype icon is a great inspiration, and so's the Eye of Sauron.

• Don't be afraid to throw a new spin on an old cliche and shade your own way.

• "Better" beats "Beta".

• Even hardcore scifi fonts look organic when warped like taffy.

• I continue to love green and pink!