The typographic design above is a sort of color explosion.
I wanted each letter to be complex, lively, and extremely colorful.
This is is original lettering that I created as a base.
This design is much simpler and flat (except for the letter "O."
The O needed some extra shading to give it dimension.
For the last variant, I applied a gradient across all of the letters.
I simply made the letters into a compound path, set a gradient-filled rectangle behind them all, and then made that a clipping group.
I then overlaid a duplicate set of letters at 20% opacity on top of the gradient letters. The letters that were overlaid had solid fills (just like the middle design).