My vote went for number 3. It's not all that easy to get a soft effect as that, not to mention with the different blends of colors to compliment one another.. it takes a lot of layers to get that done.
Sure I like number 1 as well, but honestly, it looks like he/she just took two backgrounds and tried to blend it in with one another and didn't do too well of a job while doing it. I'm sure it took a lot of work, but if it doesn't show after it's been done.. then it's not worth much as the amount of work it took to do it and sometimes too busy/too much graphic is as what it means.. it takes away entirely from the text and the image that it's trying to "help" potray with the text. It sticks out too much.
Sure I like number 1 as well, but honestly, it looks like he/she just took two backgrounds and tried to blend it in with one another and didn't do too well of a job while doing it. I'm sure it took a lot of work, but if it doesn't show after it's been done.. then it's not worth much as the amount of work it took to do it and sometimes too busy/too much graphic is as what it means.. it takes away entirely from the text and the image that it's trying to "help" potray with the text. It sticks out too much.