Many thanks for all the kind words!
I've come to think of my tops as having 5 distinct visual "personas" -- one "static" (at rest) and 4 "dynamic" (while spinning). The dynamic personas are seen (i) in person under ambient light, (ii) in person under a variable-speed strobe light in the dark, (ii) in still photos, and (iv) in video. And they may have little in common.
In person under ambient light, this top sweeps out a virtual surface resembling a large shallow bowl with a wide ribbed orange rim. This dynamic effect is actually my favorite here, but it just doesn't come across in stills or video.
With the following in mind, you can design toward any or all of these personas in a given top...
o In tops with strong surface relief (i.e., with highly 3D patterns), all personas vary with tilt angle.
o In the dark under blacklight, glowing fluorescent parts drastically alter all personas.
o Even with lots of experience, static personas often give rise to totally unforeseen dynamic effects.
o All the dynamic personas vary with the top's angular speed, often strongly.
o The photo persona also varies with shutter speed.
o The strobe persona also varies with flashing rate -- often wildly and abruptly.
o The video persona also varies with both shutter speed and frame rate (not the same thing).
Of course, dumb luck, experience, guess-and-test, and serendipity all go into the final result. And here, the rapid prototyping and the wide range of top structures possible with LEGO really shine.