ePlastic
This is an advanced Photoshop tutorial, which will show you how to create a plastic texture on text, buttons or icons, using a combination of lighting effects, and the Screen blending mode. My Lighting Effects tutorial is recommended reading, so if you don't have experience with the Photoshop Lighting Effects filter,

1
Create a new image, about 800x800 pixels large. Select the blue RGB(26,104,175) as the foreground color. Use the Type Tool to create an e, and resize it to fill most of the image. Working bigger is better.

This e is created with Times New Roman Bold + Italic.

2
Holding down Ctrl, click on the layer e, in the Layers window, to select it's transparency. Next, create a new
Layer , contract the selection by about 16 pixels.

Select > Modify > Contract... 16 Pixels

3
Select White as the foreground color, and fill the selection. Alt+Backspace

Remove the selection Ctrl+D, and Gaussian Blur the layer by 16 pixels.

Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur... 16 Pixels

Then, Gaussian Blur it again by 8 pixels, and then by 4 pixels.

Note: The Color Dodge blending mode behaves differntly in versions 6+.

if ( Photoshop v. <= 5.5 )
Set the Layer's Opacity to 52%, and the Blending Mode to Color Dodge.

else if ( Photoshop v. >= 6 )
Keep the layer's Opacity at 100%, set the Blending Mode to Color Dodge, then double click on the layer in the layer's window, and deselect the red channel in the Advanced Blending box.

4
Now, hold down Ctrl, and in the Layers window, click on the layer e, to select it's transparency.

In the Channels window, press the Save Selection as channel button. Now, click on the new Channel it created.

Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur... 16 Pixels

Then, Gaussian Blur it again by 8 pixels, 4 pixels, and finally 2 pixels.

Invert the selection Ctrl+Shift+I, clear the selection with black Del, and finally Deselect.

5
Go back to the Layers window. Hold down Ctrl, and click on the e Layer, again, to select it's transparency.

Create and new layer , and drag it above the Inner Glow Layer.

Select the new layer, fill the selection with black, and rename the layer Highlights. Check on Preserve Transparency, and set the blending mode to Screen.

6
With the Highlights layer selected, go:

Filter > Render > Lighting Effects...

Click here to see the Lighting effects window.

Set the Material Properties to:
Gloss: 79
Material: -37
Exposure: 56
Ambience: -100

Change the Texture Channel to Alpha 1, or the channel you were working on before, and it's Height to 100. Create a directional light, Intensity 32, so that the lighting covers most of the the e, but the brightest parts are still on the edges.

When the Lighting Effects is done, Gaussian Blur the layer by 3 pixels, to get rid of the levels.

7
Now this is the step where you can use your own artistic freedom.

Image > Adjust > Curves...

The curves window will begin with a straight line. Click any place on the line to create a new point, and drag the points to move them. Use my curves (seen on the left), for the most plasticy effect.

8
Throw down a blue dropshadow (since the light is flowing through the clear plastic), and it's finished!

Tips a)
ePlastic looks great in other colors, too! Try a more desaturated blue, or dark green, and orange.

b) Adjust the contrast on the Highlights layer for a more defined reflection, and you get gPlastic

Image > Adjust > Brightness/Contrast