My most recent project is a map of Cascadia. Two maps, really. I started with a sea rise map, showing the high point of 66 meters, according to the IPCC.
There are two notable cartographic techniques going on here. One is the hillshade, which was created in Blender following a technique outlined by @pinakographos. The other is the cross-blended hypsometric (elevation) tinting, which I learned from @MtnMapper . This elevation technique shows arid and humid areas as different color ramps, blending the ecotones together seamlessly. The arid Columbia River Valley and Great Basin areas have a brownish color ramp, while the more humid coastal areas have a deeper green ramp.
I particularly like the effect showing Cascadia bright against a faded background. Working with a defined region like this (based on watersheds, mostly) allowed me to emphasize the area both by differences in saturation and with a drop-shadow effect.
