Bridge City Custom Ceramics Mockup (1 Viewer)

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I've never used Adobe Illustrator before, so this is a bit of a learning experience. Trying to make a ceramics design for a tournament set based on Portland bridges. This is a very rough draft, but I wanted to see if anyone had some basic feedback or tips for obvious oversights or errors. Edge spot styles and colors are mostly placeholders, but the primary colors are more or less want I'm going to want (given they're based on their respective bridges... mostly)

First thoughts:

Will the smaller text/lines print fine or are they too small?
Different positioned and colored numbers for different denomination; Nay/Yay?
Any recommendations for making them look less plain, or is that somewhat inevitable given my vector art choice?
I'm not crazy about the font. How do y'all search for fonts you like?
'Bridge City Poker' is a bit long. Maybe just 'Bridge City'?

And any other thoughts you might have.



EDIT: Gone through a decent number of revisions.
Broadway_Large.pngSt Johns Large.pngSteel_Bridge_Large.pngBurnside_Large.pngtillikum_new.pngFremont_Large.png
 
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Really like your base colors so far. And the 500 chip has some fun spots!

Text: Font looks a little thin to me. If it was me I'd use a bolder font for the text. I like the font for the denoms.

Fonts: I use dafont.com for fonts. They have a massive selection of free fonts, and some are open source (don't need any kind of license to use).

Denoms: Different positions for the numbers can look really cool, but can also be confusing if the chip colors are non-standard. Your base colors are pretty close to standard so I'd play around with different denom positions for this set.

Plain: Since the text and the bridges are all thin and black colored, maybe playing with some kind of subtle color gradient in the background of the inlay would help (like a skyline color? or water under the bridge?). Maybe someone else who has ordered ceramics can confirm if a gradient is a good or bad idea for the chip printer. I think you need just a little more color overall in the inlay, but how to get it is kind of a mystery.
 
Raise the bridge and put the denom underneath? Increase the text size of Bridelge City Poker.
Tough with the base images I have to raise them, I also kind of prefer the bridges touching the bottom of the inlay instead of rubbing up against the top.

Really like your base colors so far. And the 500 chip has some fun spots!

Text: Font looks a little thin to me. If it was me I'd use a bolder font for the text. I like the font for the denoms.

Fonts: I use dafont.com for fonts. They have a massive selection of free fonts, and some are open source (don't need any kind of license to use).

Denoms: Different positions for the numbers can look really cool, but can also be confusing if the chip colors are non-standard. Your base colors are pretty close to standard so I'd play around with different denom positions for this set.

Plain: Since the text and the bridges are all thin and black colored, maybe playing with some kind of subtle color gradient in the background of the inlay would help (like a skyline color? or water under the bridge?). Maybe someone else who has ordered ceramics can confirm if a gradient is a good or bad idea for the chip printer. I think you need just a little more color overall in the inlay, but how to get it is kind of a mystery.
Thanks, I particularly like the green on the 25. For that and the 5 I tried to find actual color codes online for the associated paints used on the bridge. The 500 is the only one that doesn't actually relate to the bridge's color, but I wanted to try and keep it within a regular color set.

Will probably end up changing for a clearer font.

The the spots on the 500 are actually supposed to represent some small towers on the Burnside bridge. Will want to come back and update the colors to match better.
1673941416773.png


I like the idea of a gradient, even if it's in steps instead of a smooth transition for printing considerations. All the white is really just a bit too much I think. I tried doing a light blue inlay which didn't look good, but the gradient may look better.

EDIT: Here's a simple blue to white gradient. Adds a little, but still not quite right. Will have to play around with it more.
St Johns Gradient.png
 
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Also keep in mind that dark ink on card molds does tend to "bleed" a bit...so everything gets a bit thicker.
Better to start with very fine lines and plan for bleed, than get the art exactly as you like it and be surprised when it isn't what you had in mind.
 
Trying out some fonts and a gradient on each. Not a fan of how wide the font on the 5 is. The gradient feels like an improvement.
Broadway Akira Font Gradient.pngSt Johns Gradient.pngSteel_Bridge Built Titling Font Gradient.pngFremont Lemon Milk Font Gradient.png

Trying out an 'evening' gradient as well. Halfway up the chip is the wrong spot to cut it, but it's worth exploring.
Burnside_Alternate_Gradient_Black.png
 
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If you're doing these on smooth face ceramics (ie full face printing, not the hybrids / cards mold that have the inlay area), I would consider make the outer ring a little thinner and increase your artwork canvas area. Maybe not quite is thin as say the Paymasters set, but I think a slightly expanded canvas may help make the design/font easier to read.

(Paymasters also shows what you can do with slight color gradients on ceramics)

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/resources/paymaster.58/

paymaster-28-jpg.179965
 
If you're doing these on smooth face ceramics (ie full face printing, not the hybrids / cards mold that have the inlay area), I would consider make the outer ring a little thinner and increase your artwork canvas area. Maybe not quite is thin as say the Paymasters set, but I think a slightly expanded canvas may help make the design/font easier to read.

(Paymasters also shows what you can do with slight color gradients on ceramics)

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/resources/paymaster.58/

Those do look pretty awesome. My initial inclination was to stick with an inlay because I thought it worked better with the art I was starting with, but I'll have to experiment. It certainly would give more space for text. If I do get these finished to a point I'm happy with I'll probably try to order through cards mold group buys to keep costs down, but they do no molds as well I believe.
 
Fully agreed with @Irish .
Most of ceramics designs on PCF mimics layout of clay chips not utilizing oportunity of bigger surface for graphic design...
There are a lot of cool instances like Regency to follow..
On the other hand I believe to fully take advantage of ceramics takes superior graphic skills.
 
Still haven't settled on a font, but the gradient is definitely a big step up from plain white in my opinion. Also, I can do a white 1k now.

Broadway Akira Font Gradient.pngSt Johns Gradient.pngSteel_Bridge Built Titling Font Gradient.pngBurnside_Alternate_Gradient_Black_NoPoker.pngFremont Lemon Milk Font Gradient.pngFremont Lemon Milk Font Gradient White.png
Fully agreed with @Irish .
Most of ceramics designs on PCF mimics layout of clay chips not utilizing oportunity of bigger surface for graphic design...
There are a lot of cool instances like Regency to follow..
On the other hand I believe to fully take advantage of ceramics takes superior graphic skills.
Hah hah, that was part of why I was thinking regular inlay sized. My graphic skills are certainly not superior.
 
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I just thought the bridge spanning the center of the chip i.e. full diameter might look more interesting.
I think it would look more interesting, but it may be more challenging for me to lay out well. Ideally I'll come back to try that after I finish iterating on the current design.
 
I've never used Adobe Illustrator before, so this is a bit of a learning experience. Trying to make a ceramics design for a tournament set based on Portland bridges. This is a very rough draft, but I wanted to see if anyone had some basic feedback or tips for obvious oversights or errors. Edge spot styles and colors are mostly placeholders, but the primary colors are more or less want I'm going to want (given they're based on their respective bridges... mostly)

First thoughts:

Will the smaller text/lines print fine or are they too small?
Different positioned and colored numbers for different denomination; Nay/Yay?
Any recommendations for making them look less plain, or is that somewhat inevitable given my vector art choice?
I'm not crazy about the font. How do y'all search for fonts you like?
'Bridge City Poker' is a bit long. Maybe just 'Bridge City'?

And any other thoughts you might have.



EDIT: Raised the font size as suggested.

View attachment 1060521View attachment 1060524View attachment 1060525View attachment 1060522View attachment 1060523

EDIT: Trying out water/sky gradients as an inlay background, as well as some different fonts, and cutting 'Poker' from the inlay. Also with a gradient I can opt for a white 1k. Toned down the red and purple a little.

View attachment 1060857View attachment 1060838View attachment 1060839View attachment 1060837View attachment 1060851
I'd like to see the dog in your profile picture on the inlay, personally. What a dude!

Screenshot_2023-01-17-21-42-23-90_40deb401b9ffe8e1df2f1cc5ba480b12.jpg
 
I'd like to see the dog in your profile picture on the inlay, personally. What a dude!

Tragically, that is not my dog, just a picture I had on my computer...

Trying out some mockups with the full font sets. #2 is probably my favorite, #3 is the most 'Portland' but less legible. Will try different fonts for top/bottom text and for the numbers... And at a second glance, I repeated some bridge names :unsure:

Full_Set.png
Full_Set.png
Full_Set.png
 
Working on adding a new 1k and swapping the old 1k to 5k. Don't love the base art for this one though...

Tillikum 1000.png

Also experimenting with a border on the center art

St Johns 25 Mixed.pngTillikum 1000.pngFremont 5000.png
 
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If you're doing these on smooth face ceramics (ie full face printing, not the hybrids / cards mold that have the inlay area), I would consider make the outer ring a little thinner and increase your artwork canvas area. Maybe not quite is thin as say the Paymasters set, but I think a slightly expanded canvas may help make the design/font easier to read.

(Paymasters also shows what you can do with slight color gradients on ceramics)

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/resources/paymaster.58/

paymaster-28-jpg.179965
I have taken this advice in many design projects that I have done in the past. A lager design on custom ceramics with no edgespots enhances the design by utilizing all the canvas area and helps with color bleeding on smaller text.
 
Revived from long dead. Bolder font and larger center size looking much better.

Also waiting for someone else from Portland to point out that the Willamette runs North-South so you'd never see the sun set like this :ROFL: :ROFLMAO:


combined.png



Also considering an ultralarge design area.

St Johns_ultra_large.png
 
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These look outstanding! I love that you used the different bridges on each one.

Have you tried them with a different font for the numbers - maybe something a little more chuncky but with some flare? I'm not saying match the font used for the text. But when I see the 500, I kind of loose the "5" because of how it closely resembles the "0" next to it.

Your location under your avatar says Oregon. If these are bridges in Oregon, would you want to have that on your chip? Sending you a PM.
 
These look outstanding! I love that you used the different bridges on each one.

Have you tried them with a different font for the numbers - maybe something a little more chuncky but with some flare? I'm not saying match the font used for the text. But when I see the 500, I kind of loose the "5" because of how it closely resembles the "0" next to it.

Your location under your avatar says Oregon. If these are bridges in Oregon, would you want to have that on your chip? Sending you a PM.
All from Portland. The numeral font was inspired by an Oregon and Washington pub chain, and I wanted something with just a little more character than a very blocky font.

McMenamins_sun%20and%20moon%2012square.png
 
Thoughts on design size? There's some appeal to the largest one, but I think I still want the base colors of the chip to still occupy a decent amount of space. Probably one of the middle two.

sizes.png
 
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Probably opting for this size, I still want the denomination color to take a decent chunk of the chip. Redoing the art for this bridge, looks much better than the vectorized image I used before.
 

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What if you treated the graphics like a logo?
bridge-city.jpg

The colors and bridge graphics would obviously change, but the composition would open up the space to enlarge the denom and make it easier to read.
 
What if you treated the graphics like a logo?
<IMG>
The colors and bridge graphics would obviously change, but the composition would open up the space to enlarge the denom and make it easier to read.

I'm aiming for a ceramic chip so I like having a large artwork better, with less concern for looking like a traditional label. A CPC set may be in my future but I want an idea I feel more committed to long term for that given the cost.


Broadway_Large.pngSt Johns Large.pngSteel_Bridge_Large.png
Burnside_Large.pngTillikum_Large.pngFremont_Large.png

Frankly I've been trying to use a more "out-there" font, but I think something simple and bold just looks and reads better... I don't mind some overlapping, but the 100 chip looks a bit awkward like this.
 

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