CPC Customs - PoCo After Dark (1 Viewer)

[LinkyBabe]

Greetings,

Although I'm new to this forum, I've been playing with the Chip Design Tool for a few years and ordered a colour sample set over a year ago. My theme is a combination of where I live as well as NBC's "Poker After Dark" (my favourite show when I was getting into poker). I live in Port Coquitlam (ko-kwit-lum) and us locals refer to it as "PoCo" for short. It's also one of the cities in the locally referenced Tri-City area. As PoCo sounds close to poker, I've wanted to do a take on it with one of the famous poker tournaments: World Series of PoCo, World PoCo Tour, PoCoStars, etc. I finally decided on NBC's "Poker After Dark" theme when I remembered what drew me to it in the first place... the ambience of buddies hangin' out late at night while sharing stories over drinks and poker.

I wanted a predominantly black inlay with a hint of colour that matched its respective chip base colour. The crescent moon forming the C is self explanatory and the three stars represent the Tri-City area. I've never really liked a 1000 chip value so I decided on a 2000 chip value instead. I am more than happy with everything and it now all lies in the hands of David and the folks at CPC. BUT... I still have time before this goes into production and I'm looking for feedback on the chip value font size.

All of the inlays were based on the spacing/sizing of the blue chip as it contains the most info. The OCD in me likes the uniformity of text size but this also creates more distance between the chip value and the sides for the lower denoms. Would you increase the font size of the chip values for the lower denoms? If yes, which ones?

Thanks for your time!

 

[Rhodeman77]

Wow! Great looking set! Love the colors and the inlay looks great to me. The subtle color gradient is perfect, much like the Sunset Blvd set.

Congrats on the order, looking forward to pics of the actual chips once the arrive.

 

[slisk250]

Great choice with the T2000 (I'm biased!) Love the T100 and think this one is ready to go. You could increase the font a bit if it pleases you. Mock them side by side and look at them everyday. Do what you like. It doesn't matter what we think really.

 

[Trihonda]

Welcome to the forum. Awesome intro post!

"Hi, my name is.... and I already ordered customs". Lol

 

[Psypher1000]

Congrats, mate! Heck of a first order/design. What breakdown did you go with?

Are sample sets going to be made available? If so, I'd love to get in on them!

 

[detroitdad]

Wow! Great looking set! Love the colors and the inlay looks great to me. The subtle color gradient is perfect, much like the Sunset Blvd set and the Sunset solid set

fyp

Looks great sir. I love the colors and the edge spot progression. Well done.

 

[Mesnik44]

Welcome fellow Port Coquitlam-ite!

 

[Ghoti]

Welcome! The mock-ups look great.

 

[Ray-Col]

"Hi, my name is.... and I already ordered customs"

"And renderings too" - He seems to know how it's done right

Well, seems like my little render 'business' is gathering some pace lately ...

The only improvement I can think of is to better balance the title and the moon. In my opinion the moon is too close to the left 'o' and the whole word could be shifted a tad to the right in order to get the Capital 'P' a bit off the inlay rim.

If anyone has suggestions for new, useful, special or improved scenes & setups (at least one has to apply) I'm all ears!

 

[grantc54]

They look great! I have a home game not far from you (Langley) that I am also in the process of putting together a custom CPC set for. Not as far along as you are and I expect it to take a considerable amount of time due to the number of choices.

Grant

 

[onerand]

These are cute, and thsnks to Ray, again.

 

[chipjoker]

Very nice. Welcome to PCF...AWESOME post

 

[MrBo]

Awesome design, and welcome to the boards! I love the whole set, but the 500's in particular are pop-tastic!

 

[Mesnik44]

I want to be able to add more likes to the like I already gave it!

I'm pretty biased as being from PoCo, PoCompton, whatever you'll have.

Pretty sweet looking set.

The HIDEOUT has a game every month near TF Sr. let me know if you are interested!

 

[Trihonda]

"And renderings too" - He seems to know how it's done right

Well, seems like my little render 'business' is gathering some pace lately ...

I think you should charge $1 to do a render. Seems like you enjoy it, and are doing it for free, but also seems like it does take SOME of your time, that people could throw you a bone for doing it. I mean, you're not gonna get rich or live off these suckers, but do a handful of renders, and it buys you lunch at Subway

 

[ceramicmike]

FDL mold very nice set of chips !!!!! Well done.

 

[superchromix]

The only improvement I can think of is to better balance the title and the moon. In my opinion the moon is too close to the left 'o' and the whole word could be shifted a tad to the right in order to get the Capital 'P' a bit off the inlay rim.

If anyone has suggestions for new, useful, special or improved scenes & setups (at least one has to apply) I'm all ears!

^^^^ This - the spacing between the 1 and the 00s of the 100 should be adjusted to bring the 1 closer to the 00s, and I also like the suggestion of shifting the "PoCo". Have you considered different fonts for the denominations? With so many to choose from, you seem to be opting for something like Arial or Helvetica here, which is a little bit on the plain side...

Overall gorgeous chips and I love to see a Port Coquitlam themed design! (i'm originally from canada)..
cheers

 

[Mental Nomad]

The only improvement I can think of

I think Ray's suggestions are on point.

I have a little concern about "AFTER DARK" not being very legible when printed on the inlay, but it doesn't have to be super-legible... and I think it looks (artistically) very good the way it is.

Beautiful first pass, and congrats on the set!

Also, I approve of going with your gut and skipping the T1000, and also approve of the color choice for the T2000. I would never have picked that color, but I can see that it works well in the set.

 

[LinkyBabe]

Thanks everyone for the kind words and suggestions! Sorry, but it was a long day at work and I'm just getting home in time to go to bed. However, before I do, I would like to thank @Ray-Col for providing such jaw dropping renders. Your selflessness is inspiring!

When I get home from work tomorrow, I will respond to those that provided feedback and/or just checked in to say hi.

 

[Ray-Col]

I think you should charge $1 to do a render. Seems like you enjoy it, and are doing it for free, but also seems like it does take SOME of your time, that people could throw you a bone for doing it.

Yeah, I could. But should I?
I can see that my renderings are something special for most PCF-members and I'm sure they would be willing to spend a buck or two on it. But I'd like to look at it the other way round: What the expert-members do for others and especially newbies (even stubborn ones like me) is truly something special, too. Do they charge for giving insight, guiding the uninitiated and putting their time into answering questions, thoughts into suggestions, looking things up, figuring out tourney structures, blind schedules or starting stacks and optimal chip counts? Not that I know of. So if I'd take money for what I'm doing, wouldn't I put myself in a spot outside of this great community and it's spirit? That's not the place where I want to be tbh. so I keep standing by my word not to charge for these renders. I will charge for time consuming 3D-work aside from CPC-mockups, though. But this is a completely different story and most likely won't show up anywhere here.
Oh, if you were toungue-in-cheeck while writing, I missed it (as usual) because I'm not a native speaker or as PH Jr. would put it 'some idiot from Northern Europe'.

Your selflessness is inspiring!

Thanks! That really means a lot to me. (worth 9 bucks or so)

Back to topic ...
Just to pick up and visualize some of the suggestions from me and others I did a quick mockup for an inlay with a similar font that keeps the clean and simple approach but has a hint of 'character' to it and could possibly make the set more unique to you.

 

[Trihonda]

Yeah, I could. But should I?
I can see that my renderings are something special for most PCF-members and I'm sure they would be willing to spend a buck or two on it. But I'd like to look at it the other way round: What the expert-members do for others and especially newbies (even stubborn ones like me) is truly something special, too. Do they charge for giving insight, guiding the uninitiated and putting their time into answering questions, thoughts into suggestions, looking things up, figuring out tourney structures, blind schedules or starting stacks and optimal chip counts? Not that I know of. So if I'd take money for what I'm doing, wouldn't I put myself in a spot outside of this great community and it's spirit? That's not the place where I want to be tbh. so I keep standing by my word not to charge for these renders. I will charge for time consuming 3D-work aside from CPC-mockups, though. But this is a completely different story and most likely won't show up anywhere here.

Provides a service free, when people would gladly pay for it... Outstanding. Class act sir!

 

[mummel]

Welcome to the forum. Awesome intro post!

"Hi, my name is.... and I already ordered customs". Lol

He will fit in here just fine But the sickness feels strong in this one.

 

[Mental Nomad]

So if I'd take money for what I'm doing, wouldn't I put myself in a spot outside of this great community and it's spirit? That's not the place where I want to be tbh.

A very generous and respectable position to take.

That being said, I have two comments:

First, remember that the chipset designer/owner is not the only beneficiary. The rest of us love seeing this shit.

Second, next time you're doing an upgrade, consider making a post welcoming donations to the cause. I'd toss in some coin.

 

[LinkyBabe]

Welcome to the forum. Awesome intro post!

"Hi, my name is.... and I already ordered customs". Lol

Technically, my second post, but hey... maybe one does get a second chance to make a first impression?

Congrats, mate! Heck of a first order/design. What breakdown did you go with? Are sample sets going to be made available? If so, I'd love to get in on them!

You can almost make out the breakdown in the filled case render provided by the Great @Ray-Col. Breakdown is: 180 x T25, 180 x T100, 100 x T500, 40 x T2000 for a total of 500 chips. I can definitely get a sample set order going if people are interested... cost for a complete set (not including S&H) is $10.32 USD.

The only improvement I can think of is to better balance the title and the moon. In my opinion the moon is too close to the left 'o' and the whole word could be shifted a tad to the right in order to get the Capital 'P' a bit off the inlay rim.

Sorry, I gave you the wrong T100 inlay... the space between the 1 and the 0 was corrected long ago and can be seen in the original post above. That's what happens when using your work laptop , your home laptop and phone and forgetting to purge old files. As for the moon issue... I've wrestled with this for some time. My graphic artist said the same thing, but I'm also trying to respect the fact that the moon is a round sphere whether you see the whole object or not and nothing else should occupy its space. It was originally closer to the first "o", so what you're seeing now is a compromise... not sure what the solution is. As for shifting the whole word to the right, that creates an alignment problem with the "AFTER DARK" portion as I want them to be aligned with each other. They would both have to be moved and then it would be more obvious that it isn't centred... at least it was to me when I tried it. Again, I'm not sure what the solution is. I'm not unhappy with it, but if anyone has an idea, I'm more than willing to listen. Maybe a font with more rounded edges would de-emphasize the closeness of the P to the rim?

They look great! I have a home game not far from you (Langley) that I am also in the process of putting together a custom CPC set for. Not as far along as you are and I expect it to take a considerable amount of time due to the number of choices.

Grant

Choice is good but when there's a lot of it, it can be overwhelming. Good luck with your set!

Awesome design, and welcome to the boards! I love the whole set, but the 500's in particular are pop-tastic!

Viewing those T500's (Ray's render) on my Samsung S7 edge display nearly burned holes through my retinas. I was seriously worried until I got home and viewed them on my Mac and then all was well again.

I want to be able to add more likes to the like I already gave it!

I'm pretty biased as being from PoCo, PoCompton, whatever you'll have.

Pretty sweet looking set.

The HIDEOUT has a game every month near TF Sr. let me know if you are interested!

Thanks for the invite! Work's got me busy for the next few months, but I checked out your website and I'll hit you up when the time comes.

I have a little concern about "AFTER DARK" not being very legible when printed on the inlay, but it doesn't have to be super-legible... and I think it looks (artistically) very good the way it is.

I did CPC's arm's length test and I can make it out even with my long arms. I did try it a bit bigger but it reduced the overall black area of the chip. Unless David (CPC) has concerns, I'll leave it as is for now.

Have you considered different fonts for the denominations? With so many to choose from, you seem to be opting for something like Arial or Helvetica here, which is a little bit on the plain side...

See my reply above about choice . The font choice was originally based on two things: 1) it was already installed on my computer; 2) it had a nice thin looking dollar sign. The first mockup had currency signs, but then I decided to get rid of them as I'm a "less is more" kind o' guy. I never have cash games and tourney games running simultaneously so it's also rather unnecessary for me. But I'm also lazy, er uh, efficient and never thought about the font again after I got rid of the currency signs. I'm certainly open to a different font but there are "billions and billions" of 'em out there, and font scouring gives me headaches.

 

[Psypher1000]

I can definitely get a sample set order going if people are interested

Do that. They will be.

 

[Ray-Col]

First, remember that the chipset designer/owner is not the only beneficiary. The rest of us love seeing this shit.
Second, next time you're doing an upgrade, consider making a post welcoming donations to the cause. I'd toss in some coin.

You're always the one looking at the whole picture when I'm still playing with the red ropes protecting it.

Nevertheless your second point would be a backdoor I won't sneak in for the rame reasons as mentioned above. However I'd like to take on the first one - grabbing all my (public) renders and build a huge picture thread which is growing and growing ...

 

[T_Chan]

Another PoCo-ite. I'm technically in Coquitlam but one street over is PoCo. Those chips look great, looking forward to seeing the final product.

I really like the $2000 chip over the $1k. Brilliant!

 

[LinkyBabe]

Another PoCo-ite. I'm technically in Coquitlam but one street over is PoCo.

It's the opposite for me... technically I live in PoCo but across the street is Coquitlam.

 

[LinkyBabe]

Thanks to everyone for their feedback, especially @Ray-Col for providing a modified mock-up, in an effort to address the concerns. Okay, my photo editing skills are non-existent, so please excuse the rough looking mock-up I did using PowerPoint. On the left is the original that David is prepping for production... on the right is something I slapped together to address a couple of concerns a few of you had... (1) PoCo appearing to not be centred because of how close the corner of the "P" is to the edge versus the "o"; and (2) the plainness of the font.

(1) The trouble with just moving PoCo over to the right is that it will not be centred with "AFTER DARK". If I move both, then it's obvious that "AFTER DARK" isn't centred either.
(2) The font choice was specific as I was aiming for a clean look as well as avoiding too much white so that the gradient wasn't overpowered. As the OP was about enlarging the font size anyway, I certainly don't mind looking at different fonts to achieve the same results.

The mock-up on the right shows the only font that appealed to me... the swooping "P" allows "PoCo" and "AFTER DARK" to be treated as one object for centring, and it certainly isn't plain looking. If I go with the fonts on the right, everything else will carry over from the previous design (stars, crescent moon and gradient), although exact spacing and sizing of the fonts will need to be fine tuned. Again, the one on the right is not final... it is just a concept.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

 

[pedrofisk]

My preference is still fr the first design, I think it is very elegant without being overdone. I also think the original design keeps more of the black and thus has more of a night time feel to is. In the second design you really have two design choices competing for dominance, the more stylized font and the moon.Perhaps if the second font was thinner it could be ok but I still worry that font might read as "doco" instead of "Poco" at first to someone, especially if they are reading it upside down. The top left of the "P" being closer to the edge in the left version doesn't bother me personally.