Creative cripple in need of assistance (1 Viewer)

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Hello, chippers!

There's lots of research ahead of me--apparently there's a "get samples" mantra that is central to this religion that I need to work on. But one thing I've already decided is that when the process of getting my "starter set" (which will probably be my only set for years) is finished, I want the set to be MINE. If I'm going to pay CPC upwards of a thou, or even pay a cards mold vendor a fifth that amount, to make a set of chips, I might as well spend n dollars getting good design work that says, "this cool stuff belongs to Matt." So I can start that part now.

I am not a terribly creative guy, and the creativity I do have tends to come in words, not pictures. So I thought I would start this thread with two purposes:
  1. Brainstorm possible thematic elements--although naturally I will be the final arbiter of what the set looks like, I have no particular need to own the ideas that ultimately go into the design. So to the extent that people want to help me have a set that's not just MINE, but also cool, I welcome a free-wheeling discussion
  2. Ask thread posters to help me identify designers who might be good at the type of design that we collectively think is awesome
So, shall we begin?
 
Grist for the Conceptual Mill:

Currently, the best idea I have come up with is the theme "Mad Dog's Card Room." Mad Dog was an ironic nickname that one of my college's party animals slapped on me, and that I later grew into to a certain degree. And it sounds like the name of a guy that might run an underground poker room. Not that I would know.

Other stuff about me, and some very preliminary conceptual associations:
  • Name: Matt (but I'm not crazy about "Matt's Poker Room"); initials MMD; my last name sucks for a poker room. My wife's last name is great, but I don't want to get into anything that would make us easily identifiable on publicly viewable web pages
  • My username on PCF is a pun I'm fond of. In case you haven't seen my explanation in the nickname thread, "feltschmerz" is a play on the word "weltschmerz," which literally means "world hurt," basically German for depression. Maybe a simplified globe for the "world" part? But I could see that being a bit of a downer as a theme...
  • I and my family are in L.A., near the airport. Some folks have taken to calling this part of town "Silicon Beach" due to the influx of big tech companies opening offices here, so I could see a "Silicon Beach Card Room" theme with artwork that's a play on words with "silicon" and "chip," like maybe an image of a microchip's tracings as the background
  • I'm a semi-retired attorney. Maybe some busted scales o' justice, offering a humorous meditation on how unfair this game can be?
  • I quit drinking about ten years ago, and I roast my own coffee, so if my card room is a bar, it's a coffee bar
  • Another hobby is that I'm a DJ that still spins vinyl as my control surface, so images related to records, speakers, headphones, sound waves, etc. could work
  • My taste in chip artwork runs toward dark and minimal, like the Aria's and Royals. I don't like chips where the artwork on the inlay is so involved it interferes with one's appreciation of the edge spots. To me, the edge spots are the real artwork on display, and the inlay/label is mostly there to carry information
 
You can create a pleasing design for pretty much any concept. Especially when you are going with a more minimalistic text/font oriented design. I would say that you would want a theme to reference something positive and specific to your game while being relatable to the players. Once you identify that you can start designing.

So the Silicone Beach thing doesn't sound seem very positive. The DJ thing could work well from a design perspective but do your other players know this? Is it relatable to them and the game? I don't know how relatable the law angle is unless most of the players are attorneys as well or everyone specifically thinks of you as being an attorney first and foremost.

Do a lot of the players drink you coffee at the game? Do the players know you well for this? I like the coffee bar angle. It is specific to you and possibly to the game. Also it is positive and fun. Otherwise some variant of the Mad Dog theme could work if you really are fond of that moniker and because it works well with poker.
 
There are a great number of designers here. If you haven’t, I recommend perusing the Chip DB here, the Chip Guide, and this site of historical chips to help you get a feel of inlays and chips that you like to help steer designers. Can’t wait to see what you come up with.

PS. I used a relative’s name as it worked really well.

PPS. Just in case. Also note the card emojis- they’re great when telling tall tales about amazing hands.
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First step first - pick a theme.

You have a lot of ideas, and that can quickly lead to analysis paralysis. Slim it down to one idea that you really like. Remember that a poker chip is a very small canvas. There's not a lot of room to even mash-up multiple ideas. Pick a lane that will make you happy.

When I was designing my first set, I had a lot of ideas. Firefighting, games, poker themes, the cities of Chicago, Nashville, and Detroit... but in the end, I went with something that both Mrs Zombie and I had in common. This encouraged her to play as well, which opened up our player base as she is the far better recruiter for new players.

I'm not the only one to walk that path. @Mr Tree 's Hitching Post is deeply personal and is @detroitdad 's Sunset chip set.

It also doesn't hurt when spending a ridiculous amount of money on chips for your spouse to see that you were thinking of her with the design.
 
"I quit drinking about ten years ago, and I roast my own coffee, so if my card room is a bar, it's a coffee bar"

That's the winner. Coffee chips! I'm thinking colors like green, butterscotch, dark brown, and white. How do you drink your coffee?
 
First step first - pick a theme.


This is tough to do @feltschmerz I wanted something unique and personal to me, but that would also function as a poker chipset. First and foremost. I designed it for "ME" and nobody else. A solids, sunset themed set will never make the hall of fame. It will rarely be anyone's top three custom set. I don't care. I LOVE IT!. that's all that matters.

I have my wife to thank for helping me with the theme. I was lost. She made a quick suggestion while were were celebrating our 20th anniversary at a Mexican resort. Then the Sunset poker chips started to take life.

Now I own something like 1200 of them. I have secondary's that have my grandkids names/year of birth on them. Its easily my favorite set.

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"I quit drinking about ten years ago, and I roast my own coffee, so if my card room is a bar, it's a coffee bar"

That's the winner. Coffee chips! I'm thinking colors like green, butterscotch, dark brown, and white. How do you drink your coffee?

This time of year, I typically drink black coffee made in an aeropress. In the summer, cold brew.

Aeropress makes ridiculously good coffee, but doesn't scale well, so I keep a traditional drip machine around for company.
 
I'll just repeat what I wrote elsewhere:

I don't think that an inlay needs a theme, or a name, or an image. I think what an inlay needs is appeal. In particular, appeal to one specific person: you.

Here's what I've done. I've looked at lots and lots and lots and lots of pictures of chips. Casinos, fantasies, and customs. And whenever I saw something that made me think "wow, those are great, I'd love to have a set like that" I took note of it. When I got tired of looking at poker chips I took a break, then came back to my list and thought about what specific things I liked about the various sets I noted. Different things for each set! Sometimes conflicting! I got enough great ideas for what to include in a set that I could probably build three or four completely different ones right away just from the inspiration.

For me, what I found most appealing about the sets that appealed to me was their style. And so, I've decided that my first set of customs is going to be built around not a theme or name or image but rather around a particular style. That style isn't as meaningful to me as, say, my favorite hobby or my favorite place or the most important people in my life or a treasured memory - all of which would be excellent themes for a set - but I've decided my set doesn't have to carry any special meaning. It needs to be appealing, and the style I've chosen is one of my favorite artistic styles and thus appeals to me very much.

Good luck on finding something you like!
 
@Eloe2000 made a really good point: that, although I want this set to be mine, I don't want it to be conceptually opaque to my guests.

And I'm seeing some positive responses to a coffee bar theme. It would also be good, because it would become part of pregame ritual to brew up a pot.

Preliminarily, I'm thinking of "Matt's Jitter Joint--Cards & Coffee", or just "The Jitter Joint--Los Angeles, CA", with whatever cool silhouette of a steaming mug I can find in the public domain on the Internet in the background. Something like this one, probably:

R.99dca32469fd5e2c920c4755e77952d6

Good? Bad? Indifferent?
 
Procrastinating from what I'm supposed to be doing... Just used a royalty-free clipart of an Aeropress and threw some text in a circle. (Was going to add a pun-ish "Bitte to the last drop..." tagline to go with your weltschmerz pun, but thought I'd keep it simple.)

Also, I'm on the Westside, so hello fellow Silicon Beach denizen!

feldschmerz.png
 
@Eloe2000 made a really good point: that, although I want this set to be mine, I don't want it to be conceptually opaque to my guests.

And I'm seeing some positive responses to a coffee bar theme. It would also be good, because it would become part of pregame ritual to brew up a pot.

Preliminarily, I'm thinking of "Matt's Jitter Joint--Cards & Coffee", or just "The Jitter Joint--Los Angeles, CA", with whatever cool silhouette of a steaming mug I can find in the public domain on the Internet in the background. Something like this one, probably:

R.99dca32469fd5e2c920c4755e77952d6

Good? Bad? Indifferent?

Something like this would work. You could go even more minimalistic and just incorporate something like a single one of those beans into the design leaning more on a creative and elegant font than an icon or other imagery.
 
Procrastinating from what I'm supposed to be doing... Just used a royalty-free clipart of an Aeropress and threw some text in a circle. (Was going to add a pun-ish "Bitte to the last drop..." tagline to go with your weltschmerz pun, but thought I'd keep it simple.)

Also, I'm on the Westside, so hello fellow Silicon Beach denizen!

View attachment 800037
I probably won't use the aeropress image, because I'd be the only one at the table who knows what that is. But "Feltschmerz Kaffehaus--Silicon Beach, CA" is a winner, for sure. Definitely an improvement on my earlier "Jitter Joint."
 
I probably won't use the aeropress image, because I'd be the only one at the table who knows what that is. But "Feltschmerz Kaffehaus--Silicon Beach, CA" is a winner, for sure. Definitely an improvement on my earlier "Jitter Joint."
Kinda looks like a bong if you're not in the know....
 
You just pounded that out in the last few minutes? Wow. Just wow.
Thanks! Not quite just a "few" minutes, I think I started a little after your Aeropress comment, so half an hour? But it's a very basic mockup without consideration for readability or other factors. I'm still rather a novice at this.

(Make sure to include the second "e" if you use "Kaffee". I had the same instinct to leave it off.)
 
You definitely have some great themes to work with. I would focus on keeping it very simple. The most classic poker chips mostly have a very minimal graphic with the emphasis on the type and denomination.
 
I’ve also designed a bunch of logos over the years and the thing I do is start with different ideas and mix them. Create columns of words…in this case, cards and coffee.
The first word they share is grind. Maybe call it “The Grind Poker Room” or “The Grindery”?
Something to brainstorm…
 
I probably won't use the aeropress image, because I'd be the only one at the table who knows what that is. But "Feltschmerz Kaffehaus--Silicon Beach, CA" is a winner, for sure. Definitely an improvement on my earlier "Jitter Joint."
Are your players familiar with your feltschmerz alias? I just realized I misspelled it in my original mockup. Here's another, without the "bong"...

feltschmerz2.png
 
First thing I thought of was Mad Dog Tannen from Back to the Future III, and doing a theme similar to @AK Chip Soapy’s Parlor set around the Mad Dog name/character.

1635183366183.jpeg

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(@AK Chip photo)

But then, the coffee theme started take hold here from others’ posts, and I wonder if you can’t combine the two….?

“Mad Dog’s Card & Coffee House”

You could even have Hill Valley, CA as the city on the chip.
 
No, my players are not familiar with the Feltschmerz alias. But I don't think that part would really matter. It would just be the Germanish-sounding name of the coffee bar where they go sometimes to play poker. And if they happened to know the word weltschmerz, they would know that the name is a joke.
 
I spent maybe about a year or so playing with different ideas for chip designs. I went through many themes in my head and then found out many of my ideas were done by someone else in one form of another. I then thought of movies I liked and decided on a Top Gun theme after several iterations in my head of different things. I was going to use the words TOP GUN on my chips, but then came up with the idea to go with a Top Gun theme but not directly use the words TOP GUN. I came up with the location name from the movie MIRAMAR. I have ZERO artistic talent, but in my head I have all these complicated designs I was thinking of. I then contacted Timinator one of the Designers on here. He presented me with several design options after I conveyed my thoughts to him. Like many people said it is always best to keep things simple and that's what I decided to do. Tim nailed it out of the park with my design and he is the guy I go to for all my chip set designs and Dealer Button designs. Once you have a design in your head I would highly recommend Tim.

The Coffee Theme is a great Idea. My thoughts for you is maybe "The Grinders Poker Room" with the location Silicon Beach, CA on the bottom. You can use a picture of a Coffee Grinder as the inlay logo, but instead of the Coffee Beans in the Grinder maybe multi-colored Dice Chips in the grinder. I stole the picture of the Coffee Grinder from the internet.

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My sets.
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I spent maybe about a year or so playing with different ideas for chip designs. I went through many themes in my head and then found out many of my ideas were done by someone else in one form of another. I then thought of movies I liked and decided on a Top Gun theme after several iterations in my head of different things. I was going to use the words TOP GUN on my chips, but then came up with the idea to go with a Top Gun theme but not directly use the words TOP GUN. I came up with the location name from the movie MIRAMAR. I have ZERO artistic talent, but in my head I have all these complicated designs I was thinking of. I then contacted Timinator one of the Designers on here. He presented me with several design options after I conveyed my thoughts to him. Like many people said it is always best to keep things simple and that's what I decided to do. Tim nailed it out of the park with my design and he is the guy I go to for all my chip set designs and Dealer Button designs. Once you have a design in your head I would highly recommend Tim.

The Coffee Theme is a great Idea. My thoughts for you is maybe "The Grinders Poker Room" with the location Silicon Beach, CA on the bottom. You can use a picture of a Coffee Grinder as the inlay logo, but instead of the Coffee Beans in the Grinder maybe multi-colored Dice Chips in the grinder. I stole the picture of the Coffee Grinder from the internet.

View attachment 800087


My sets.
View attachment 800080 View attachment 800081

+1 million on @timinater.
 
My custom sets have included the Sunset theme which is an ode to the relationship with my wife.

Then I have a bourbon set, well, because I love bourbon. @Ben8257 and @FordPickup92 own that set.

I also have a Carnevale poker them using cali colors, another bourbon hot stamp set in production. Then of course my Parks and Rec set because of my Leslie Knope and Ron Swanson addiction.
 

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