Curious about your creative process for customs (2 Viewers)

[Psypher1000]

I'm just curious how y'all go about making your custom sets? Do you start with an inlay concept and work outwards? A spot progression concept and work inwards? Do you see a single chip you like and build a set around it? What works for you? How did your custom sets come into being?

I've taken a few different approaches...

• Armory tourney set: I loved the idea of a bi-colored quarter pie tourney set - that's the concept that started the set. I like solids for tournaments, but I also like having some kind of visual indicator on the edges to help determine stack size at a glance. I didn't want to go with 314 spots since SPM tourneys have that down solid, and 214's aren't necessarily visible enough. The 1/4 pie's seemed a nice, fitting compromise. I had a loose idea of what I wanted the inlay to look like but wasn't sure what to do w/the interior of the shield. Steve suggested quartering the shields as well, and then provided the initial draft of the inlay. I ultimately found a basic-but-fantastic cross to use as a spacer which fit well with the heraldic/medieval theme, bing bang boom, done.
  
  
• Armory cash set: I knew two things to begin with - I wanted a scroll mold set, and I wanted it with all X18 spots. I loved the Engdahl Casino samples I received which are all have X14 spots. Then I saw the Mapes $1 and it was off to the races. I wanted something that mimicked that and I liked yellow for a $1 chip. I then moved downward with the intent of making the fracs sexy. I understand why casino fracs tend to be basic and/or ugly, but my players play microstakes and I wanted to take care of them. I liked the retro/light blue combo of the California Bell $1's so I altered that slightly for my quarters, and my wife solidified the nickles. I didn't specifically intend for the $5 to be a copy of the WTH&C chip initially, but when I saw the concept and colors fit, I matched it as closely as I could. The $20 took the most time to nail down, but it wasn't a huge timesink. By the time I finished the colors & spots, J5 was ready to hit the inlays. I really had no idea what I wanted for them, but he made it happen.
  
  
• Cavalry Club: This is the only instance where I've really had an inlay/hotstamp in mind. I knew I wanted a small HHR set, and I knew I wanted a Cavalry Club set. I knew the general feel for the color progression but it took a while to get that solidified, even with samples in hand. I fired a hobo drawing of the stamp concept to Steve, and as it happened, his first draft was the only one needed. Between being an English teacher & working with the hobby game industry, I've reviewed & critiqued countless drafts and iterations of things. I can count on one hand the times an artist submitted a first draft that ended up being a final draft. He seriously crushed this!

The first two sets started with a spot concept; the third started with a theme. In all cases there were at least a few things I knew were locked down pretty quickly so that I could build around them and give others some constants to work with if i was soliciting help or input. What I think was most important for me, though, was making sure that the initial concepts and drafts came together quickly. I've logged ludicrous amounts of hours into that chip design tool and have tried to put together initial concepts of sets more times than I can recall, but if I don't have a good, solid, working concept I'm happy with in about 15-30 minutes or so, I put it away, not to be reconsidered until days/weeks later, if at all. Otherwise I feel I'm forcing it, and if I've forced a beginning, I'm not sure I want to even see whatever "final" product comes out of it, let alone pay for it. So for me I guess my initial process boils down to three things...

1. Have a concept in mind
2. Lock down a few constants and build around them
3. If I can't finish the initial concept in whole and to my satisfaction within 15-30 minutes, put it on indefinite hold and move on.

And then, once that's done, pray that an artist can help tie it all together with a boss inlay. What about you? How do y'all do your customs.

 

[ohio3302016]

My recent custom set was pretty simple. I wanted a solid cash set with a basic inlay on the MD50 mold. So it basically came down to choosing colors and getting the inlay correct. @p5woody nailed it in a couple of iterations. So this set happened very quickly and it turned exactly how I wanted it.

The tourney set I designed with @Quicksilver-75 took much longer. It was all about the theme - Ohio State football. Again, an all solid set but intricate, two-sided inlays. It took a ton of emails back and forth but was actually enjoyable.

 

[courage]

• Have a concept in mind

• Lock down a few constants and build around them

• If I can't finish the initial concept in whole and to my satisfaction within 15-30 minutes, put it on indefinite hold and move on.

Nice thread! Generally this^^ although the concept or theme must usually tie into something personal to appeal to me. Also learned that when in doubt simpler is better. Plus, J5 is the man.

I started out in the frenzy of the elephant & crown mold. It was also around that time I was trying to get my home game going more regularly and we played mostly hold 'em tourneys. "courage" had always been my screen name on P* and Full Tilt and other places and it was tied to things I enjoyed: Courage the Cowardly Dog cartoon, Wizard of Oz lion, and a reminder to myself to be more aggressive at poker. So it was an easy theme to build around. I also loved Maegnus' Wizard Tournament set and it inspired me. I probably tried to do too much with the ideas and some colors here, namely the Russian medal of courage. I sure liked it and it made a fantastic watermark, but the heart and crossed swords fit a poker theme better. Doing these over I would have removed the medal from the black inlay.

@jimb got me with his annual solids sale. Such a great deal. J5 hit the vintage mark I was hoping for with this inlay, which was the goal from the beginning with this set.

The twin spires set just tied a bunch of themes together in my mind along with a great mold, and gave me a chance to feature a Louisville landmark. J5 suggested crossed riding crops which I found hilarious! It started out a solid color tourney set with the excuse to use mandarin red and charcoal but when it changed to a cash set and the spot combos became more complex I found myself starting the design with the $1 chip. Generally I don't like to reuse colors and I wanted each chip to be distinctive in stacks. Switching to a Cali theme gave me a little pause but allowed me to use the colors I wanted for denoms that would see play, esp the quarter. I didn't know my home game would stop using fracs lol.

When the Suicide King Club cash set was underway, I was intrigued by the idea of doing a tourney set. Only ellased wanted on board and this was one of the most grueling design processes ever. J5 prolly wanted to kill us. I could justify the set in my stable by the "king of hearts" = courage thing, but mostly I just wanted to try BCC colors and pull off intricate color matching. The denom placement was painfully tough and the months of work trying for color matching various aspects of the inlays were brutal but I love the result. We also sweated BCC lol quality control but got lucky.

J5 planted a seed in my head in an email saying all I needed now was a custom hotstamped Paulson set. That wasn't an option (only semi-custom) but md-50 was. This set took a long time to complete but I love it. I was going for simple high contrast chips with a vintage look and couldn't be happier.

Once the theme was rolling I was kind of pot-committed but with each design I try to relate it to something else: a vintage chip that I love, a local tie-in, or whatever is exciting. Agree that you know it in your gut when you've hit upon something that resonates.

Good luck out there!

 

[slisk250]

Exit Only Lounge Tournament - It just came together piece by piece. The inlay and concept were first. When you finally get to leave this place, you get an Exit Only Visa. Everywhere else in the world a visa gains you entrance. So the name is a play on the words. When people get an invite to my card room, it comes as an Exit Only Visa. Then one day I saw some images that were used by a now defunct airline in the Emirates that included some South Park looking characters. I did the research and found quotes from the network that stated they could not sue because they were only likenesses. I put mocks together and J5 cleaned them up but did exactly what I asked. I then followed some spot progression but in hindsight I made mistakes.

Exit Only Cash - I used the basic same style as above but changed the 5 to something new. I totally screwed up the quarter and 20. I was set on using a few colors and they don't look that great since I've learned a bit more. I've been tempted to add on with a new 20 but will just go with it as is.

Mike's Casino - I had the idea for a complete Mapes tribute set so there wasn't much creativity here. Just change the inlay lettering and somewhat copy the original chips. I'm very happy with this set (from the photos Scott took for me and shared with us.) I consulted with courage and jbutler so I didn't make big mistakes again.

XXXXXXXXX - In development - The concept is a tribute set to my mother who I lost 26 years ago. I can't decide if I want to go hot stamp or shaped inlay. The chips are mostly done and I've been very tempted to seek help from courage and jbutler again, however just breaking out a totally unknown set ala ChaosRock is on my mind too . There is one chip I'm trying to build the set around and do something different that I haven't done before color wise. I've shared it with J5 but am still on the fence. It's the only set that I've labored over. The others came together so quick in my mind that it was effortless.

 

[guinness]

I have a 6 step program.

1. Have idea, create initial mockups.
2. Create email thread to Courage, HQ, Bergs, Butler, Chicken and Malaka. Send Mockups.
3. Critique the improvements sent back by Courage and his team.
4. Come to the realization how much better they can be, refine accordingly.
5. Ready to pull the trigger, realize I am broke.
6. Repeat these steps after 12 months have gone by.

 

[Poker Zombie]

My creative "process" is wildly scattered. Think "a beautiful mind" with far less structure. I usually have a handful of ideas brewing, and all it takes is something to cause one of the ideas to boil over - a chip sale, a movie, even a new and interesting item that I don't have yet (the most recent being plaques). Then I pull out the idea and refine it - slowly. It takes me a long time to build up the cache to dump on chips, so there's little hurry. As soon as I get close to my financial goal, I kick the idea into high gear.

But process - not a word I'd use. More like method to the madness...

 

[Mr Tree]

I throw shit against the wall until someone says, "hey, that looks good!"

 

[Psypher1000]

Doing these over I would have removed the medal from the black inlay.

IDK, I love the CC tourney set as is!

 

[courage]

IDK, I love the CC tourney set as is!

Thanks! They need to see more action.

The only other change I think I would have made is making the 312 spot on the T25 dark green. But I still waffle about that lol. The imp blue is so different.

 

[chipjoker]

I have to say, it took me two years to really get an idea..

I played with the Chip Design tool (a lot)
I got sample sets from those who offered (to see the different molds and colors)
Then it took me forever to figure out a theme ( I had 6 ideas at one time, they all were similar to already created customs. Lots of cool ones around here)
Then I worked on colors and edge spots for reel.
Then I had to decide on the mold ( I really like the CSQ mold, but I wanted the 44mm for my $20, settle for CSQ and Scroll (44mm only).
I really wanted the A-mold for ALL chips but NO 44mm A-mold..
Then David mentioned the testing of the 44mm A mold and my hopes and dreams of all A-mold are now in the works....
Then I worked on logos, (@p5woody cleaned up my design)

 

[DJ Mack]

I had the basic theme in my head but came here to get some ideas. Experienced folks suggested simplifying things, which in the long run I think gave me more freedom to include key elements. So I mocked up some artwork and worked with David on what would work on the inlays. He offered a few pointers on color that I think will make a big difference. The mockup took a few weeks as I kicked different ideas around before finally settling on one that I (and the Mrs.) liked.

As to chip colors I'm somewhat of a traditionalist so I went with the traditional scheme (red, green, black, yellow, gray). Edge spot progressions were basically as my budget allowed given the number of chips I was ordering. While it would be cool to do Level 3 or 4 on the lowest denomination that's just not practical as you go up the spectrum.

I'm currently working on ideas for a cash set for my sister in law. She's fairly specific in what she wants but like anything now it comes down to colors both of chips and inlays. Here again David has been helpful. She wants to do an outline of Cleveland. At first it was going to be white lines on a black background but David pointed out some practical issues with that format. So right now things are inverted (black on white) and we're tinkering with placement of the text and denominations.

The chip design tool has been heavily leveraged for both projects.

 

[ohio3302016]

Nice thread! Generally this^^ although the concept or theme must usually tie into something personal to appeal to me. Also learned that when in doubt simpler is better. Plus, J5 is the man.

I started out in the frenzy of the elephant & crown mold. It was also around that time I was trying to get my home game going more regularly and we played mostly hold 'em tourneys. "courage" had always been my screen name on P* and Full Tilt and other places and it was tied to things I enjoyed: Courage the Cowardly Dog cartoon, Wizard of Oz lion, and a reminder to myself to be more aggressive at poker. So it was an easy theme to build around. I also loved Maegnus' Wizard Tournament set and it inspired me. I probably tried to do too much with the ideas and some colors here, namely the Russian medal of courage. I sure liked it and it made a fantastic watermark, but the heart and crossed swords fit a poker theme better. Doing these over I would have removed the medal from the black inlay.

@jimb got me with his annual solids sale. Such a great deal. J5 hit the vintage mark I was hoping for with this inlay, which was the goal from the beginning with this set.

The twin spires set just tied a bunch of themes together in my mind along with a great mold, and gave me a chance to feature a Louisville landmark. J5 suggested crossed riding crops which I found hilarious! It started out a solid color tourney set with the excuse to use mandarin red and charcoal but when it changed to a cash set and the spot combos became more complex I found myself starting the design with the $1 chip. Generally I don't like to reuse colors and I wanted each chip to be distinctive in stacks. Switching to a Cali theme gave me a little pause but allowed me to use the colors I wanted for denoms that would see play, esp the quarter. I didn't know my home game would stop using fracs lol.

When the Suicide King Club cash set was underway, I was intrigued by the idea of doing a tourney set. Only ellased wanted on board and this was one of the most grueling design processes ever. J5 prolly wanted to kill us. I could justify the set in my stable by the "king of hearts" = courage thing, but mostly I just wanted to try BCC colors and pull off intricate color matching. The denom placement was painfully tough and the months of work trying for color matching various aspects of the inlays were brutal but I love the result. We also sweated BCC lol quality control but got lucky.

J5 planted a seed in my head in an email saying all I needed now was a custom hotstamped Paulson set. That wasn't an option (only semi-custom) but md-50 was. This set took a long time to complete but I love it. I was going for simple high contrast chips with a vintage look and couldn't be happier.

Once the theme was rolling I was kind of pot-committed but with each design I try to relate it to something else: a vintage chip that I love, a local tie-in, or whatever is exciting. Agree that you know it in your gut when you've hit upon something that resonates.

Good luck out there!

How often does your plain, solid set get into play? I love that set.

 

[bivey]

I've posted a lot of this stuff elsewhere but this is a great thread for people to reference.

I started with a theme "Ivey's house of Nutz" in 2004 because I was a medical student applying for residency in Urology - I liked the Pun. Spots were simpler back then and I was runnin' solo with no PCF or CT. My art was based on my disdain a for JJ. The colors and spots were also limited.

Fast forward to the Chateau de Noix. I started with the theme, which took a long time to work out. When I settled on the wine theme and integrated my old theme into the new one I began work on colors and spots. The theme helped choose the colors. Really helped. I had so many iterations of colors and spots I drove myself insane. I had must keeps that got tossed and almost completed mock ups go in the trash. Eventually I found the cohesive unit I was looking for.

For CdN2, the theme was unchanged and simpler. I took a different approach, using color and spots to dictate the set. Here I wanted bright colors and lots of small edge spots (418, 618, 4d18, 6d18, 8d18) with some fancier edge spots used on workhorse chips. Color matching cohesiveness to my prior theme dictated a lot of inlay particulars. I also chose a certain mold and inlay size to begin the project whereas the mold for the original CdN was borne out of the ideas that were evolving in the theme.

Generally, I think it is easiest to have a theme you want and work the mold, inlay design, colors, and spot patterns around this theme. I have had many a color mockup go to ground because a theme comes along and destroys it.

Both of my CdN projects have been 12 months at least from start to finish. Usually financing also has heavy influence on decisions and that should never be ignored.

Hope this is helpful for whomever is reading this!

 

[detroitdad]

I finally realized that I horribly lack creativity when trying to come up with something from inception. Hence outsourcing it to one of our great chip designers That decision got me an awesome cash set of Sunset chips!!!

 

[courage]

How often does your plain, solid set get into play? I love that set.

Thanks! idk, I sold that set since it wasn't getting any time on the felt. Was a small set and not enough for two tables.

 

[ohio3302016]

Thanks! idk, I sold that set since it wasn't getting any time on the felt. Was a small set and not enough for two tables.

Ahh...

 

[Toby]

I started off with the cat concept.

Then hired J5 and we went through some design iterations.

First mockups:

For base colors, I spent weeks carrying around my ASM color sample set, shuffling colors in and out of the lineup until I got a flow I dug:

...which I then took into the chip factory to get my spots:

...which I then shared with J5:

...bleed added:

...and we kept tweaking and adding elements, e.g. Latin text ring:

...swirly background:

The bounty went through quite a few revisions:

...but we got there in the end:

 

[bivey]

We could have a whole thread with just custom art progressions.

 

[viet rounder]

1. Ask yourself what you like and what represents you
2. Start sketching up your design
3. When you are done step back and look at the forest and not just at the tree
4. Ask yourself, will your design age well? or is just another 80s Sci-Fi type movie
5. Ask yourself, does your chip look like a REAL casino chip? If not, why?
6. When you are satisfied sleep on that design for awhile.
7. Sleep on it some more.

8. Pull the trigger.