Custom chips - a philosophical question (1 Viewer)

[trigs]

In designing custom poker chips, what comes first for you: the mold/edge spots or the inlay/hotstamp art? And why?

 

[ovo]

I think mold would be the first choice, then inlay, spots and colors would follow for me

 

[ruskba]

There is no wrong answer. Just depends on what inspires the set.

 

[trigs]

There is no wrong answer. Just depends on what inspires the set.

I agree there is no wrong answer. I've just seen people on here go either way so I was curious as to why they chose one over the other. Personally, I think I'd do inlay/hotstamp art first.

 

[Quicksilver-75]

It really depends. Some people like photographic inlays that need a larger inlay to really work. This means the FDL and Hourglass mold makes the most sense because of their ability to take a 1 1/16" inlay.
Other reasons for mold over anything would be feel and theme.
I'd say if your art isn't accented by any available mold, then feel would be the biggest factor. I hate nubby. I find the A mold the worst for this. Just not a fan.

 

[RocAFella1]

 

[72o]

For me:
-Inlay art first to determine if I had something worth pursuing at all. Even if it's a rough draft that you can hone in on later as you are choosing chip colors and such.
-Second was the mold option even though I already knew what I wanted from getting samples through the years.
-Last was picking the chip colors/spots/patterns as this took me about 6-8 months to finalize and was BY FAR the hardest part of the whole process.

Ultimately the inlay needs to work together with the chips so one thing effects the other. It's not like you draw the inlay and are 100% done and then move onto the chips.

 

[Chippy McChiperson]

I mean I'm constantly playing around with the design tool, but until I have at least an inlay design in mind (don't necessarily have to have artwork in hand) it's kind of meaningless, at least for me. I think the colors and spot patterns should be reflective of the central theme of the chip. For example, with the BTPs it would be weird if the set was filled with earth tone colors. With my Nirvanas, I wanted an old-school retro look, so I went with the 1/4 pie spots which fit the era the chips were modeled after.

 

[chipjoker]

For me:
I like these casino chips
Play with chip tool
Oh, I like these casino chips
Play with chip tool
Collect sample sets from forum members
I dont like the edge spots
I like thees edge spots
Play with chip tool
collect sample sets from forum members
I like hot stamp
Collect sample sets from forum members
I like over size
I like plaques
What theme would I choose
Play with chip tool
Get sample color set
collect sample sets from forum members
I like these colors
Play with chip tool
I like those colors
Play with chip tool
collect sample sets from forum members
Play with chip tool

Find theme
Play with chip tool
Design label
Play with chip tool
choose colors
Play with chip tool
finalize
Play with chip tool
Play with chip tool
Finish art
Play with chip tool
Order Awesome Custom Chips...
Design Plaque and order
Then design Best Button Ever - order
Design cut cards, table felt, another table felt, order, build/make, then design and order Commemorative Chips and Member chips.
- it never ends... Have fun

 

[DeeVee8]

I had my design/theme down, but couldn't find a china clay mold that worked. Too poor to make custom Paulsons, loved the colors and spots of both the Pharaoh's and the Dunes, but the mold didn't work for the design. Majestic spots just didn't trip my trigger. Finally went Ceramic.

Now that the new 43mm Majestics are coming out, I have a mold, but need to make my design for a cash set.

So basically...yeah.

 

[ruskba]

Maybe my experience was more of an outlier than I thought. I mocked up chips with no idea for a theme or inlay, but knew there were a couple chips I really wanted. So I tweaked my chip designs until I came up with an inlay idea and then kept tweaking the inlay until it all fit together.

 

[72o]

Maybe my experience was more of an outlier than I thought. I mocked up chips with no idea for a theme or inlay, but knew there were a couple chips I really wanted. So I tweaked my chip designs until I came up with an inlay idea and then kept tweaking the inlay until it all fit together.

Yup you're pretty screwed up I'd say. If you want to work ass backwards then by all means go for it. Totally kidding man. I LOVE your chips!

It just goes to show you that the process ultimately doesn't matter as long as everything ultimately works together in the end.

 

[Chippy McChiperson]

Maybe my experience was more of an outlier than I thought. I mocked up chips with no idea for a theme or inlay, but knew there were a couple chips I really wanted. So I tweaked my chip designs until I came up with an inlay idea and then kept tweaking the inlay until it all fit together.

I mean everybody has their own process, and you have to do what works for you. But for me, that would be like having a tattoo artist first pick out the colors he was going to use, and then picking out a design.

 

[allforcharity]

Inlay design first. Everything else flows naturally from there.