Edge Spots : Function vs. Aesthetic (2 Viewers)

[MrRossKeys]

Hello,

New to the world of custom poker chip creation and have spent the better part of the last month learning all I can about chip composition, artwork, materials, etc... I live in an area where there are regular home games and tournaments 2-3 times a week, but decided recently to start hosting my own tournaments bi-weekly. Over time I expect to possibly host alternating cash game and tourneys every week.

I am in the process of creating the art and design for a custom chip set using the amazing CPC Design Tool, and I wanted some feedback. I've always been drawn to chips with beautiful, broad, colorful/contrasting edge spots, as opposed to thin, repeating, (or missing) spots.

Is there an actual science behind choosing the size and color of the edge spots? Or, Is it all about the look you're going for? Is there any historical significance to certain spots that are general common knowledge?

 

[allforcharity]

Fellow newbie here. Hello and welcome!
Is there science behind it? Perhaps. Does it matter? Not a whit.
Much of chip design is really an exercise in happiness. Not ours, but yours.

However, there are likely a few practical limitations and considerations when it comes to realizing a set from initial idea to physical product:
1. Budget
2. Expected look/feel vs. actual look/feel
3. Play surface colours and textures vs. chip colour and textures

The solutions offered by the members here to the above concerns would include:
1. Clearly define the number of chips and denominations that you will require, as well as their play use (tourney vs. cash)
2. Get samples
3. Browse the forums to look at others' mockups and actual chips, and compare them to the table surfaces they play on, and see what you like and makes sense to you.

 

[BSteck]

I’ll add another practical reason for edge spot progression...

Color-blindness is a fairly common thing - I have two guys in my group who are color vision deficient. They definitely appreciate significant spot changes between denominations to help them identify chips.

 

[MrRossKeys]

Thanks for the reply!

I am definitely ordering samples as part of the overall process. And yes, I have spent numerous hours looking at other designs, but I never thought about how it will look on my playing surface! Very good advice there.

I'm just recently starting to understand the spot "levels" and how it affects pricing...

I currently own 1000 Casino Royale chips from Apache Poker, and while I like the design, they are a bit heavy, and more importantly, the T500 chips look VERY SIMILAR to the T25 chips on my poker table... so much so that our first tourney using them, we had a mishap on the first hand when a player raised to $800, and we all thought it was a raise to $325... hence my search for a better tournament solution.

So essentially I'd be ordering tourney chips of T25, T100, T500, T1000, and possibly T5000.... though I am also designing .25¢, $1, and $5 chips with the same design as well.

 

[kmccormick100]

Welcome, Allen!

Edgespots serve to:
- Make Chips countable in stacks
-Differentiate Chips in low light and pots
- Provide a level of security, as chip makers have limited specific edge spot pattern and color combinations to single uses by specific casinos
- allow specific chips to be identifiable on surveillance feeds even in black and white
- look pretty
- give you an excuse to spend days of your life trying to get the “right spot progression” ie, 1 spot, 2 spot, 3 spot, 4. All spots as multiples of 2, or 3 or all matching or none matching.

 

[Denali]

I thought they were more for the "eye in the sky" at the casinos originally?

 

[MrRossKeys]

- give you an excuse to spend days of your life trying to get the “right spot progression” ie, 1 spot, 2 spot, 3 spot, 4. All spots as multiples of 2, or 3 or all matching or none matching.

This is where I'm at currently... lost in a sea of excitement and mental anguish, dreaming about edge spots, lol.

 

[MrRossKeys]

Color-blindness is a fairly common thing - I have two guys in my group who are color vision deficient. They definitely appreciate significant spot changes between denominations to help them identify chips.

Yes, I actually imagined this might be the case, but wasn't sure this was an aspect of the edge spots.

So if this is the case, is it good for each chip in the set to have it's own unique spots? Or can a couple of chips have the same spots with different colors?

 

[TheBigTater]

Welcome, Allen!

Edgespots serve to:
- Make Chips countable in stacks
- Differentiate Chips in low light and pots
- Provide a level of security, as chip makers have limited specific edge spot pattern and color combinations to single uses by specific casinos
- allow specific chips to be identifiable on surveillance feeds even in black and white
- look pretty
- give you an excuse to spend days of your life trying to get the “right spot progression” ie, 1 spot, 2 spot, 3 spot, 4. All spots as multiples of 2, or 3 or all matching or none matching.

^^^ This, all this.

And welcome to the forums.

 

[dennis63]

I would echo what others have said. Casino floor supervisors can count a stack of chips in a betting circle at a table mostly because edge spots are there. The cameras can see the same, allowing surveillance to count the chips in a bet in case of a dispute.

Also, casino supervisors keep a close eye on the number of chips in a dealer's rack. Lammers are placed between stacks of 20 chips of a denomination in a rack tube. Any odd number of chips are then divided by lammers into stacks of four or five (depending on their denomination) and the last few go on top. A boss can walk by, glance at the rack and count it in a few seconds.

Without edge spots, this would be a lot tougher.

But color and spot pattern choices for your chips are really up to you.

 

[chipjoker]

Welcome to this most magical place....

I want to tell you, get samples, color and mold... OK, now that thats out of the way, the design should be what YOU like, but do listen to some of the advice, lots of people know the do's and don'ts.

When I designed my chip set, I wanted my work horse ($1) to be the cool chip (in my eyes) then I designed the rest around that, I played with colors and edge spots, then I looked at CASINO chips to see what I liked about them...

So I decided on Hot stamped dime, shaped inlay 1 and 5, over size 20 (my players re-buy with $60, so three chips is easier, and I can have my 5's all on the table), and a 100 plaque, I had only seen plauqes in movies and in on custom set (R&R $20) but I thought it was pretty cool...

Check them out in the link in my signature..

 

[BSteck]

Yes, I actually imagined this might be the case, but wasn't sure this was an aspect of the edge spots.

So if this is the case, is it good for each chip in the set to have it's own unique spots? Or can a couple of chips have the same spots with different colors?

I'm trying to figure it out as well. I guess what I need to do is sit down with the guys and quiz them to see what works.

Edit... found this great thread.
https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/best-colors-for-color-blind-accessability.18723/

 

[BGinGA]

Imo, spot pattern and colors should be a good combination of both function and aesthetics.

Not only should the chips be pleasing to look at individually, but also when viewed as a cohesive group, and when in play with one another.

It's relatively easy to design a great individual chip. Much harder to get several great chips to work well with each other ~and~ retain functionality.

 

[MrRossKeys]

Welcome to this most magical place....

I want to tell you, get samples, color and mold... OK, now that thats out of the way, the design should be what YOU like, but do listen to some of the advice, lots of people know the do's and don'ts.

When I designed my chip set, I wanted my work horse ($1) to be the cool chip (in my eyes) then I designed the rest around that, I played with colors and edge spots, then I looked at CASINO chips to see what I liked about them...

So I decided on Hot stamped dime, shaped inlay 1 and 5, over size 20 (my players re-buy with $60, so three chips is easier, and I can have my 5's all on the table), and a 100 plaque, I had only seen plauqes in movies and in on custom set (R&R $20) but I thought it was pretty cool...

Check them out in the link in my signature..

I am in the exact same mindset as you... make the $1 chip the coolest, best looking chip then design around that. I really dislike so many casino and home-game $1 chips, that it amazes me there aren't more cool looking chips in that denomination. I guess I gravitate towards blue $1 chips and not white chips (design dependent)... and I want the most used chip to be the best looking.

Of course, I ended up designing level 4 chips for all the other denominations, but the $1 chip is level 7................ lol!

 

[MrRossKeys]

Ok... I feel totally vulnerable displaying my "work-in-progress" LOL, but this is what I've come up with so far, with each chip sporting a different pattern, but hopefully close enough to be cohesive. Still working on the $100, $500, $1000, $5000...

Thoughts?

 

[BGinGA]

Too much white. Running a close second on too much yellow. Splashed pots will be a mess.

 

[MrRossKeys]

Too much white. Running a close second on too much yellow. Splashed pots will be a mess.

Good point! It always takes a 2nd set of eyes to see something so obvious. First time looking at them all together and I agree 100%

 

[Ronoh]

Too much white. Running a close second on too much yellow. Splashed pots will be a mess.

Definitely too much white. I also say you shouldn’t have a yellow variant on each chip but I may feel differently you’d gone with oranges instead

 

[Nex]

Inlays look really nice.
Reminds me of the Boulevards.

 

[chipjoker]

Im with them, too much white and yellow, IMO.. I like the concept and the base colors are great.. Play with the edge spots, although it looks cool with the yellow near the yellow of the graphic this could cause some issues with dirty stacks... But you make what YOU like..(y) :thumbsup:

Sometime simple with the graphic will pop.

 

[Nex]

An attempt.

 

[MrRossKeys]

Wow, thanks for the feedback!!

So to let the entire "cat out of the bag," the reason there was so much white (and yellow) to begin with, is that I am basing the colors of the chips off the Bay Area sports teams! Of course there is white in each logo, but that doesn't mean I need white in each chip to get close to the team colors... so I've started to adjust the colors on each for the ones that don't need white.

25¢ = SF Giants
$1 = San Jose State Spartans
$5 = SF 49ers (who play in Santa Clara)
$25 = Oakland A's
$100 will be Oakland Raiders
$500 might be either a Teal SJ Sharks or Purple Sacramento Kings
$1000 will be Golden State Warriors
$5000 is SJ Sharks or Sac Kings

The few that I think DO need white are the $1 and $25 chips. See photo of updated $5:

 

[MrRossKeys]

Inlays look really nice.
Reminds me of the Boulevards.

I looked at hundreds of chips, and the Boulevards inlays are definitely my biggest inspiration. Love the colors on that set, and the gradient on the inlay.

 

[chipjoker]

How about this then, still lot o yellow but toned down a bit and I used different yellows.. L4, L5, L5, L7

 

[BGinGA]

25¢ = SF Giants
$1 = San Jose State Spartans
$5 = SF 49ers
$25 = Oakland A's
$100 = Oakland Raiders
$500 = Sacramento Kings
$1000 = Golden State Warriors
$5000 = SJ Sharks

Just messing around, trying to get the colors closer to matching the team logos. The design tool is currently experiencing technical difficulties, so the face spots on the 100 and 500 aren't displayed correctly.

Given the team colors chosen, pretty tough to totally avoid repeating yellow, black, and white.

 

[MrRossKeys]

Given the team colors chosen, pretty tough to totally avoid repeating yellow, black, and white.

Yes that has been my struggle.

Your Sharks $5K chip is really close to what I want for that chip... other than L10... I'll start with those specs.

I really like your $500 Sac chip color as well.

Here's what I came up with for the $100 chip, which is much cleaner than the lower denominations:

 

[MrRossKeys]

Improved the designs and removed a lot of the white edge spots, but the yellow/canary/saturn spots are still similar... Liking them all a lot more currently. More work to do.

 

[Nex]

They appear to be better distinguishable looking at the rolling edge though. I think you're on the right tracks.

 

[LinkyBabe]

Because your inlay contains white text, you can draw on that rather than use white spots. Also, not sure what your chip breakdown is, but you're using Level 7 spots for your first two denoms... not a problem but it will cost you $2.99 per chip (base price). Your set is quite dark also... for the $1 chip I would use Dayglo Peacock as your base colour instead of Retro Blue and then Light Blue instead of Blue for your edge spot... this is closer to the colours in the logo you posted above. I would also suggest using Retro Red or Mandarin Red as your base colour for your $5 chip as Red is rather dark. When you receive your colour samples you will see what I mean... team colours tend to be quite vibrant, whereas CPC colours tend to be a little dull (although the dayglo colours have been vastly improved over the years).

Edit: Just look at @BGinGA's mockup above... he pretty much nailed the team colours so I would use those and then figure out which edge spots you like.

 

[Trihonda]

... though I am also designing .25¢, $1, and $5 chips with the same design as well.

Welcome... but I’d strongly caution against having cash chips AND tourney chips in the same set UNLESS the chips will never ever cross over. If your cash game will never use $25 chips, then fine, but chip migration is a thing, and it’s sometimes intentional and sometimes by accident. Your T25 chips has very little value alone in the tourney, but if it makes its way into the cash game afterwards, you’re stuck... if you think you’ll ever use/need a bigger cash chip, then I’d also design a $20 chip.