Protege Contestant #20: VegasMike

[Sidepot]

The Renaissance Casino Series was inspired by ancient World and Continent maps that depicted the globe as the cartographer believed it to be at that time. Some of these original Atlas prints date back to the 1500’s or earlier, hence the reference to Renaissance.





The major portion of the inlay is a faded hemisphere of an ancient atlas. On one side of the chip is the western hemisphere (the Americas). The other side features the eastern hemisphere (Europe).



To accompany each hemisphere/side, the words “Renaissance Casino Series” are wrapped around the inlay . On the European side, “Renaissance Casino Series” is in Italian - Serie di casinò di rinascimento. The globe and Italian language sort of adds instant aire of prestige to the chip, very similar to theJames Bond Casino De Isthmus City chips.

The text of the denomination matches the base color of the chip. A graphic ‘flourish’ is located under the printed denomination to add some depth to the inlay .

Additional Info: For examples of some of these ancient atlas works, you can visit the following link:

http://mapmogul.com/catalog/index.php+cPath+10_53

Copyright concerns:

Copyright should not be an issue. After much research, I was unable to find an actual source for the image that I used. Most of these ancient maps were created as part of an Atlas, intended for use by the general public. Regardless, I have altered the image substantially (via cropping, color tone changing, fading, and removing excess detail). If need be, further research into any copyright concerns can be conducted.

Minor issues than can be tweaked:

I have listed some minor design features that can be changed fairly easily, and should not be an issue when it comes to judging the merits of the design.

Inlay Text: The design revolves around the word RENAISSANCE. Since Renaissance needs something to accompany it for depth, I added to it to come up with RENAISSANCE CASINO SERIES. It can be changed to any number of variations involving the word Renaissance; I just didn’t want to get too close to a ‘Fantasy Casino’ theme.

Inlay Language: The European Side of the chip features the text serie di casinò di rinascimento, which is ‘Renaissance Casino Series’ translated to Italian. I believe the translation to be correct, but it will need to be double-checked if the alternate language theme is going to go forward. I have no problem with using a different language on the back (French, Latin, etc.) or simply keep it in English. I'm sure someone in the Chiptalk world can provide a accuarate translation.

Inlay opacity: The globe is a bit faded so as not to interfere with the denomination. This can be altered to accommodate printing.

Denomination font/size: I preferred a larger font size in a matching color scheme to make the chip stand out. However, this can be altered if need be.

Dollar Signs: Other than the cent sign for 25-cents, I stayed away from using dollar signs. The dollar sign contradicted the European side of the chip. Depending on the will of the masses, dollar signs can be added if need be (but I don’t think it’s necessary).

Shaped Inlays : I used shaped inlays for the 100, 500, 1,000 and 5,000 chip. I really like the pentagon shape, and carried it through from the 500 to 5,000 chip. The hub inlay looks great on the 100. The 5,000 chip uses the scallop inlay . All the other inlay patterns interfered with the text on the inlay . If shaped inlays are in fact do-able, then the inlays can be shuffled around as need be (I’m sure cash game players would like a shaped inlay in their setups).

NCV Chip – I submitted this design before the final chip was decided upon. It can be finalized later, should I be so lucky.

That’s all I can think of – good luck to all participants.

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This first post represents the "original submission" only, and enables the initiation of the discussion thread on this chip submission. This thread now belongs to VegasMike, and he may use his first post within this tread to post updates/changes to his submission, which will ultimately be the design of his that gets submitted into the voting rounds on July 17th.

Feedback, comments, & constructive criticism encouraged!

[A-Ro]

Very nice design here too! This is going to be hard.

[Magus 23]

I love the truly global feel this chip engenders -- not limiting it to Vegas (or even American gambling), but expanding it. Truly an appropriate idea for this kind of chip.

Very nice work!

[noelsarchs]

Here's my third selection along with JM's and Magus23's.

[7thSeat]

I am feeling sick now. All those fine chips and I cant get them
LOVELY WORK AS WELL!!!

[FL70]

A very good design.

[VARoadstter]

Me likey, VegasMikey! Looks fantastic.

[rowlin]

Another tremendously well-designed entry. I am running out of fresh adjectives to use, but really like the simple and classic style of this chip.

Voting is going to be a difficult process - I swear that a third of the twenty entries I have seen are good enough to print as-is. Is 20 the total number of entries at this point?

[imthatguy]

How are you going to make this design work for all the shaped inlays? Or was that not the intention here? I love the bg image, really nice work to make these have a global appeal!

[indypoker]

Great design overall. I really like the look of this set.

What about starting the wording around 7:00 and having the blank spot between the beginning/end at 6:00? The flourish would help take up that blank space. Side A has a pretty big blank spot right on top of the chip. If that was on the bottom, I think it might look better.

I can get you an accurate Italian translation. My co-worker is from Italy, just let me know.