[ScruffyBamboo]

Hello all - I am new to this forum, so please be kind if I misstep, I mean no harm

Well, I've been quietly contemplating creating my own custom chip set for a while now, and since I can't afford the really nice stuff, I decided to settle on the NexGen Bees, mostly because of their outstanding customizability, plus I like the edgespots.

While I first thought of getting the labels professionally designed and printed, I decided it would be more fun to do it myself.

So I downloaded a freeware program called GIMP (a photoshop clone, so I've been told), and got to work. After many, many hours of toiling, I came up with the following design:









I've tried to match the color and denominations of the Tophat and Cane Paulsons, while being inspired by the classic James Bonds (wreath & crest). I kind of like how they turned out, and my first test printing onto 1" vinyl labels with my Espon inkjet were way beyond my expectations. The quality is out of this world (I created the original image at 1440 dpi, same as the printer).

Anyway, I just thought I'd post these up here, to see if you all have any fantastic ideas on how to make these better, before I commit to printing 2000 of them.

Any and comments welcome!

Scruffy

P.S. These are made to match the Bees colors. When I'm less tired, I'll post the "mock up" I used to design the chips, which includes the scanned "outer" chip - you get a much better idea how they will finally look.

[bmwguy525]

Those denoms are impossible to see. You need to pick something bright, and IMO they would look better if they were all 1 color for the denoms

[Wylecoyo]

Welcome to the boards!!!!

Nice work on your designs. I am not knocking what you are going for, but I think, given the limited size of the inlay area on a Nexgen chip, you may want to consider going without the wreath. This would allow you to increase the size of the crest and denomination which may make them easier to see.

Its entirely up to you, they are your chips and so long as you like them that is all that matters; however, you may want to do up some samples both ways (with wreaths and without) and put them each on maybe 5 or ten chips just to see how they will look when completed. This way you can try them out, compare them side by side, and make a better informed decision.

Please post pictures of the final product so we can all enjoy them.

[chroniclesofpoker]

The overall "look" is really nice - I personally like the wreath. I agree with the rest on the visibility of the denom, but I think the coat of arms mainly contributes to the problem. How about colors with a strong contrasting border around the denom or taking out the coat of arms and making it the label for the flip side?

[beowulfe]

I'm new to this board as well and am thinking about labels, too. Take my input FWIW.

GIMP is a very good tool. I can tell you put some work into your design.

The denominations on the chips covers your crest so much, you can't see it very well. It should be the focus of the chip. Maybe you can shrink your numbers and offset them so that the crest is more prominent. It is a very "busy" label. There is so much competeing for the eye, I would end up looking at the number and stop trying to see the rest of the image. I would suggest thaty you don't need the words "one dollar", "five dollars", etc. since you have the numbers.

Again, I'm new. Take my comments as a constructive comment as they are intended. Good luck!

[Vitesse304]

very cool design, but it looks too busy...

it might work better on a ceramic chip?

[Dissolved]

very nice mockups..

Are they like spanish or italian ? Not to familiar with the graphic in the backround (suit of arms ?)

[smoore]

you did that as a first timer with GIMP? wow, nice.

Instead of trying to match the chip color, try to match an edgespot color. When the printer doesn't print the shade *exactly*, it's not a big deal if it's an edgespot color. If it's the background color that's a shade off the chip looks like a chip with a sticker on it.

[ScruffyBamboo]

Thanks for your comments - lots of good stuff.

Dissolved: The coat of arms, I found on Google ... it's from a small English village, I think. The denominations are written in English and French, as my games use either language.

smoore: Sorry, that's what I meant. I've actually used all the colors of the chip in the designs - they look pretty cool "in" the chip. I'll try to post that later tonight.

I agree with what many of you said about the denominations - I was trying to make them fit inside the inner "rope", but I think I'll resize them much larger. Also, working at such a high resolution, the outlines seemed much thicker - now I can barely see them. I got some work to do .

As for the "busy" feel, believe it or not, it's what I'm kinda going for. You know how you look at coin or a bill close up, there's tons of tiny detail? Something like that. I'm really going for the old-fashioned, European-style look (again, like the James Bonds) and the intricacy is what I like about them. I guess it comes down to taste.

I'm actually amazed at the level I was able to get from my $120 printer. Even under the microscope, the detail is there. Amazing stuff, that vinyl.

As I said, the denominations are to be redone - I'll get to that tonight (right after the Flames beat the Ducks).

Thanks again for the comments - keep 'em coming!

Scruffy

[smoore]

OIC, you do have the background of the label as a spot color. my bad.

lets see one on a chip!