Token design help!

[tech_noob]

Hello all! I will soon be starting my first arcade cabinet build (and will be posting on ArcadeControls as well as HyperSpin), but I wanted to start this project by designing a token; unfortunately, I have no design skills, and can't use GIMP to save my life (any pointers to tutorials and beginner's guides would be greatly appreciated      ). So here is what I have; on the front, I would like the image of Ryu (the guy without the giant beads around his neck) on the front, with Wrap-around text that says: "The Fight Is Never Over!"(this text would be Street Fighter IV Font, I have the Font in the attachment) On the bottom-right side of Ryu, I would like it to say NO CASH VALUE (same font). On the back of the coin would be the Akuma image (the guy that looks evil with giant beads around his neck) with wrap around  text that says "Insert Coin To Continue..." (SFIV Font) and the 2014 date on the bottom right (SFIV Font). Could anyone help me with designing this? I would be so grateful! I also attached a coin from Dave Santoro's very own ArcadeReplay tokens that I would like to emulate (Dave's work, along with the contributing artists to the tokens, inspired me to make my own!).


EDIT::: If anyone is interested in throwing down for some of these tokens, feel free to choose what you would like and then PM me. Here are the prices, for anyone that is interested: $45 molding fee per side (2D image), and $.50 per coin. Each token's complete molding would cost $90, and then we could order as many as we like (well, up to 50000 anyways!).

[JDFan]

Something like this ? (attached the front and back .pngs and a zip with the photoshop .psd with the layers and another copy of the .pngs in original format (300x300 pixels at 300DPI - since the forum changes them to 72DPI when posted) Made them on a 1inch by 1 inch size since the tokens are 0.984 inches so would be close to actual size at 300DPI

[tech_noob]

Oh my gosh, JDFan, that looks EXACTLY like what I was looking for. You are the man!    You have definitely made my night, good sir! 

[thomas_surles]

If you are ordering a large quantity let me know. I will throw in.

[jmike]

If you are ordering a large quantity let me know. I will throw in.

+1

Those tokens look great!!

 

[yotsuya]

One thing you may want to consider - your tokens have a fair bit of greyscale to them. If I remember what Santoro once said about the design, they work better with straight black and white (or very little variation) due to how they are created. You might want to look for the "BYOAC Token Design" threads for tips.

[Malenko]

I say Akuma/Gouki on the front, the ten symbol on the back.

They do need to be in 2 color format (black and white, no greys)

[tech_noob]

Wow, thanks for all the support and the help guys! Malenko: I really like that idea, I will look into it. The molding fees are fairly cheap, so I will see if I can come up with something. Also, Malenko and Yotsuya: You guys mentioned that it needs to be in black and white; How can I achieve this lol? My graphical skills are sorely lacking! jmike and thomas_surles: Hey guys, am I glad you are interested! I am definitely down for ordering a large amount, if you guys want, go ahead and PM me how many you would like, and I will get back to you with all the necessary information! Once again, I'm totally thankful for all the quick support and help from everyone on here! Normally it takes ages for people to reply on other forums haha. I'm definitely glad I joined the forums here, and I hope to be a good addition  

P.S. Also, if anyone is interested in these, feel free to PM me. And if anyone has suggestions on the coins, I will keep it open as well! And thanks for the suggestion to look at the BYOAC Token thread.

[tech_noob]

風, 林, 火, and 山  (the Fūrinkazan (風林火山)) from Ryu's belt would make for a nice back on Ryu's token. This is going off of what Malenko said about the ten symbol for Akuma/ Gouki. I really like that idea. So what would you guys think about that?

[JDFan]

Wow, thanks for all the support and the help guys! Malenko: I really like that idea, I will look into it. The molding fees are fairly cheap, so I will see if I can come up with something. Also, Malenko and Yotsuya: You guys mentioned that it needs to be in black and white; How can I achieve this lol? My graphical skills are sorely lacking! jmike and thomas_surles: Hey guys, am I glad you are interested! I am definitely down for ordering a large amount, if you guys want, go ahead and PM me how many you would like, and I will get back to you with all the necessary information! Once again, I'm totally thankful for all the quick support and help from everyone on here! Normally it takes ages for people to reply on other forums haha. I'm definitely glad I joined the forums here, and I hope to be a good addition  

P.S. Also, if anyone is interested in these, feel free to PM me. And if anyone has suggestions on the coins, I will keep it open as well! And thanks for the suggestion to look at the BYOAC Token thread.

Didn't think about it needing to be black and white -- not the best at this but here is a version changed to just black with a transparent background (otherwise the greyscale ones could probably be used and the company printing them will change it as needed and send you proofs ( I think that is what their fee is for !) ) -- I made a few adjustments also (ie. the print is larger as it was very hard to see when printed actual size of .984 inches round) - also had to touch them up a bit after making them just black (used Photoshop to turn them into bitmap images which is black and white with a 50% threshold so any grey more than 50% black was turned black andf any pixel less than 50% grey was made white - so then had to touch up where too much black was taken away and added some white where it was too black (ie. the beaded necklace pretty much was made all black so that you didn't see the beads anymore) -- The pics look a bit blurred when shown here on the forum but printed out at actual size they look pretty good

The zip file has the 2 png images in case the forum changes the DPI\size

[tech_noob]

Hey JDFan, thanks for the black and white edit! I was wondering if you could send me the regular grey-scale version of that refined image (the one with out the token template)? I am going to see what copies of each token would look like with the different "colors." Also, before I continue any further, these images are NOT my own! They are Sketches found on Instagram from one of Capcom's better known artists, Alvin Lee. Is there any legal issues I should be worried about before proceeding? I have sent Alvin an email just in case, but I have not received a response as of yet. Thanks again for looking everyone!

[JDFan]

Sure thing -- I'll package all of the versions together in a zip package and either upload to dropbox and send a link or send the zip attached (depending on the size of the file) to a PM later today.

I have the .psd set up with layers so that pretty much all of them are in the one file but not sure if you have Photoshop - so I'll include it as well as a .png version of each version for you.

EDIT :

Had a bit of time so got it put together -- Here is a copy of the final versions both grey scale and black and white along with the psd - all in the one zip file. and a copy of each png that is included is also shown here If there is anything I missed let me know and i'll repost it.

[tech_noob]

JDFan, Here are the images you requested in the PM. I didn't see a attachment button haha. Thanks again!

[JDFan]

JDFan, Here are the images you requested in the PM. I didn't see a attachment button haha. Thanks again!

OK here is the zip file with 21 files that should be all of the versions you wanted to test. Also included a compilation .png with them displayed

 It has :
The PDF with all layers used for all the versions ( 1 File )
Akuma Fronts and Backs in GreyScale with and without the Token  (4 images)
Akuma Fronts and Backs Black only with and without Token  (4 Images)
Ryu Fronts and Backs Grey Scale with and without Token (4 Images)
Ryu Fronts and Backs Black only with and without Token  (4 Images)
Ten Symbol Back with and without Token (2 Images)
Black Belt symbol Back with and without Token ( 2 Images)

EDIT::: If anyone is interested in throwing down for some of these tokens, feel free to choose what you would like and then PM me. Here are the prices, for anyone that is interested: $45 molding fee per side (2D image), and $.50 per coin. Each token's complete molding would cost $90, and then we could order as many as we like (well, up to 50000 anyways!).

Might want to look around at a few other sites for the tokens as $.50 per token is a bit high in quantity !  The molding fees are very reasonable and lower than most but they seem to make it up with the token price -- (ie. Tokens Direct charges more for setup but sell the tokens for $.13 each in 5,000 token lots For Brass 0.984" tokens ) which would be $660 for 5,000 tokens vs. $2500 for the same @ $.50 each -- so may be worth paying more for the original artwork in the long run since that is a one time fee -- esp. since the setup fee is nowhere near $1840 so would be made up quickly !

Figure even if they charge $500 for the art setup for the initial order of 5,000 it would come to $1160 for 5,000 tokens or $0.232 per token and additional 5,000 lots would only cost $660 or $0.132 per token  -- much more reasonable than $0.50 per token !!

[yotsuya]

$0.50 a token? It'd be cheaper using quarters. 

[tech_noob]

JDFan: Thanks for the help once again man! you rock 

JDFan and Yotsuya: I totally agree with you. The main reason I wanted to go with this supplier was because I didn't need a minimum order of 5000 tokens. I was only thinking about doing a small transaction; however, if there is enough interest, I would definitely be interested in looking elsewhere for a cheaper cost for everyone involved.

[yotsuya]

If you are really serious about pushing on with this, PM Santoro. He's done the official BYOAC tokens in the past and could probably give you some great tips as far as what you need to know.

[tech_noob]

I thought I sent Santoro a message about possibly using his plans for for the Slim Arcade he did (that is actually one of the builds I am basing off of MY arcade haha), but I never received a response. I will go ahead and send him another PM. I am definitely serious about this.

[Santoro]

Unfortunately there is no way I know of to get smaller lots of custom tokens.  I use and have been very happy with Tokensdirect.  It's a very expensive proposition though, even at 10,000 lot quantities.

The bigger issue is this.  I think you have a great design there, but in order for it to be considered a token by the mint it really needs to be line-art with a few different levels.  What you have created is completely 3d, and would require very intricate engraving.  The mint would call that a COIN... and charge you tons more for creating those dies.  It's my opinion that you'd never recover your investment.

Take a look at my Arcade Memories tokens - see the curved pinball?  They tried to say it was a coin because of that and were trying to charge an arm and a leg for it because one of their people spent a lot of time on it.  They almost didn't get made, but I won the argument after escalating a bit.

I love your designs, but to make tokens they need to be 'line art,' not sketched. 


edit - Duh, I skimmed the thread too fast....  Just noticed that you did do line art this on the bottom ones.  They get a lot closer, but I still think there may be a little too much detail.   .002" is the absolute minimum line width the mint can render.  It might be doable, I'd send it to the mint to see if they can handle it. 

In a perfect world it would be cool if someone with vector experience could recreate them from the originals for you in Illustrator.  That would give you back some of the nice detail you have in the original without being 'grainy' or 'raster' looking.

Watching with interest.

[tech_noob]

Okay everyone, here is an update for you all: I will be giving tokensdirect a call to get some quotes for orders from 6000 to 12000 tokens. There will be 2 token variants, the Akuma tokens and the Ryu tokens. After I get the information from them, I will make a post  in the for sale / trade section with details from ALL of the suppliers I have come in contact with. From there, I will have prices and other necessary information posted as needed. depending on how many people I have that are actually interested, we will choose the supplier that is cheapest for the amount of people who would like to pitch in. If anyone wants to throw down the interest card now, go ahead and send me a PM or post here, and I'll add you. Please include the number of tokens you would like, and which type of tokens you want (or both). I'm also working on getting someone with vector experience as Santoro suggested. Thanks again JDFan for all your hard work!     

[tech_noob]

After giving TokensDirect a call, I will now be moving this over to the for sale thread, please make sure to follow me if you are still interested!