BYOAC 2004 Custom Token Design Thread.

[Pixelhugger]

Reverse lay up bling.

[KevSteele]

DOUBLE BLING!

Man, when it's right, it's right...gave me goosebumps, it did, both of them.

I think we need a different phrase than "good for extended play," though.

Kevin

[Pixelhugger]

Reverse lay up blingity bling.

[Surgeville]

Double bling.

I just have one question for you to consider.  The bottom of your token design is darker than the top.  I don't know if that is possible without coloring, which raises the cost.  At least when I bought mine from Hoffman.  The darkness when they look at the design has to do with how deep a cut it is.  So, how your design is now, the bottom half would have Pacman and pellets go in and the top half would have Pacman and pellets stick out.
If the darkness of the bottom is just supposed to be how the light is reflecting forget I mentioned this.

[Chris]

Double bling.

I just have one question for you to consider.  The bottom of your token design is darker than the top.

That's just part of the "bling" effect.

[Pixelhugger]

If the darkness of the bottom is just supposed to be how the light is reflecting forget I mentioned this.

Yep. But you raise a good point in that these images are probably FAR more reflective than the actual tokens would be... which I imagine would have more of a matte finish?

[Surgeville]

Double bling.

I just have one question for you to consider.  The bottom of your token design is darker than the top.

That's just part of the "bling" effect.

Sounds good then.  Just one more thing...How would it look with the bottom or the top Pacman being substituted with Ms Pacman?

[Santoro]

If the darkness of the bottom is just supposed to be how the light is reflecting forget I mentioned this.

Yep. But you raise a good point in that these images are probably FAR more reflective than the actual tokens would be... which I imagine would have more of a matte finish?

Yes, but I am pretty sure they will be real brass, and thus polishable.  In case you wanted to display them or something. I am going to ask abou that to be sure.

[Pixelhugger]

Certainly doable if there's interest. I'm a little nervous about making it to PacMan oriented, tho. Otherwise either Ms. PacMan or a Ghost would look very cool.

[Chris]

I think I like the back without the stipple... contrasts with the front nicely.

Here's the side-by-side.  Thanks for the bling, Pixelhugger!

[Chris]

Certainly doable if there's interest. I'm a little nervous about making it to PacMan oriented, tho. Otherwise either Ms. PacMan or a Ghost would look very cool.

I like it the way it is.  Pac-Man is relatively abstract; MS. Pac-Man or a ghost is very specific.

[KevSteele]

Certainly doable if there's interest. I'm a little nervous about making it to PacMan oriented, tho. Otherwise either Ms. PacMan or a Ghost would look very cool.

The more I've seen of the "double Pac-Man" design, the more "infinity" it seems, and the more appropriate. Definitely in the spirit of "The Game is Never Over"

Speaking of which, I think "The Game is Never Over" phrase (or Better Living Through Gaming) would be good side text on the Player 1 side of the coin. Or both?  

Kevin

[Santoro]

Sounds good then.  Just one more thing...How would it look with the bottom or the top Pacman being substituted with Ms Pacman?

I think Pac Man is more recognizable to the general population than Ms. is.

[Chris]

Speaking of which, I think "The Game is Never Over" phrase (or Better Living Through Gaming) would be good side text on the Player 1 side of the coin. Or both?  

I think that the "No cash value" and "Good for..." phrases make it much more realistic and tokeny.

[Santoro]

Tokens Direct just emailed back, already.  Survey says: Real Brass!

I am very happy with the customer service so far.

[Chris]

Tokens Direct just emailed back, already.  Survey says: Real Brass!

I am very happy with the customer service so far.

Polish and frame those puppies!

[Pixelhugger]

Before the design decision solidifies any further, should we send a jpeg of the designs for them to approve as reproducible at our price point? Just a thought. I'm a bit nervous about the size of the "build your own arcade controls" type, but making it larger really impacts the size and placement of the BYOAC.

[KevSteele]

Speaking of which, I think "The Game is Never Over" phrase (or Better Living Through Gaming) would be good side text on the Player 1 side of the coin. Or both?  

I think that the "No cash value" and "Good for..." phrases make it much more realistic and tokeny.

I just don't see the need for them on home-use tokens, but I'm not that adverse to them, just the "extended play" phrase, which isn't realistic or tokeny.  

Good for One Game, perhaps?

Kevin

[Santoro]

PH, I was thinking that as well, but was waiting for the right time.  Now is probably it.  

I'll send them out right now.  This will probably be sent to the engraver to look at as opposed to the saleswoman I have been dealing with  so I am not expecting a ten minute turnaround on this one.

Stay Tuned

[Pixelhugger]

PH, I was thinking that as well, but was waiting for the right time.  Now is probably it.  

I'll send them out right now.  This will probably be sent to the engraver to look at as opposed to the saleswoman I have been dealing with  so I am not expecting a ten minute turnaround on this one.

Stay Tuned

Maybe I should post them as line art so they don't get confused by the embossing of the bling effect. Bit more accurate for their purposes and probably how they are used to proofing things?

[Calawala]

 

Wow... you've been busy!!!  The BYOAC pac-man design is my new favorite, along with the atari player1 for the second side.

A suggestion, since the font my be a little small...
In post 156, middle right, the BYOAC is a bit smaller (which I like since it doesn't crowd the coin as much), and the font is bigger and more evenly spaced out.  How about using that layout, but replace the atomic with the pac-man zen?

- Calawala

[Santoro]

Pixel, It can't hurt.  They want 300 DPI.

Thanks

[KevSteele]

Actually, thinking about it, perhaps the text on the player 1 side of the token could be put up for a vote as well?

A number of "quotes" could be polled, and one picked for the side text slogan on the player 1 side?

Both designs, as far as I'm concerned, are perfect as is. About the only thing I see to vote on is "stippling or no stippling"  

Kevin

[Calawala]

I kinda like the stipple effect on the atari side.  Either way though, this coin is gonna be mint.

[patrickl]

Just tossing in some more ideas:
- shrink the BYOAC so it fits inside the inner circle and then there is enough room for the slogan
- make the start button half depth to make the O look more "o-ish". This will also make the player 1 guy less deep so it won't lose form due to the inverted image
- maybe also the pacman and dots at half depth (I guess gray in the line art instead of black)
- put the slogan on the top and the url on the bottom (dunno why but it really looks weird to me this way around)
- I think a shiny background will look better on the actual coin then the stippled effect (even though in the image it might be different)
- the lines on the front and back don't seem of the same thickness

[AmericanDemon]

Yeah those are awesome.  I may have to order 2 sets!

[SirPeale]

I love the current design.  I do like the idea of swapping the bottom Pac for a Ghost Monster.

[BASSOFeeSH]

Those designs ==  

[Calawala]

I really love the current designs.  This next design is more of a "what would it look like" as I liked AmericanDemon's design he made at the start.

[Chris]

For a text size comparison, here's our tokens against real tokens:

[AmericanDemon]

I can't say enough about how much I really like the designs set forth.  I didn't like them initially, but with all of the tweaks and the mockups....  they rock.  Mine was too bland.    

[crashwg]

I for one think the text on both sides of the coin look perfect.  Although it would be a good idea to see if the minting company can do text that size.

Also, I'd like to bring up the color choice again because it seems as though people are designing in brass and no one has realy expressed their opinion on the color choices.

I for one prefer the nickel (that's what it is right, the silvery lookin one...) and I think this should be put to a vote also.  It was mentioned that it would probably cost more though, so that the price should be investigated and included in the voting process.

I must applaud those who have inputted their ideas, esp. pixelhugger and chris.  If you don't work in the visual arts industry now, you deffinitely should!

[Calawala]

I don't necessarily want to go with what I am posting below, not even sure why I'm posting it.  Just doing it in the spirit of comparison I guess.

#209 is the best

[AmericanDemon]

I for one think the text on both sides of the coin look perfect.  Although it would be a good idea to see if the minting company can do text that size.

Also, I'd like to bring up the color choice again because it seems as though people are designing in brass and no one has realy expressed their opinion on the color choices.

I for one prefer the nickel (that's what it is right, the silvery lookin one...) and I think this should be put to a vote also.  It was mentioned that it would probably cost more though, so that the price should be investigated and included in the voting process.

I must applaud those who have inputted their ideas, esp. pixelhugger and chris.  If you don't work in the visual arts industry now, you deffinitely should!

I agree as well.  We should vote on it.  Hey Pixel can you or Chris post those back up in the Silver/Nickel finish?  

[SirPeale]

I agree as well.  We should vote on it.

There's going to be a voting poll coming up.  A lot of really great designs are in right now.  Likely Sunday will be the cut-off date.  Santoro can tell you more about this plan than I.

[DPsx7]

Personally, I think post #97 is a good choice, but again, without the "building your memories" slogan. I don't know what else we'd use, but for some reason it just doesn't feel right to me.

#161 isn't bad either, but I think the URL would be better in lowercase. Having everything in caps makes it all look too similar I guess. I mean with lower case it sets the URL apart without straying too far.

Some of the other designs are nice, but if we get too complicated, it'll ruin the token. Such as using a P1 button as the "O" in BYOAC. It might be a bit much with all the rest going on.

The text on #177 is nice, maybe we can use that on another design. The only reason I say this is because some people didn't want MAME on there since we don't all use it and it was kinda specific. Instead, a Pac Man isn't considered as specific? The designs are all cool, but I'd rather tie the token to something a bit more open like MAME instead of a character.

I'll wait to see more of the designs later since you guys are constantly revising them. We will need a back to back view of all popular designs too, so we can compare them and trade pieces to create one awesome coin.

[Pixelhugger]

I'd be interested in the cost of nickel plating as well. Although I guess more would accidentally find their way into cash registers (a la canadian pennies) than with the brass.

Below is nickel plated without stipple.

(remember these are simulations, actual tokens may not be this shiny!)

[Pixelhugger]

Nickle stipple.
(Am I the only one who wants to laugh writing that word? Guess I need to grow up.)

[AmericanDemon]

I like it best with the stipple in Nickel plate finish.  

Yup, definitely chuckle everytime I write stipple.  There we go again.  

[Calawala]

Oooo ... look at those stipples!!  

Seriously though, I like the stipples better (at least in simulation).  Helps define the artwork imo.