Design myself or use a designer? (2 Viewers)

[sweetpotatofishing]

I know this question is a bit vague, but how hard is it to design your own chips? I have no formal design background, but have done bit of a design work in the past. I think what I am struggling with is the amount of information available but none of it is consolidated. The current plan is to get some custom Tina's made but I'm really struggling to see where to start. That's why I am wondering if a designer just makes more sense. It feels like I would spend 10-20 hours trying to figure it out myself (maybe more?!).

Is there a few particularly good threads that cover designing Tina chips yourself? Or is it just a case of finding relevant bits of information here and there?

If I did work with one of the designers on this forum, what would I expect to pay for a 'typical' amount of design?

Thank you all in advance!

 

[Cratty]

IMO, either way you would be best suited to sketch out or mockup (e.g. in powerpoint) an inlay that you want, and design the edge spots in one of the online tools. Most of the work ends up being the layout, theme, etc., and once you have a rough version nailed.. getting to a final with a designer will be much faster.

If you do it on your own, highly recommend posting in process in a thread here though as you work through concepts. I've done a few sets now that way and it's nice to have deeper knowledge chipping voices help guide creation into something awesome. But if you go with a designer, they'll cover you anyway there!

 

[Nymor]

(Pretty much repeating what Cratty posted but with different words )

If you can, and want, to do some of the design work then go for it, there's plenty of people here willing to give opinions/advice if you let them in to your process by posting your thoughts, ideas and wishes.

I was new to custom chips but stumbled into a theme and then played around with it myself for a while. I posted in a thread here and once I was happy with the general designs I contacted a designer who helped put some polish on them, built them in the correct format (Illustrator) and guided me on the ordering part with Tina.

Designers will give you whatever help you need - be that every stage of the process or just the parts you want an additional professional eye on. Personally I enjoyed getting my designs "mostly there" and learnt a lot along the way. If you're not that type of person and/or don't have the time then getting help at an earlier stage makes sense. Fees will obviously be dependent on how much work has to be done but should be good value.

(@mattross1313 helped me and comes recommended)

edit: just seen that you did post in my chip thread already, in Jun. What's the hold up!

 

[eightyWon]

It feels like I would spend 10-20 hours trying to figure it out myself (maybe more?!).

Almost certainly more unless you discover you're some kind of savant.

 

[Cratty]

+1 to @eightyWon

Yeah, I have ~20 years of hobby-level experience with photoshop/some illustrator.. and I'd say my first sets (Dunes, Cratty House) took somewhere in the ballpark of ~50 hours from concept to final art for print. A bunch of that was just learning ropes on chip/inlay specific design and redoing a ton of things 5x over that I screwed up the first few times.

For more recent sets I'd say each now takes 10-20 hours unless there's a massive level of customization (e.g. Teenage Mutant Poker Turtles - probably 3-5 hours in art/and polishing alone per denomination) but I'm experimenting with something completely new for me in most sets. A straight forward inlay design with edge spots I already have made.. could be done in just a few hours likely.

That said, the two biggest vacuums for your time will be initial concept and then execution. If you try to bite off both with no experience in photoshop or illustrator.. you're likely looking at a very long haul, and would definitely recommend just doing as much as you can to design the concept and then passing that off for the execution/polish stage like Nymor did unless you want design work to be a hobby too (like it is for me).

All said.. YMMV. @mattross1313 @Okku and many others here do wonderful jobs if looking to save yourself some time and help ensure it's done right at any step.

 

[TheOffalo]

If you think you’ll enjoy the process, I’d say at least experiment and try to make your own design first. At least then you’ll have a better understanding of what goes into it.

If you need to start from scratch and have access to Illustrator, learn on that. If you don’t have access or funds to get Adobe products, then Inkscape is a great free design tool.

It’s true there’s not a super consolidated thread with all the info, but check out this thread for some great resources: https://www.pokerchipforum.com/thre...phics-useful-for-tina-anita-cards-mold.81302/.

I dabbled with Photoshop for decades, but when I joined PCF I taught myself how to use Inkscape and I’ve made multiple designs for myself and some others. I enjoyed learning, and figuring out how to do things (probably the “wrong” way).

Edit: Here’s another thread: https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/messing-around-with-inkscape.102525/

 

[sweetpotatofishing]

Thank you for all the feedback. I thought I would download Inkspace and give it a go. I'm about 10 hours in and I've just about done one pass on one chip! So, yes, definitely a time sink, but indeed an enjoyable one. I am sure I will be posting for feedback on my designs after another 20 hours or so

 

[sweetpotatofishing]

edit: just seen that you did post in my chip thread already, in Jun. What's the hold up!

I set myself a poker-related goal with the 'prize' being custom chips, but it was honestly pretty arbitrary and I should've just done it sooner!

You ever play at the Vouz? I am there quite often, so if you do, then we'll probably know each other

 

[fishfan77]

If you think you’ll enjoy the process, I’d say at least experiment and try to make your own design first. At least then you’ll have a better understanding of what goes into it.

If you need to start from scratch and have access to Illustrator, learn on that. If you don’t have access or funds to get Adobe products, then Inkscape is a great free design tool.

It’s true there’s not a super consolidated thread with all the info, but check out this thread for some great resources: https://www.pokerchipforum.com/thre...phics-useful-for-tina-anita-cards-mold.81302/.

I dabbled with Photoshop for decades, but when I joined PCF I taught myself how to use Inkscape and I’ve made multiple designs for myself and some others. I enjoyed learning, and figuring out how to do things (probably the “wrong” way).

Edit: Here’s another thread: https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/messing-around-with-inkscape.102525/

I enjoy the process myself as well. I have made some inlays for sports teams, friends businesses etc. It actually helps me unwind..

Steve

 

[detroitdad]

I have no formal design background

Hire a designer!

 

[Nymor]

I set myself a poker-related goal with the 'prize' being custom chips, but it was honestly pretty arbitrary and I should've just done it sooner!

You ever play at the Vouz? I am there quite often, so if you do, then we'll probably know each other

Haven't played there although I know a few who do. It's only 15mins away so maybe I should give it a looksee sometime soon.