La Taniere (1 Viewer)

[binoclard]

La Tanière 1.2
- White 100
- 414 1

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La Tanière 1.1

 

[binoclard]

So… I've been playing for a while now with the CPC Design Tool, set after set, random chip after random chip, trying things, all the while browsing here, assimilating different styles, different looks, trying to sort what I like from what I don’t.

I do not think my tastes have settled yet. I have saved so many sets, thinking «yes, this one is good" only to trash it the next day… And there are way too many options and spots patterns and colours combinations, and styles, and possible directions that I would like to try and see. But I I think I may have finally had some sort of inspiration, and I feel this one is the first one that deserves to have its own thread, to document the iterations and the process.

The name and the theme and the layout concept came together like it was the most obvious thing that I had stored somewhere in my brain, waiting. It is my first CPC custom set, and it will certainly be the only one. I will definitely throw around some random fun stuff on Tina hybrids, but this one has to be special and meaningful.

I base this set around my favourite place ever. A small recluse cottage from the late 18th century, lost on a hill in the countryside, devoid of any trace of civilisation (quite a feat in Switzerland, you have no idea how I envy the American wilderness, I was this close to buying a couple thousand acres in Nova Scotia a decade ago…), that my wife and I are currently renovating with the idea to live there in a couple years. We bought it as a ruin 5 years ago, camped there all seasons since, working, planning, or just enjoying the peacefulness and the magic of the place. I have not hosted in years, and my future poker game will be there, under the starlight, without any sound except for the shuffled chips…

«La Tanière» means den, lair, etc. in French. It also conveys an idea of shelter, hideout, it is used in a similar way as «man cave» and it has also some connotations that goes well with poker and gambling, a «scoundrely» vibe. It suddenly sounded perfect, as a theme, as a name, and as a tribute to this special place surrounded by -and shared with- wildlife.

So the inlay is clearly still a work in progress. It definitely was not the start of the idea, I was just throwing stuff around, and it developed as a kind of nod to Rounders with the animal engravings… I still want to try to push it and make it my own, with a clear «vintage but contemporary» personality and nice graphical choices. Currently the drawings are from Adobe Stock. I quite like them and might keep them, or search something else. Or draw from scratch. Or I might start over and take a completely direction within the same theme. I am testing things with the denoms, I know the legibility is terrible on this one… I may end up with different sides, not sure about that. I will focus on it later.

The font is a super nice one that has contemporary flair with historical roots. Not dead set on it, I’ll try others, but I keep returning to it.

So let’s focus on the chips colours and spots. All in all, I am quite happy. I was able to put aside my rigid views on spots and progression, and my lust for bright and bizarre colours. I think I have a mix of small and large spots that work quite well together and keep things interesting, and an «earthy» feel that goes nicely with the theme. What I find interesting is that I did not have to «try» as hard as for other attempts, I feel things fell in place way more naturally. It feels easier to «follow the theme» than to «make cool stuff». I am sure there are some tweaks needed, but I feel I am on the right path for this one.

0.25: The Bird
The house was abandoned since at least the 50s when we bought it 5 years ago, and so birds were using it. They kept returning to nest every year. Even this year, with a construction site in full force, they nested. And ate tons of sambucus. And dropped violet and pink shits everywhere on the freshly whitewashed walls and windowsills… The culprits were swifts, and this is a robin, but that will do if I keep these drawings.

I love the look of the mono-moon spot. I may be tempted by others mono spots, like 1D14 with peach and tiger… I know the colours are a bit of a stretch conceptually, but almost every pink/peach chip I see in here is awesome, I want one.
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1:The Bat
We have a couple bats that live near the house, and wake up and fly around us every night at dusk. The blue hour, with the last rays of light.

The 1 is pretty much untouchable. I know it is absurd, a level 8 just to have these 4 tiny specks of colours, but I want it. I keep returning to it in some form in most of my experiments. So unless you have some phenomenal idea that improves the whole set so much that I can forget this one, I think it will stay.
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5: The Fox
We spent hours every summer watching a family of foxes running and playing in the field right in front of us, teaching their cubs to catch mouses. Magical.

I wanted a half-pie, or a quarter-pie in my set. It seems great for it, and I quite like the effect of the stack view with all the reddish tints. I have a dozen variations that I’ll certainly post later on, but let’s start with this one.
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25: The Toad
At night, the are dozens of small toads that crawl from under I do not know where, and roam around the place. It is weird, as it is quite a dry place, but apparently the love the place as much as I do, and are definitely a part of it.

I step a bit outside my comfort zone with this one. But I quite like it. I have variations with a darker green as base, and permutations of spot colours around the same idea, but I think DG Saturn is the perfect weird colour for The Toad.
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100: The Badger
The emblem of the place. When we found the house, badgers had dig under the walls, making huge holes… they were burrows entries everywhere inside. We never saw one, and I am not sure I will ever see a 100 on my table, but I have to make one, and the colours are an evidence.

I am not a fan of black chips in general, still not sure, but it kinda work… and it grows on me.
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So, congrats and thanks to you if you read that wall of text, what do you think?

All input is welcome. Thanks in advance for your thoughts, advices, suggestions and criticism. Help me make this a great one.

 

[jr8719]

Have you got a CPC sample set yet? Dayglo Saturn is a very different colour in person...

 

[binoclard]

Ahah I was so sure I would this comment

No, not yet, I procrastinated around this order. And I know DG Saturn seems quite polarising, and I may totally hate in person, but from what I see, I feel that even if it is a super weird colour, it might be perfect for this one.

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

Really cool background and reasoning, love it! Everything about the theme is great.

Color wise, lots of the edges are either very similar to other ones on the same chip or similar to the base color, will be expensive but blend in. Like the $1, why 4 different colors?

And the point is it doesnt matter what you "feel" or from what you've seen if you havent gotten your hands on the color samples lol, do not dare purchase a full set without knowing what the colors really look like.

 

[binoclard]

Yeah, now that I have a worthy idea that seems to go on the right path, I will definitely order a ton of samples, colours and mold. I like the H-mold a lot, but the SCrown might be a good fit.

Regarding the Blue 1… I may change my mind in front of the samples, and the price quote, but I think overall the set is not fancy, I have read a lot of time "make your workhose your favourite", and I think it is definitely better with 4 colours than 2 for the spots, even if the effect is subtle.

lots of the edges are either very similar to other ones

Not sure what you mean, except for the 1.

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

Yeah, now that I have a worthy idea that seems to go on the right path, I will definitely order a ton of samples, colours and mold. I like the H-mold a lot, but the SCrown might be a good fit.

Regarding the Blue 1… I may change my mind in front of the samples, and the price quote, but I think overall the set is not fancy, I have read a lot of time "make your workhose your favourite", and I think it is definitely better with 4 colours than 2 for the spots, even if the effect is subtle.



Not sure what you mean, except for the 1.

5's reds blend for me.

 

[binoclard]

I precisely like the subtle blend, it seemed most appropriate for the dancing Fox.

Others variations I kept so far. I quite like the 3, best contender imho, but that will make me change the Toad to not use Butterscotch and Yellow.
The 5 is super nice, but too pastel/light. Unless I go for a darker Toad… Arrgh. It never ends

 

[improviseallday]

Someone's been cooking!

If you insist that you are only buying one CPC set ever, perhaps consider the Tina chips first. But as planned here:

• I like the direction you're headed with the inlay. Simple and thematic. No critiques until you're further along.
• The $1 is beautiful.
• Badger colors feel detached from the rest of the set. Is that what you're going for?
• I second the concerns about DG Saturn. In particular, I think it does not go with DG Pink at all. But not sure what it goes with...

• Regarding the fox colors, I agree with both of you- orange and DG orange might be tricky to tell apart in low light. Still, chip is still distinguishable from others, so not a functional issue.

 

[mipevi]

No, not yet, I procrastinated around this order.

Yeah you really need the color samples when you're going outside the tried and true box for your combos. Until you do, we won't really be speaking the same language regarding them.

 

[binoclard]

Someone's been cooking!

If you insist that you are only buying one CPC set ever, perhaps consider the Tina chips first.

That is the thing… I am sure I will make other Tina sets to fulfil my want for a bright flashy fancy Cali set, and to try more bizarre non-spots ideas. But if am realist, I do not play enough (that might change, though…) to justify throwing away that much cash on other CPC sets.
And now that this theme/concept made its way, it seems so obvious… My forever set, if I have to make one, has to revolve around this. But I am in no rush, I'll take my time, and tweak until it is right.

• I like the direction you're headed with the inlay. Simple and thematic. No critiques until you're further along.

Yeah… That was really not the initial intention, but as with the rest… I surrender and go with the flow. Let's see where I end up.

• The $1 is beautiful.
• Badger colors feel detached from the rest of the set. Is that what you're going for?

Thank you.
Yeah the Badger looks apart. But its only because it is not on the same line…
I feel that I have not much room with colours for a badger outside Charcoal, White and Black, though. And even if I am not a fan of Black chips, it is growing on me…

• I second the concerns about DG Saturn. In particular, I think it does not go with DG Pink at all. But not sure what it goes with...

View attachment 1199061

• Regarding the fox colors, I agree with both of you- orange and DG orange might be tricky to tell apart in low light. Still, chip is still distinguishable from others, so not a functional issue.

View attachment 1199060

Wow, thank you so much for having taken the time to shoot these pictures. It is very kind and much appreciated.

I am really not trying to contradict just for the sake of it, but I kinda like the pink-saturn combo pictured here .
I was going for a weird effect, like on the IOC frac (more of a tan / yellow though……), I have always loved the stacks it creates.

@mipevi and @all, you are right. I'll tell you what, it looks like the perfect opportunity to take a step back, stop tinkering with the colours and patterns while I wait for the samples to arrive. Meanwhile I'll work on the inlay, and cross my fingers that my intuitions were not too awful. I sure hope not, because I am starting to really like it… I still like it after a full week, that is a first.

Thanks.

 

[ChipMonster]

I like the concept and implementation and overall color scheme.

For the pink chip, I’m guessing you picked dayglo Saturn because of the split spot warning with your dayglo pink? Maybe standard pink works better with your color scheme? Maybe using a dayglo orange instead of Saturn given that robins have orange bellies?

The $1 chip is my favorite and I don’t think you should tweak just to save some $. Get what works for you!

For the fox chip, I think dayglo orange and orange are very close to each other. For a quarter pie maybe just sticking with two colors makes it pop more?

The picture below is the colors all in order if it is helpful. I did the loaner set from the sticky on the custom page and would recommend looking into that as well. I made a couple tweaks to my set I’m designing based on seeing them in person in different lighting conditions. Plus having different mold shuffle samples is very nice since they all have their own character and feel.

 

[improviseallday]

I am really not trying to contradict just for the sake of it, but I kinda like the pink-saturn combo pictured here .

Full send! It's your set.

Yeah the Badger looks apart. But its only because it is not on the same line…
I feel that I have not much room with colours for a badger outside Charcoal, White and Black, though. And even if I am not a fan of Black chips, it is growing on me…

Came up with a few $100 ideas based around reusing the Saturn since there's a color reuse progression throughout the set. I still like your chip better but these might fit in the set more.

 

[binoclard]

I like the concept and implementation and overall color scheme.

For the pink chip, I’m guessing you picked dayglo Saturn because of the split spot warning with your dayglo pink? Maybe standard pink works better with your color scheme? Maybe using a dayglo orange instead of Saturn given that robins have orange bellies?

The $1 chip is my favorite and I don’t think you should tweak just to save some $. Get what works for you!

For the fox chip, I think dayglo orange and orange are very close to each other. For a quarter pie maybe just sticking with two colors makes it pop more?

The picture below is the colors all in order if it is helpful. I did the loaner set from the sticky on the custom page and would recommend looking into that as well. I made a couple tweaks to my set I’m designing based on seeing them in person in different lighting conditions. Plus having different mold shuffle samples is very nice since they all have their own character and feel.

View attachment 1199175

Hey, sorry for the late reply, and thanks a lot for the picture, and the inputs, it is really helpful

 

[binoclard]

Full send! It's your set.



Came up with a few $100 ideas based around reusing the Saturn since there's a color reuse progression throughout the set. I still like your chip better but these might fit in the set more.

View attachment 1199368
View attachment 1199393

Thanks! Not sure I would like to venture too far away from the badgers colours though.

I had tried a couple with a white base, there are maybe a better fit than a dark one. I like the #2.

I'll try to set time aside to work on the inlay.

 

[binoclard]

I have just entered some numbers in the Excel price sheet. I am not saying I will abandon my 1, but the realisation that a single level 8 costs "almost" as much as the rest of the 4 other level 4 denoms together is… enlightening

$ 920 for 200 lvl 8
$ 1290 for 400 lvl 4

 

[improviseallday]

I have just entered some numbers in the Excel price sheet. I am not saying I will abandon my 1, but the realisation that a single level 8 costs "almost" as much as the rest of the 4 other level 4 denoms together is… enlightening

$ 920 for 200 lvl 8
$ 1290 for 400 lvl 4

How do you feel about a 4Q14? Level 4 instead of 8. Arguably fits in more with your other spots as well.

 

[Taghkanic]

A small recluse cottage from the late 18th century, lost on a hill in the countryside, devoid of any trace of civilisation

Have you ever seen a film called The Wall? (Die Wand… not the Pink Floyd one.)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wall_(2012_film)

 

[binoclard]

I feel… contradicted

On one hand, I really like the 418, it has an elegance, something that balances the "boldness" of the other chips while still being present and interesting.

414… I have just seen this ad for the BBC CDI, and the 1 is in the same aesthetic. I could certainly live with it. I had a variant with it. It works. And that would drop the price down to right under 2K for 600 chips. But… Yeah. Maybe. Perhaps. Aaargh. I don't know. Heart vs Reason…? I'll have to let them lie again for a couple days and open both with fresh eyes and open mind.

Thanks for the nudge.

Edit Updated the OP with both versions. I think the White 100 is definitely a better fit.

 

[improviseallday]

I feel… contradicted

Don't take me too seriously- I'm not really a designer

That would drop the price down to right under 2K for 600 chips. But… Yeah. Maybe. Perhaps. Aaargh. I don't know. Heart vs Reason…?

Thanks for the nudge.

A nudge is a good way to look at it. If the 418 really is better, for anyone who can afford a CPC set, there's usually a way to squeeze a few extra hundred francs into the budget.

 

[mipevi]

The problem with the '18' inserts is that they tend to not be as deep. You can see it in the design tool, but it is much more noticeable in person IMO. Since they are also very thin inserts, they can end up looking... puny. If you really want to use that size, I would recommend doing so with two of them next to each other to alleviate this issue.

 

[binoclard]

@improviseallday It is really appreciated. I was so dead set on this chip, I saved it so many times in so many sets, that it was an evidence I should include it. And then the other chips came to life in their own organic way, the set began to put itself together and start to look like something half way decent… And you are maybe right that larger spots may fit better. Or not. We'll see, but at least it will be a choice, not a default. Thank you.

@mipevi thanks for the warning, I'll try to hunt pictures of x18 spots to gauge how they look on a real chip.