Unique use of Xara - Large images

[kmalsom]

I believe I have a fairly unique use for Xara (although I have introduced a few people who do the same thing to it).

I design poker chips/etc for people.

Here are some of my designs:





These were designed in Xara and rendered in Bryce3D






Some of the actual chips made:








I also did the logo on this poker table. I didn't do the background on the cloth though:


Sorry for the large post. Hope you all like it.

[geminiguy]

That's purty cool.... I had never really thought about anything like that.... That really is an extremely unique business... Nice work too
Many people don't actually realize the endless variety of work for the art industry, both natural and CG.... And this is one I had never realized before. Thanks for sharing.
And I wish you much more success and fortune in your endeavors
I, myself am trying to get some work doing illustration for children's coloring books at the moment.... The possibilities are just never ending.

[michaelbuddy]

Do you think you could share a few things?

One, I'd love to know your technique or preference for choosing fonts. Maybe some names of favorites?

Two, can somebody have these custom printed these days. I'd love to be able to give out poker chip business cards.

Let me know by PIM or here in the forum if you want to share any of that.

thanks!!

[kmalsom]

That's purty cool.... I had never really thought about anything like that.... That really is an extremely unique business... Nice work too
Many people don't actually realize the endless variety of work for the art industry, both natural and CG.... And this is one I had never realized before. Thanks for sharing.
And I wish you much more success and fortune in your endeavors
I, myself am trying to get some work doing illustration for children's coloring books at the moment.... The possibilities are just never ending.

There's certainly a lot you can do in the art world and I've used Illustrator and Inkscape to do chips like this, but Xara is by far the easiest and most versatile.

Do you think you could share a few things?

One, I'd love to know your technique or preference for choosing fonts. Maybe some names of favorites?

Two, can somebody have these custom printed these days. I'd love to be able to give out poker chip business cards.

Let me know by PIM or here in the forum if you want to share any of that.

thanks!!

As far as fonts go, I try to find something that matches the theme of the project. The Lion head chip has an african theme so we went with an african font. The Club 517 chips were designed to look like an illegal club from the 50s, so we picked a font that was more of a period font. With the pirate themed chips, I looked for a font that had a rougish theme to it. The one I found and it's one of my favorites is Viking. One of the most common ones I use is Apple Garamound. It has a classy look to it. I've also used Dragonwick.

To pick a font I usually go to abstractfonts.com or dafonts.com and there is a tool on there that you can type in the text that you want and it will display all the font choices with that text. Then I look for one that matches the style of the chips.

Yes, you can get the chips printed pretty easily. There are two type of chips used in casinos, compression molded and injection molded.

The compression molded chips are generally referred to as clay chips and the printing is done on a piece of vinyl and pressed into the chips as they are made. These are the most expensive type and they are the most authentic. There are two manufacturers for these type of chips for the home and advertising market:
Blue Chip Casino Chip Company: www.bluechipcasinochips.com
Atlantic Standard Molding: www.pokerchips.com

The injection molded (commonly called ceramic chips) have many more manufacturers and are dye sublimated onto the chip surface so they can be printed edge to edge.
The manufacturer used by most casinos that use this type of chip is chipco (www.chipco.com). To get that brand you are best to go through one of their dealers:
USA:
Home Poker Chips: www.homepokerchips.com
The Chip Lab: www.thechiplab.com
Europe:
Marlow Poker Chips: www.marlowcasinochips.com

There are a couple of other brands:
Sunfly/Equinox (same chip):
USA:
Palm Imports: www.palmimports.com (prints on Equinox blanks or have made in china) - I do a lot with these guys and actually resell their chips
Nevada Jacks: www.nevadajacks.net (prints on Equinox blanks)
Canada:
Straight Flush: www.straightflush.ca (prints on Equinox blanks)
Europe:
Mr Chip: www.mrchip.eu (direct ship from china)

ABC Gifts: not sure what blanks he uses but does the best job workmanship wise: www.abcgiftsandawards.com

A good resource for poker chip information (reviews, etc) is ChipTalk: www.chiptalk.net

[iamtheblues]

Good to know that Xara is being put to such good commercial use.
Thanks for sharing your work here on the forum, and also for giving us
an insight into the world of casinos, and your thoughts on design and font choices.
I imagine I'm not alone in finding your post very interesting indeed.
Saludos,
Bob.

[gray]

Great looking work Kmalsom. I never thought of poker chips.