gridlox

No probs! It's just a dummie code for artistic representation.

Thanks to this post, it gave me the inspiration to submit this design to Geoswag Coin & Pin Club!! It's June's edition that has just been shipped!! Now we have a "Paper Coin" that everyone would move!! D-man

Wow! This has been a very interesting read this evening. Paula, let me say first and foremost that I absolutely LOVE any design that you have produced and I stand in awe of your awesome talent. (I'm not worthy!!) I also think, in your case, you have made a wise decision to not take on any more personal coins. Working for the public is not always an easy thing to do. Knowing when it's not for you and bowing out is a really hard thing to do after you've been in that position. I know it was a hard decision to make when you love what you do so well. Please continue to bring forward your beautiful designs for us to enjoy!! I know I would definately miss your artistic talent if you were to direct it in some other direction than coins!! (The following is not directed "at" Paula, but at "any designer" that even considers working for the public) edit [in retrospect - there is even some advice for myself included. Definately a few things I could work on improving there!! ] DESIGN INSPIRATION (Not to be confused with "Divine Inspiration". Although that might work as well! ) Being a designer myself I can definately understand not being inspired to do a job because I just didn't feel inspired at the moment. But, working for the public doesn't offer us artistic types the priviledge to wait until "our muse", as Paula calls it, decides to show itself. Sometimes we just have to force it to show it's face. I don't know about others, but I HAVE to keep inspiration producing resources around. --In my filing cabinet I've got folders & folders of logos, advertisements, clipart pictures, .... that have been cut from magazines & news papers over the past 10-15 years. If you see something that catches your eye or looks really neat, clip it out and keep it. (Also, makes for some good laughs at times when you look in them and wonder to yourself - "What was I smoking when I cut that out?! ) But NEVER throw anything you've put in there out!! Even if you think it is junk now. There was a reason you kept it, you just may not know why at this moment. Never know when you may need some "retro" ideas for some project. --Take a walk through the local grocery stores and look at the package designs. They are designed to make that product stand out amongst the many other same type product sitting right beside them. Never know when the layout on that box of cookies might give you a spark of creativity for something your working on. You are sitting at one of the largest idea inspiring resources available - The Net!! --Google Image Search to be more specific! Type in a few key words and see what has already been done by others along that same theme. Type in something obscure to your theme and get inspired by something totally different. It may just be that something that makes the idea for your theme stand out!! --Trade magazines are an awesome resource for inspiration. I know there aren't that many Geocaching magazines out there (Are there any? ), but any outdoors type magazine can be a good resource to get those creative juices flowing. --OK, you "guys" may get some weird looks on this one... Teen Fashion Magazines!! (Luckily I have a 16 year old daughter that brings hands full home. ) Next time your at the magazine rack pick one up and flip through it. The teen crowd is one of the most targeted audiences in the retail world today!! The folks that design these magazines are some of the most handsomely paid in the graphic design field. To get these jobs they have to be some of the best creative minds in their fields!! "TIMELINES & DEADLINES" If you promise something by a certain time or date, the customer needs to have what you promised by then, "if not before". We adhere to this policy religiously at my day job, so I know for a fact that is a requirement to be successful when working for the public. The shop has seen a consistant 20-30 percent yearly growth in sales in the past 5 years because of it!! But this is probably my Achilles Heel here at home While I try to do my coin jobs in a timely manner, sometimes it just isn't possible. Especially since my freelance design work at home is a sideline job. Sometimes I'm just to busy with "LIFE" to get to my freelance work. As my "day job" I work as a graphic designer for a local sign company. We are a small 5 person, high production shop. We strive to turn around "most" jobs in one day or less. Fortunately for us, our owner has a "No Work Weekends" policy. In 3.5 years I have had to work "1" Saturday!! Unfortunately, that sometime means working late during the weekdays. Yesterday for instance, we had a large job come in for some last minute July 4th event signage & banners for the local parks & rec. dept. that had to delivered by 10:00am this morning. We left the shop last night at 11:15PM. But, we delivered the job this morning as promised!! During the week, if nothing is going on, I "may" have 1-2 productive hours an evening to work on some designing. Being married & having a teenage daughter that is VERY active in her school's music programs (marching band, concert band, chorus) usually keep us going all school year. Going all the time getting her to all the afterschool pratices, football games, and performances cuts into available design time as well. Now where does that leave me and my coin designs? Pushed to the side once again. If you've got a deadline to meet to have the customer their art, then you have to be willing to lose a bit of sleep or make other sacrifices to make it happen if you want to keep them happy. I may have the "No Work Weekends" policy at my day job, but not for my freelance work. In fact, that's when I get most of my freelance design work done!! COMMUNICATION "Communication" is the key factor in staying in good graces of a customer when designs are taking longer than they should. Sure, sometimes something falls through the cracks and you have to grovel a bit to keep your customer, but you should never ignore emails or phone calls for long periods of time. It only breeds doubt and mistrust for your customer. If you are unsure about what a customer wants through emails, drop them a line with your phone number or ask for their number and get on the phone and talk in person!! Sometimes you can write something in an email that makes sense to you, but to the person reading the email it may be clear as soupy mud!! Better to pay a few cents for a phone call than waste time designing something that you are not clear on. DESIGNER vs CUSTOMER One of the things that Paula states (if I've read it right) is that she didn't like what the design looked like when doing what the customer asked and didn't want to give the customer something "she" thought looked bad. (If I've read it wrong, sorry. But this advice still applies to what I'm trying to get across in my post) When working for the public, sometimes, your opinion of what does and doesn't look good doesn't mean squat! You are getting paid to do a design to please the customer, not yourself. What looks like Cow Hockey to you might look fabulous to them. The paying customer gets what the paying customer wants. Sometimes that means doing some work that you think is below your talent levels!! I can testify that those jobs do NOT give you much satisfaction of a job well done. But, the customer is happy and that is the main thing!! Case in point... (this is exactly what I'm talking about above!!) I once had a customer contact me and presented me with the following colored pencil sketch. Per his instructions, he wanted me to "clean this up and make it look good". So after taking his "concept" and putting my creative spin on it I presented him with the following... Nice huh? WRONG!! When I presented it to the customer he became very irate that I totally ignored his instructions and didn't do what he wanted and that I just did whatever I felt like to his "logo". After giving him a (undeserved) apology for not doing what he wanted I went back and reworked it. Presented him with the new design (per his original instructions) in multiple formats on a CD and collected my $125 check and everyone was happy!! What did the final design look like you ask? Swallow what you are drinking before scrolling down if you can't already see it!! You were warned!! DEPOSITS Deposits up front is a very debatable subject. It basicallly boils down to "how trusting are you of your customers". Most of my freelance work outside of the coin designing arena is "referals by word of mouth". I do absolutely no advertising. If someone new comes to me, it's usually through someone that has worked with me before. Either one on one or through one of my day jobs in the past. (I worked for 2 different t-shirt/sign shops prior to my current job). I "rarely" request a deposit up front to do design work. There have been a couple of ocassions where the jobs were really big and I asked for a deposit up front. Mainly it was to make sure the customer was serious about doing what they were asking me to do before putting in hours doing multiple designs for the project. One of them has returned to me twice since the first job and after knowing that he follows through with what he is asking me to do, I didn't ask for deposits after the first job. But on the other hand, at my job at the sign shop, if a "new" customer comes in wanting to see multiple sign layouts for one job or needing a sign that requires logo reproduction or some other type of art touch up, we do not even create a work order until they hand over a $50-$100 deposit. It boils down to a time factor there. Being a high production shop we just don't have time to waste doing designs for someone that isn't serious about doing the job. You would be amazed at the folks that just come in off the street wanting us to draw something up, just so they could see what it'll look like. Then, if they like what we designed, they would order a sign. By getting a deposit, we are at least getting paid for our time wasted on them if they never follow through with an order. Fortunately, I don't feel the need to get a deposit up front for any of my coin designs. (If I have before, I just don't remember doing it ) I can understand why someone would want a deposit, but i just don't feel the need to. It's all a personable decision by the designer as to whether they what to take the gamble on trusting their customers or not. Hopefully someone will get some use out of my advice and it's not just been a bunch of hot air. As a graphic designer, working for the public is NOT easy sometimes, but for the most part it is very rewarding. To be able to bring a thought into a tangible product and know that you put your mark in this world is a truly amazing thing. Have a great day!! D-man

Oh well trying again? Just a few questions to add to my Geocaching Jeopardy Knowledge... (Jeopardy Knowledge = Random facts that are totally useless in everyday life unless you get to be on Jeopardy ) What is the oldest "still active" geocache? When/Where was the first Geowoodstock? What cache has the most finds? What cache was hidden the longest before someone got the FTF? What currently active cache has been hidden the longest but still hasn't been found? Thanks!! D-man Feel free to Markwell me for any of these if I've overlooked them. Did a search on the forums but couldn't find answers for any of these.

What happened to my questions? Hit the submit button and it timed out on me. Now my post is gone.

Geocoins should come with a warning label DO NOT WASH!!!!! I have noticed spots on the ones a had minted aswell That's strange! I haven't had a problem with "discoloration due to washing". I have one of the Black Nickel Sept 2007 9-11 pins from the Geoswag Coin & Pin Club on the collar of one of my work uniform shirts. I put it on there the day I recieved them and haven't taken it off since! It gets washed "at least" once a week (sometimes twice in a week) and it looks just as good as the day I recieved it. Same thing for the 2007 Sept edition as well. Placed it on my collar when I recieved them in the mail and haven't taked it out since either!! Washed weekly and still looks like new! I've often thought about taking pics of them and posting them as a testimonial to the fine craftsmanship of them but have just never gotten around to it. D-man

Well! This is cool! Imagine my suprize to get a secret package in the mail!! I couldn't remember ordering or trading for anything that hadn't yet come in. So, I eagerly opened the package thinking it might be a coin from someone that I had designed for recently. But the package was so light! Ripped open the envelope and out dropped into my hand a little Dark Knight!! I exclaimed, "Cool!! I've been knighted!!" The folks I work with just don't get why I get all excited over our little pieces of metal!! It's the addiction!! I try to tell them! They just shake their heads and I think I hear them mutter in unison... "Yep! He's lost it!" Thank You O' Dark Knight!!! I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy!! D-man

Mine tipped the scales at around 95lbs! Less the weight of 2 binders, a 18"x13" briefcase & a small overnight bag with wheels (that I nabbed from my wifes luggage! ) Minus all that, I'd guess-timate around 85lbs. You know one day I'm gonna have to break down and take an inventory of what I actually have. I've got a bunch of AE coins that would make for good trades. (Sadly, it's been so long since I got the AE's that I'm not even sure which are the regular ones and which are the AE's ) It's definately gonna be a big undertaking to figure out exactly what is valuable and what isn't. I'd venture to say that 90% of my collection is unactivated. I keep all my special gifts & trades that I've done in the binders, so those won't be going anywhere!! Or... Hmmmm, here's an idea Maybe an Ebay auction to raise money to help offset the TRIPLED cost of our car insurance after adding on our 16 year old daughter!! Hey honey! I've got good news!! I just made a bunch of money selling my geocoins to pay GEICO!! D-man

Should be soon! I just got the request to send the icons, so the coins shouldn't be too far behind. Here's the icons, in case anyone was interested in what they will look like. ........

They will be sold on the geoswag.com website when they get here. D-man

Thanks! After having to scrap the idea of the whole trail on one coin because it looked so bad, we decided to do the final coin something a bit different. That way it would even appeal to folks that weren't that interested in collecting the whole series. A big THANK YOU to everyone that stuck with us through the whole series!! D-man

Yes that's correct. The antique silver is the LE version. Here's the art proof for the pin... And this is the new Icon for the final coin... D-man

Yes, that was the Feb club coin. Should be anytime soon for the March coin. Like AG said, they are running late for the March coins, but here's a peek at the artwork for them. I don't think the folks at Geoswag will mind me sharing it with you.

Whoo Hooo!! We are FINALLY going to mint with the final coin!! Order sent out today!! Here's the photos of the metal proofs D-man

I think your safe. I haven't even seen any samples yet. D-man

You can get onto a want list for these? Or is that just wishful thinking and it'll be like last year via GeoSwag? Same as all previous issues... Sold on the Geoswag.com website.

When are these little trouble makers gonna be ready? Good question? I haven't heard anything back on them just yet. I'll check into it.

Nothing yet. The art was sent to the mint and the proofs should be ready soon. As normal for this time of year, the mints are a bit behind due to closing for the week of Chinese New Year a few weeks ago. D-man

And here's the '07, in case someone isn't familiar with them.

D-man

Actually, the one time I tried squirrel at a Wild Game Supper it was rather tasty!! If you got a hankerin' for some good Squirrel Recipes <--- Click Here! D-man

Someone would be in a "PICKLE" if they didn't harvest up a few of these. ** D-man **Hint for a possible future "produce" coin. Did the artwork for these, but seeing the pics of the finished product gave me an idea for another cute "produce" themed geocaching coin. Idea being submitted in the next few days to the producers of the "Lettuce" coin. Might be a good "dill" coming soon. LOL

I feel your pain!! A few years ago my wife & I went to a casual dress dinner party for the doctor's office where she worked at the time. About half way through the night I'm sitting there and look down to realize in my hurry to get ready I had grabbed 2 different tennis shoes. One was red white & blue, the other was yellow, black & white. I had put on one shoe, then my wife had asked me to help her zip her dress. I went back grabbed another shoe out from under my side of the bed and just put it on without paying attention to what I already had on. At least they were the same brand & style!! D-man

The Evil Micros were made by Oakcoins.com and sold on the Geoswag.com website. If you can't find any Evil Micros or the Evil Micros 2007 editions, then never fear... 2008 Evil Micros are right around the corner!! D-man

Art sent to the mint this week. Now we're just waiting for the samples to be made. Trackable and Icon