A design question

[+Markle]

After lurking in the shadows for a while I thought I would chime in and ask a question.

 

Just after getting addicted to geocaching I had a nasty little knee injury which has sidelined me for anywhere from 6 weeks to almost 5 months. (PLEASE be 6 weeks) Anywho, I've really gotten the bug about geocoins and I'd like to start in on the craziness. I figured since I'll be sitting on the floor for quite a while this would be a great time to design a coin and see about maybe minting one so I can start some trades and stuff. Ooooo, exciting!

 

I have a question or two about the design process I'm hoping someone with some experience will be willing to help me out with. Here we go...

 

1. I'm trying to turn a picture I have into a 2D image with color. My problem is that when I get to a part of the picture that's a little more detailed it, well.... looks not so good. Low detail I actually really like but the higher detail part... eh. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

2. I'm also curious about what software you all are using to design your coins. I have access to Photoshop but that's not really great with vector graphics so what do you all suggest?

 

3. On a less design related issue, when you all post a design of a coin, do you take orders first and then submit to the mint so that it's paid in advance or do you take the risk and buy 'em. I've never been really clear on accepted protocol.

 

Thanks so much and I hope to be a more frequent member of the forum!

[+fox-and-the-hound]

One nice trick to elminate a lot of flotsam and concentrate on the general image is to desaturate the color and adjust your contrast up 100% until it's completely black and white. It won't necessarily be a good image, but it will help you concentrate on the key parts of the image and eliminate trying to put everything on.

[+Markle]

I will definitely try that. Now that you say it I almost want to smack myself in the head for not thinking of that in the first place.

 

How do you normally handle eyes? In the sketching I do the eyes make or break a picture. In something like this I'm trying to figure out the best way to handle an animals eyes, without being cartoonish.

[+fox-and-the-hound]

The most commonly overlooked thing I see is a designer forgetting that the metal of the coin is a color, too. If you're working with what will be a silver coin, use the silver as the white of the eye. If you're doing a black nickel, use it for the iris. Little things like that are huge later

[+Markle]

Good point. Thanks so much for your time.

[+ScoutingWV]

Just starting out I'd recommend Inkscape for vector graphics and the Gimp for a Photoshop substitute. You can google them both and find them easily. Both are open source and freely available.

 

Best of health to you.

[+Markle]

Inkscape... never heard of that one. I'll look that up. Thanks for the tip!

[+fehrgo]

Adobe Illustrator is one of the primary development tools that I have seen mentioned. If you are designing something with a 3D aspect to it, it wouldn't hurt to have access to a CAD package to render the surface of the coin and get a feel for what it will really look like. Both of course will set you back $$$ unless you have access to them already, or can find good open source, as with the tools mentioned above.

 

I still have not figured out what people are using for creating most of their 3D designs. Are they just doing a height field from a B&W image in Photoshop, built up slowly with a brush tool on low opacity? Some of the good 3D, like Wykenwizard, I'd really like to know

[+Markle]

I've used Illustrator in the past but I don't really have access to that anymore. I'm hoping Inkscape will have a similar interface.

 

And you bring up a good point. I've been wondering how people have made their 3D coins. Some of them look great (the new Moun10girl is nice) and I'd love to know their secret.

[+fox-and-the-hound]

I think the 3d is largely dependent on the image supplied. For the Moun10Girl we submitted a design with full color photo set in place and indicated that the image should be 3d. Then when we submitted to the minters we also sent along a very, very high res image of the original photo to make it easier for the sculptor at the mint. Actually a lot easier than any 2d in the design.

[CinemaBoxers]

I was just going to add something similar - it seems that most 3D designs are from photos, or hi-res image scans. The others can be done from shaded 2D images - but it certainly is a great question, as I think alot of people would love to know the process for creating the coins we all love collecting.