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Moon Dipper Geocoin - On Sale Now!


Zelanzy

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I've been playing around with a coin design for awhile and might take it to production. It's called Moon Dipper. I've been drawing the moon like this for quite some time and have been thinking it might make a decent coin. It also displays the Big Dipper, whose cup rim points to the North Star (at the top right). Trackable would go on face in upper left of sky or on back. The gray would be the metal. One run would use glow for the white/yellow of the stars and moon.

 

geocoin1.png

 

Looking for some feedback, is this a bit too simple or worth going forward on?

 

~Zelanzy

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I like it. Simple is nice, you don't always have to get extravagant if it means something. Is this going to be your personal? I only ask because it doesn't have your name on it anywhere.

 

One more question: Why did you steal our sig line? :anicute: Just kidding, it's just funny that I had this on a bumper sticker 10 years before I started caching, yet it describes what we do so well. And it's on our coin (in Gaelic). Maybe that's why I like yours... ;)

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I like it, too -- simple & colorful. Could you explain why you draw the moon that way?

Good question and I have no idea! At some point I'll scan and post the initial sketch I did for this coin to better explain it. The image above of is an attempt to translate my pencil drawing to a more simplified vector graphic.

 

One more question: Why did you steal our sig line?

I originally saw that line on a signature card in a cache. I immediately liked it since my wife always calls me a wandered! Did some research and found it to be a JRR Tolkien quote. I'm still trying to find just the right font for it. But I want one that is a bit cryptic in nature (unclear) to be more in line with what caching is about. Might even do it in morse code...
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... I'm still trying to find just the right font for it. But I want one that is a bit cryptic in nature (unclear) to be more in line with what caching is about. Might even do it in morse code...

 

Why don't you try Moon Code?

You can see it here.

 

I think the simplicity is one of the charms of this coin.

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Why don't you try Moon Code?

You can see it here.

 

I think the simplicity is one of the charms of this coin.

Excellent, never heard of that before. I owe ya big since that is just TOO perfect! See below!

78565858.gif

 

Also I don't think this will be my personal geocoin. I have a different idea brewing for that! It will be based on a character (his name is Glock) that I created in one of my animation projects I did YEARS ago. It is a bit more personal in nature than this one.

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I think the front is cute. I'm not sure about the back though. 1.) I don't really see that it relates to the front; 2.) I think the quote has been overdone recently; 3.) I find it to be a bit plain, but I do like the new font idea.

 

Sorry if I seem negative, but that is my honest feedback.

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Why don't you try Moon Code?

You can see it here.

 

I think the simplicity is one of the charms of this coin.

Excellent, never heard of that before. I owe ya big since that is just TOO perfect! See below!

78565858.gif

 

Also I don't think this will be my personal geocoin. I have a different idea brewing for that! It will be based on a character (his name is Glock) that I created in one of my animation projects I did YEARS ago. It is a bit more personal in nature than this one.

 

Great coin, and i really look forward to seeing your personal coin! Save me a trade!

 

ILYK
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Why don't you try Moon Code?

You can see it here.

 

I think the simplicity is one of the charms of this coin.

Excellent, never heard of that before. I owe ya big since that is just TOO perfect! See below!

78565858.gif

 

Also I don't think this will be my personal geocoin. I have a different idea brewing for that! It will be based on a character (his name is Glock) that I created in one of my animation projects I did YEARS ago. It is a bit more personal in nature than this one.

There are also moon runes.

 

moon-runes.png

 

BTW - love the design!

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Why don't you try Moon Code?

You can see it here.

 

I think the simplicity is one of the charms of this coin.

Excellent, never heard of that before. I owe ya big since that is just TOO perfect! See below!

78565858.gif

 

Also I don't think this will be my personal geocoin. I have a different idea brewing for that! It will be based on a character (his name is Glock) that I created in one of my animation projects I did YEARS ago. It is a bit more personal in nature than this one.

There are also moon runes.

 

moon-runes.png

 

BTW - love the design!

There are also JUST runes.......celtic in origin, I believe.

I agree, simple is OK. I'm not big on cartoonish styles, but that's just me.

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HUGE THANK YOU to Vanelle! Below is V2, I painstakingly created vectors for Moon Type since no font appears to be commercially available. I also added the code plate.

 

moondipperbackv2.gif

 

It's getting there B)

 

Looks like a great coin! One question, though: did Groundspeak sign off on the design? It looks like you modified their logo a bit, and I know they're pretty strict about that. Just curious! ;):anicute::D

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HUGE THANK YOU to Vanelle! Below is V2, I painstakingly created vectors for Moon Type since no font appears to be commercially available. I also added the code plate.

 

moondipperbackv2.gif

 

It's getting there ;)

 

You're welcome. Maybe you'll send me one once they're complete? :anicute:

 

I like the changes, it adds some depth to the coin. Is there any way to get the characters on the back to wrap in two arcs along the side of the coin so they mimic the shape of the moon on the front? I realize you had to 'hand draw' the vector art, but it might enhance the moon theme.

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That is certainly possible to do, but I might stick with horizontal or the coin might become too "puzzle cache"-y. But as JJG mentioned, I am likely breaking logo rules, as such a v3 may be in my future. Likely just freeing up space to give Dr Moon some credit. Wow this is turning out to be a very democratic coin!

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I love the front, and I like the moon font a lot. I hope you get an okay from Groundspeak because I like the design change you did to their logo. However, I know how logos go and I'm not going to hold my breath. :anicute:

 

Have you played around with different colors on the back? The red doesn't really reflect the moon theme at all and it seems a bit jarring. I don't have a good sense of how graphics translate to coins though, so maybe it'd look fine. ;)

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Minor update: I just heard back from Groundspeak and , as I expected, changing the logo is not allowed.

 

Changes:

1. I redesigned the back, pulling in themes from the front (star, black to represent darkness).

2. I added a N to the North star. This should help reinforce the quote (N star is a navigational device).

3. Tweaked the waves, to give the big dipper some more room.

4. Added history of moon type (might edge press this or remove all together...too hard to fit!).

 

Getting there!

 

moondippergeocoinv3.gif

Edited by Zelanzy
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Thanks everyone for the help, I'm speaking with 3 possible mints right now. Since this is my first I figure it wouldn't hurt to price a few different companies.

 

My last design issue is to figure out if I should include the text on the back explaining moon type. As of now it is too small, I could make it bigger and edit out some words but that takes away from my very simplistic first coin. Also I sort of like the cryptic nature of it without the explanation. But then I think about finding this in a cache, I would have NO idea to google "moon type" heh. So maybe I just change it to, "Text is in Moon Type". make it a larger font and call it a day!

 

2 thoughts, resized smaller too help. I still think I'm leaning towards super cryptic though.

moondippergeocoinv4.gif

Edited by Zelanzy
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Zelaney,

 

I really think all the changes you've made enhance the coin and strengthen the theme. I would leave off the information about moon type and just leave it cryptic - I'd like to think we are all really treasure hunters and secret seekers at heart. [:(]

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I've been playing around with a coin design for awhile and might take it to production. It's called Moon Dipper. I've been drawing the moon like this for quite some time and have been thinking it might make a decent coin. It also displays the Big Dipper, whose cup rim points to the North Star (at the top right). Trackable would go on face in upper left of sky or on back. The gray would be the metal. One run would use glow for the white/yellow of the stars and moon.

 

geocoin1.png

 

Looking for some feedback, is this a bit too simple or worth going forward on?

 

~Zelanzy

really cool. I love this design. :(:D:):):)

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Bummer that Groundspeak said no to the altered logo, I thought it looked so cute ;) I really like the GS colors with the red and the original font :D

 

Oh well, it'll still be great. Good luck with the project!

 

Edit to add: I will agree that the quote has been used a lot lately in coins... but it is a good one, certainly caching related!

Edited by ThirstyMick
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Bummer that Groundspeak said no to the altered logo, I thought it looked so cute ;) I really like the GS colors with the red and the original font :D

 

Oh well, it'll still be great. Good luck with the project!

 

Edit to add: I will agree that the quote has been used a lot lately in coins... but it is a good one, certainly caching related!

First off, thank you, and everyone else, for your feedback. I appreciate it all, and changed my design for the better, based on some of it. I have completely accepted the fact that this coin will not be liked by all since it is very inorganic, cartoony, and a bit...well...simplistic. The biggest reason for that is because it is how I draw, but I also wanted to create a simple, yet commercially appealing, first coin.

 

About the quote, I agree completely with what everyone said above. My spin on it is the cryptic text. The line is overused, but I'll admit right away that I'll never get tired of it! I love it when I see it on cache cards, coins and various other trackables. That said, I will not likely use it again on a coin.

 

About the original design. This started off as a personal coin. As such I used one of my favorite fonts and my favorite color, orange. I then came up with a much more personal geocoin design (WIP). As such I turned this coin into a non-personal. Black works a bit better as it relates to the theme of the coin. That said, I will be running some coins with a orange back (trading, placing into caches, maybe selling a few, giving some away to people that helped me, etc).

 

Carry on! Still waiting to hear back with quotes on minting costs.

 

I think you have a typo, don't you--You want "WANDER", not "WONDER"--or am I reading the moonfont wrong?

YIKES, fixing. Edited by Zelanzy
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I've selected a company to produce my coins. I'm leaning towards a 1.5" height. Initially I wanted to run it in 2", but the final charge would have be be like $11-12...which may be too high. The 1.5" coin puts it into the 8 dollar range...and I can run 300 vs 250! I get charged extra for under 100 runs, the 300 number lets me run 3 metals with few "extra" charges (just extras for glow and antiqueing).

 

Changes:

1. Big Dipper stars were overlaid on an actual photo of the big dipper to achieve more proper layout.

2. Changed the N within the North Star to moon type N.

3. "*moon type" added. (this could get removed in a mint revision, but for now I'll leave it)

4. "wonder" changed to "wander"

5. Yellow changed to white (since one version will be glow in the brightest white glow color, did not want mint to be confused and use the yellow glow color which glows less than the white glow color).

 

Final art:

moondippergeocoinv5.gif

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This is sort of off-topic, but interesting...

 

I happened to be looking at a map today, and it had all of the state flags on it. The flag for Alaska features the big dipper and the North Star, in a configuration like this coin shows. Hmmmm.

This coin gets better daily...and completely unintentionally! What is really interesting is that both my coin and this flag have the north star as the largest start, but the north star is actually a medium brightness star and almost all the BD stars are brighter than it.

http://www.50states.com/flag/akflag.htm

 

The reason the flag and my design has it in this proportion is because the north star is 5 "big dipper edge" lengths from the corner point of the big dipper. That is the trick I learned in scouts to always know where North is at night. The north star is hard to find due to its medium brightness, but the BD is always easy to find, helping you spot the N star. Draw a line down from N. Star, and BAM, you have found north at night, without the sun.

 

Note: The N star is also equally between the BD and Cassiopeia, but I couldn't fit all that!

 

pointers-UMa-Cass-Polaris.gif

Edited by Zelanzy
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V1 Artwork from mint.

 

Changes lined up for V2 artwork:

1. Confirm engrave plate is at least 3 x 12mm

2. Lighten blue waves

3. Tweak "Trackable" text to ensure it is equally between the metal edges.

 

6N-02221A01-1(Small).jpg

 

6 samples will be ordered:

1 Black Nickel, white moon

2 A. Silver, glow moon (expoxied)

3 Nickel, white moon, orange back (Artist Edition will have orange back, ala V1 of this coin)

4 Brass, white moon

5 Gold, glow moon (epoxied)

6 Hmm either A. Bronze, Copper or A. Copper. Leaning towards A. Bronze.

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Various Updates:

1. Samples ordered in Copper, Brass, Antique Silver, Nickel, Gold, Black Nickel. Artist edition will be antique silver no enamel. 2 glow samples ordered (gold/nickel w/epoxy), 1 AE sample ordered (antique silver no enamel), and copper with white moon/stars, black nickel with gray moon/stars, and brass with light yellow moon/stars.

 

2. I've been playing with e-commerce systems and recently picked CubeCart over osCommerce.

 

3. My site is being developed at: Hagglecoins.com : the art of zelanzy. Haggle with me...arrr. Note the waves in the coin image will be darker, I changed that without re-requesting new artwork.

 

4. Next project -- Tribal Sun -- has commenced. Artwork is 25% complete (sneak peak shown at above site on main page.

 

Thanks for following.

Edited by Zelanzy
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Various Updates:

1. Samples ordered in Copper, Brass, Antique Silver, Nickel, Gold, Black Nickel. Artist edition will be antique silver no enamel. 2 glow samples ordered (gold/nickel w/epoxy), 1 AE sample ordered (antique silver no enamel), and copper with white moon/stars, black nickel with gray moon/stars, and brass with light yellow moon/stars.

 

2. I've been playing with e-commerce systems and recently picked CubeCart over osCommerce.

 

3. My site is being developed at: Hagglecoins.com : the art of zelanzy. Haggle with me...arrr. Note the waves in the coin image will be darker, I changed that without re-requesting new artwork.

 

4. Next project -- Tribal Sun -- has commenced. Artwork is 25% complete (sneak peak shown at above site on main page.

 

Thanks for following.

Awsome coin can i get one some where

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It is not yet available. I am not doing a presale or reservations. When I have the coins in hand i will give a few days heads up and then post them at my site. The pricepoint will be around 8 bux (a touch more for the glow one).

Edited by Zelanzy
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Pics from Mint.

 

Top left and across: Brass with yellow moon (pms 461), Nickel with glow moon, black nickel with light gray moon,

Bottom left and across: Copper with white moon, gold with glow moon, Antique silver with no enamel.

6N-02221S01_F.jpg

 

Back of the Nickel coin.

6N-02221S01_B.jpg

 

Strangely, I really like the all metal one...that was just a test.

 

Feel free to weigh in on which color combinations you prefer!

Edited by Zelanzy
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Very, very nice! : )

 

I love the glow with gold. I'm a sucker for black & gold color combinations and I like that particular glow color because of its paleness. But all of them turned out great!

Ditto what Jackalgirl said. I usually prefer gold or copper, and I love glow in the dark coins. :laughing: They look cool! Can't wait for it to be ready for sale.

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Pics from Mint.

 

Top left and across: Brass with yellow moon (pms 461), Nickel with glow moon, black nickel with light gray moon,

Bottom left and across: Copper with white moon, gold with glow moon, Antique silver with no enamel.

6N-02221S01_F.jpg

 

Back of the Nickel coin.

6N-02221S01_B.jpg

 

Strangely, I really like the all metal one...that was just a test.

 

Feel free to weigh in on which color combinations you prefer!

I see a lot of coin announcements in here, and most of the have really beautiful coins. That being said, I hardly ever buy any. This is a Coin which I might just have to get my hands on. As folks can maybe tell from some of my designs, I tend to be attracted to the simpler designs. Great job.

 

I think I like the copper, and the antique silver best. The back is especially nice with no color(but maybe color for the stars). I'm not sure if that would look good in a polished metal though(probably not)

 

Great job!! If I don't get my hands on one, it will be on my wishlist!!

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Thanks for the responses, they have been most helpful. Also I learned from the mint that the center ones (glow) do not have epoxy yet, so will be a touch different. I'm planning to run 3 regular editions (about 70 ea) and 2 zz's in a more limited number. I call upon puzzle cache lovers to find out what zz means :laughing:

Edited by Zelanzy
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I just received 4 non-glow sample coins, the other 2 are getting epoxy and will be sent later. I finally figured out what I don't like about the copper...white moon and copper = eww. I'm changing that to Warm Gray 3...I was inspired by this image...and I realize the object is very ugly, but the colors are great! White and copper :(, gray and copper :D. Its a very subtle change, but one that makes me a bit happier with that metal.

 

The AS one is much cooler in person, I was going to run that one as a limited edition, but might change my mind.

 

So leaning towards these for the regular editions (RE):

Antique Silver with no enamel. Run of 70.

Copper with Warm Gray 3 Moon and White stars. Run of 70

Gold with Glow Moon and Glow stars (coated with epoxy to protect glow finish). Run of 70

 

the zz (zelanzy zedition) will be:

black nickel, i will release the colors on the sale date (website has teaser, see set of 3.33) it will be available in a set only (the 3 above + this). run of...a few...it will not likely be commerically appealing...:D

Edited by Zelanzy
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