Want to learn how to design a coin

[+Yuma4]

I have been geocaching for a year or two now and I love finding geocoins. I have always wanted to be that guy that could create a image to send to a printer but lack skills or the knowledge of where to start. I have an idea to create a geocoin for a dog of mine that just passed but have no idea of where to begin to learn how to create a sketch/design to send to a manufacturer.

 

I guess my question is:

 

1. What do you use to create a coin design? Draw on paper, cpu program (wich one), etc.

2. Does anyone have any links to places where one can self teach or learn to create images, graphics,etc.

3. How did you get started?

 

Thank you for any advice.

[+yanagi]

I think it would be a good idea to read the book from Chris Mackey (fox-and-the-hound): "Discovered: Memoires of a Geocoin Designer". He describes designing is first geocoins. You find the thread about that book here link to thread. When you googel for that book you still find shops who buy it.

[+T.D.M.22]

I can't speak for other companies, but if you go with Landsharkz, you can give them a perfect design ready to get made, or you can give them an idea of what you want, and they'll help get it to the finished product. I have seen their geocoins and some coins made for the CF stationed overseas- you can do almost anything you can think of.

[+nevadanick]

I have limited artistic ability and after I did preliminary research on coin designing ... I made a FIRM decision that at the very least our FIRST coin artwork would be handled by a qualified coin designer.

 

After seeing what art and instructions need to be provided to whatever mint you might choose, there is NO WAY I would pit myself against a mint. The choices of colors and metals alone are mind-boggling imo. Not to mention the benefits of having someone who is paid to relate past experience and problems and recommend solutions if you use a professional designer. There are quite a number of good ones out there and several contribute and post right here in the coin forum.

 

The book that Yanagi mentioned above is a good start, but I would think it would only provide more evidence that you might really want to consider paying someone to take that responsibility until you have at least one or more 'successful' coins behind you. The cost of a pro is SIGNIFICANTLY less than the cost of a box of finished coins you really do not like. By then, it's too late.

 

I know ... hiring someone might take the 'fun' out of doing it yourself, but watching the progress of coins and design when such details are posted here in the forum, I decided paying a pro would be well worth it. Never having produced a coin, I suggest it falls into the category of ... "a man who represents himself as his own attorney has a fool for a client". Pay the small fee ... it's worth the peace of mind. But that's just me ... and I've always been a strong believer in DIY projects ... but not THIS one.

[+fox-and-the-hound]

Good morning jakeyuma and thank you to the cachers above who mentioned working with a pro (not just me, but ANY pro - btw, I like Landsharz, too). There are a lot of advantages of working with a pro and I stress "working with" because in most cases you really will be an integral part of creating the design from beginning to end. You will need to work hand in hand to make your vision come alive. Some can even work with you online in real-time to make your idea come alive!

 

If you want to tackle it yourself or even just get the basic design composed yourself, you would definitely benefit from some software that uses layering techniques for composing images. I prefer Adobe Photoshop myself and you can rent it now from Adobe rather than buying it outright. Many people use Gimp (which is free to download) and works similarly. Some sort of compositioning software is going to help tremendously because the mint will need to receive your artwork by email in most cases so either start there or just work by hand and scan it to send out. There are other advantages like being able to back up and undo something you decided you don't like after all (I do this A LOT!!!! lol)

 

Whichever way you go you'll need to contact a producer to help you deal with the mint. You can tackle this part on your own, but I wouldn't recommend it and after 8 years of doing this I still don't tackle it myself. Dealing with translation barriers, tariffs, import fees, storage, freight, inspections, etc. are just the tip of the iceberg. **shudder**

 

But before we dissuade you from pursuing your dream, I have a couple very basic bits of advice for someone wanting to tackle a new design. First, think really hard about what absolutely must be in your design. Don't just fill up a space. Make every element count and be an integral part of the story you tell. Second, be inspired by the coins already out there. Pick out the ones that appeal to you most and compare them. They could be about all kinds of subjects, but what are the things about these particular coins that really excite you? I do this still and constantly find new techniques I never considered or new ways of tackling an old idea that are just brilliant. See how these techniques might add to your coin design or enhance your idea.

 

You can even share your concepts here for feedback. I've seen designs evolve from just a basic idea to finished concept ready for the mint in just a couple of pages of input. It's really a great resource to have other people excited about your ideas right from the start

[+The Lambs @ 9]

At NE Geocaching Supplies we use both Serifdraw Plus X7 and CorelDraw X6 to design our Geocoins. Having worked with both these programs I think Serif is better as they seemed to have "cherry picked" the best from Corel and added to it, but most commercial companies and this includes laser and die machines manufactures used Corel based packages (similar to the PC - Apple situation). Both these programs although complicated are easy to learn. I would however advise that if you wish to produce a Geocoin that you approach one of the already established companies. I not try to promote us (or any one else either) but the process of producing a coin and choosing the correct materials is not an easy route to take. Most coins are minted in the Far East, we do however mint our new GS Trackable Trolley Tags in the UK. Minting coins as a "lone" operation is not a easy route, but it can be done and good luck to you if you travel this path but expect it to take 6 months if your starting from afresh. Ooh and expect to outlay £800 ish ($600 to $1000) if go down this route.

 

NE Geocaching Suppies Geocoin Production

[+Yuma4]

At NE Geocaching Supplies we use both Serifdraw Plus X7 and CorelDraw X6 to design our Geocoins. Having worked with both these programs I think Serif is better as they seemed to have "cherry picked" the best from Corel and added to it, but most commercial companies and this includes laser and die machines manufactures used Corel based packages (similar to the PC - Apple situation). Both these programs although complicated are easy to learn. I would however advise that if you wish to produce a Geocoin that you approach one of the already established companies. I not try to promote us (or any one else either) but the process of producing a coin and choosing the correct materials is not an easy route to take. Most coins are minted in the Far East, we do however mint our new GS Trackable Trolley Tags in the UK. Minting coins as a "lone" operation is not a easy route, but it can be done and good luck to you if you travel this path but expect it to take 6 months if your starting from afresh. Ooh and expect to outlay £800 ish ($600 to $1000) if go down this route.

 

NE Geocaching Suppies Geocoin Production

 

Thanks for all the advice. I have a lot to research. I am more specifically trying to learn how to create an original image to send to a coin maker. IE draft the image or take a pic say my dog pic and modify it so it will fit as a coin and add text/3d etc to make it appear nice.

[+tsunrisebey]

Mackey sure is wordy when he posts

 

1: You can draw your coin on pencil and paper, I am the queen of that technique

 

2/3: Pick a vendor to help you with your first coin to get it minted. They will work with you on everything you need to get your coin brought to life.

 

tsun

[GregsonVaux]

I used a vendor for my first designs, because there was so much to learn. The vendors do not cost that much more and they really make the design process easy. However, once you have a few coins under your belt, dealing with the mint is not difficult at all. I find the Chinese women that I deal with to be very charming and they speak English well enough.The best thing about dealing directly with the mint in China is that the design goes through fewer hands so there are fewer misunderstandings.

 

For my software, I use CorelDraw. I find that vector graphics are well suited for coin design. However, I have never used Photoshop, so maybe it works just as well or even better. I will say that after using a number of different types of software, I realized that you really do need to go with the best (either Photoshop or CorelDraw). The free software and the cheap software just makes your life miserable because they really don't work as well. Even more importantly, you want to use software that other people can open easily.

 

I started out wanting to make just one coin, but the addiction of coin design hit me and now I have an entire room of my house dedicated to coin design and sales. I find selling to be the harder part and wish that I could spend more time just designing.

[+wellner]

Late answer, but anyway...

 

I use a free vector based program called Inkscape. When I have to manipulate bitmaps (photos) I use Gimp, which is also a free program. Free as in free to download and use, no starting cost for you. A vector based program can seem a bit owerwhelming when you start it the first time. There are many good tutorials on the net, and even video tutorials on Youtube. The thing I like with the vector based program is that it is like working with a pencil rather than manipulating photos. You can move and alter the lines you draw unlike a drawing on a paper. You can also open/import photos and trace contours and so.

 

The communication skills of your counterpart is almost more important than the price when you choose to go directly to a chinese mint. Sometiimes it is very hard to make them understand what you want.

 

/Fredrik

[+fox-and-the-hound]

Inkscape is new to me, but looking it over reveals it is very close to AI and Corel in function and the results are impressive! Thanks Wellner for the info. You can find more here: http://www.inkscape.org/en/ and they have a pretty easy to follow tutorial, too.