Bottom line up front - take a look at the chip designs below and tell me which one you think best represents the corresponding image. Just comment with the number (1-3 or 4) of the denom + mockup you like the most, for simplicity's sake. Note that for the chip mockups, they can generally have the same style but with a different number of spots (i.e. chip #3 of the $5 could be a quad spot instead of a tri). I have ideas for an inlay which I'll be mocking up in photoshop soon (and subsequently posting).
tl;dr:
I have wanted to design my own set of chips for a long time. In the last few days, I started some work on my ideas. Here's a background on the concept of the chips:
As the title reads, I intend for my 'poker room' to be called the Windy City Bar & Poker Room. As a Chicago native for most of my life, I have a good bit of nostalgia for the city and the suburbs I grew up in. Every time I am away from the city, that nostalgia grows. I'm currently in the Army as a cadet and go to school in New York; in one year, I will graduate and commission as a second lieutenant. After my commissioning, I will be moving around the country and/or world a lot.
This is where the idea for a Chicago-themed chipset came into play. I want something that reminds me of home and that would be specific to me--especially when I'm working somewhere well away from Illinois and the midwest (short of Missouri there aren't any Army posts in the midwest).
While the chipset would be named something Chicago-like, the chips needed to have some sort of resemblance to Chicagoland also. I bounced a few ideas around (and still am) and I wanted the majority of the chip denoms to revolve around the major Chicago sports teams that I am a fan of. These were pretty easy for the blue $1 (Cubs) and the red $5 (Blackhawks). The remaining chips I intend to make--$.05, $.25, $25--do not have colors that necessarily resemble a team, and thus I have to improvise.
So far, here's where I am at for the chip denoms + designs for each.
5c - Portillo's Hotdogs
Background - I absolutely love Portillo's. Not only do they (obviously) have hotdogs, but they have absolutely amazing Italian beef and chocolate cake. For those visiting jz's for HPI, be sure you eat lots from here. Everytime I visit home I make a special stop.
At first, I was not sure how I would represent Portillo's on a chip, but after a google search I realized that the bag was perfect for a chip. I narrowed down to the following mockups:
25c - Chicago Bears
While they perpetually suck year after year, I was compelled to mockup a chip representing the Bears. I really like the navy blue chip below, but because the Cubs $1 is an absolute must, there's not enough distinction between a dark blue and a blue chip. However, I still have it below to see what you all think.
$1 - Chicago Cubs
The Cubs have a special place in my heart. Wrigley Field is an awesome place for a baseball game and the Cubs are a team that have always been in my family. My mother grew up in a small town in central Illinois. Her family were such die-hard Cubs fans that she grew up legitimately thinking that the Chicago White Sox were a minor-league team. It wasn't until she met my father (a Sox fan) that she realized they were a major-league team.
$5 - Chicago Blackhawks
I've loved the Blackhawks since I was a little kid. While I never once have played hockey on ice skates, I have always wanted to play since I was little. Blackhawks hockey around playoff time is awesome to watch, and it was great to see them win the Stanley Cup a couple of years ago.
(Picture I snapped at the parade downtown after they won.)
$25 - Generic/Army
This chip does not have any particular resemblance to Chicago (and I can't really think of one). I instead decided to go with a typical casino-style $25--the pink + light green is one I absolutely love. However, I am also toying with the idea of having the green chip represent my Army service and design it around ACUs (Army Combat Uniform). Tell me what you think about a couple of the mockups attempting to represent this.
(that's me)
Last edited by Schmendr1ck; 06-11-2013 at 05:50 PM.
Reason: Changed title at OP's request