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)

33332

You know from our conversation the other night how excited I was about the set. Even more excited about seeing it starting to develop from that conversation. When I get to a computer I will comment about which ones I like. Gonna be a sick set.

Definitely. For everyone else's info, I played at jz's game last Friday when I was in town and we discussed the set alot. Much of his input is reflected in the above.

Awesome thread! I'm excited to see this progress. The idea behind the set is well thought out and these always produce the best sets IMHO.

For the chips I like:
.05/ #3
.25/ #3
$1/ #2
$5/ #2
$25/ #2

Are you going to use the A mold? What about the MD-50?

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Loving the designs

Here's an alternate for the Cubs chip. The problem with number 3 above is that when stacked, there's not enough of the cubby blue showing through. This mockup still achieves the same white/red but with a skinnier spot so there's more blue on the stack.

Where's the option to vote on putting the image of Mayor Daley on the chips?

5c-#3
25c-#1
$1-#3
$5-#3
$25-#2

Great idea excited to see how this set turns out.

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Honestly not a huge fan of any of the Blackhawks options, but #2 is the best of a bad group, imo. Too much emphasis on green in that chip. Green is a minor colour in the Hawks colours, which I would characterize as Red, White, Black, and Gold. I LOVE the idea behind the set, though. Inspired.


Would love to see the Hawks chips as a Red, with black/white, spots.

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Have fun. Have had my asms about a year and love em!

I go back and forth every now and then on the blackhawks chip. It's changed the least since initially created, but the other day I mocked up a couple of the below with a red-white-black design.







I like how these look, but the reasoning behind the yellow+green was that I absolutely love the yellow and green in the cross hatchet logo. I tried to add orange to the chips when I first was messing around with them and it just didn't look good on any orientation of edge spots.

Looks like the Bulls now

Lol yeah that's what I thought too.

Okay, I can see the Bulls reference. Still prefer the "Bulls/Hawks" version to the original, myself. There is an edgespot that is 4 x 3 "fingers". If you could do the red chip with black/green/gold, it might work. thinking of the Empress Casino hundo chip's spot pattern.

The chiptalk chip thing doesn't have a 4x3 of this. Not sure what I think about the white/black/gold, I changed it from black/white/gold because the yellow didn't stand out enough when next to the white.

Try it with green instead of white . . . I am liking where this is going.

The other greens look ass-ugly so I didn't post them.

Yyyyyyyeeeeeeeessssssssssss . . . . #1. If the inlay has a white background it will be unmistakably HAWKS.

Hell, if my WIFE can pick out the Blackhawks motif, it HAS to be a winner.

nobody else likes the revision?

I'm still undecided on the blackhawks chip... can't seem to commit to one. Good thing I'm not putting in the order until probably after x-mas =/

Yes, its actually much better. Looking good.

Okay, so it isn't just me. Hell, Breich, if you do not use it, I might.

Im from the chicago area and I must say this is an absolutely SICK set.... cant wait to see the finished product!

3 1 3 2 2 I'd say. Great idea and cool chip designs. I was thinking about doing the same thing with the sports team colors in the SF bay area. Can't wait to see the final product!