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One can dream can't they?

Thanks for the feedback though... just FYI, I paid $5/each box... so $10/box isn't too much more, especially if it looked good.

I was putting a couple Christmas gifts together last night and thought "I should promote the Poker Chips more often".

Awesome Gift idea if you have any friend or loved one who likes to play Poker!
(I bought the Dice from Chessex and the 100 Set Wood Box is all over the web at $15 - $20)

http://www.abcgiftsandawards.com/ornatepokerchips.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

thanks, Randy

It's way too early to start a new thread for this, but I thought I would use the Official Midnight thread as a place to post updates on a Deck I'm just getting started on - the Fabergé Deck. The Courts (and Back Design) will feature different Eggs inspired by Fabergé Eggs, most notably the Imperial Eggs. This is a screenshot of the first egg model in Lightwave 3d. I'll probably fine-tune it some more or add some more embellishments, but it's a good starting point and helped to nail down some of the 3d Modeling techniques I want to use throughout. It still needs surfaces to give it the shiny metallic and glossy enamel look associated with Fabergé.

I'll update here and my Facebook page a new image once a week to show the progress.

thanks, Randy

Very Nice, I will keep an eye on this one.

Here's the 1st Egg on its own.

thanks, Randy

Here's a couple fun side-by-side comparisons showing the original 3d Renders and the final Photoshop composites. The Egg isn't a huge difference, but the ORNATE Joker's involved a lot of cleanup and added details!

thanks, Randy

Whoa what an egg !! looks incredible, but how are these gonna translated into cards?? as the front or the back?

volantangel wrote:Whoa what an egg !! looks incredible, but how are these gonna translated into cards?? as the front or the back?

I have it all planned out in my head (and sketches). Hopefully they'll turn out as cool as I think they will. I will post finished cards once I get to the Designing stage.

thanks, Randy

This week's Faberge Deck post - the Egg for the Queen of Spades!
Each court card will have 2 copies of their Egg (to make them symetrical), plus a few other design elements.

thanks, Randy

Ohhhhhhhhh, I get what theme you're going for now... very nice... that's a lot of work though...

Here's the first finished Court Card for the Fabergé Deck - the Queen of Spades!

thanks, Randy

Very... different. At first glance, I didn't really like it, but the more I look at it, the more I like it! Lots of detail and I really like the pips.

i like it.

the suits and ranks seem wide/big?

I also like it more and more as I keep looking at it.

Though the indices seem unnecessarily big, fans won't look good.

Size adjustments aside I think these look wicked awesome. Great idea with the Russian eggs. New direction from anything I have seen. I hope you go forth and multiply these decks.

Thanks for the responses so far!

I figured the large corner items might cause a few criticisms. The other PIPS will have the rounded-corner, squatty look like the spade. I was going for a shiny enamel button feel, and like how they turned out. I went with the large Indices and PIPS in the corner to counteract the fact that the courts will not have the usual 4 PIPS found on most standard courts. When printed to scale they are actually smaller than the large PIPS on standard courts and number cards. I'll be going opposite with the number cards - large Indices and PIPS in the corners and small PIPS in the center. The smaller center PIPS won't have the diagonal 'etch' lines in the suit shapes. I think the line widths would be too small to print correctly with the smaller suits.

The Face Card fans may be less impressive with this look, but I'll make sure the Back Design will produce some badass fans!

Thanks, Randy

I Wasn't sure on these, but seeing the completed queen card I've got to say that I'm now definitely interested in this deck.

Thanks Modi!

Here's a look at the PIPs for the Fabergé Deck.

thanks, Randy

See, these you could sell as pins, and they'd look really sharp. I think you've done a nice job of hitting that enamelled look, they're really nice.

neongrey wrote:See, these you could sell as pins, and they'd look really sharp. I think you've done a nice job of hitting that enamelled look, they're really nice.

That's a great idea for an accessory!

Like the pips, although I am curious how the orange on the Heart and Diamond will look.

@neongrey - Enamel Pins could be a cool element.
I think the manufacturing would be pretty costly though.

Here's the first set of Number Cards. Flushes should be no problem to spot!

thanks, Randy

There's something about the orientation of those pips that bother me somewhat...

Could you make one where the rows of pips are alternating in direction, just to see? It might be better, but I won't know until I see it.

Like this (supposed to be hearts):

. . . V
. .A A
. .V V
A A
V V
A

If that makes any sense

Yeah, I have no idea as to the cost/feasibility of that, which is kind of a shame. Oh well, at least they look good enough to pass for it.

Looking good Randy! Can't wait to see more...

MagikFingerz wrote:There's something about the orientation of those pips that bother me somewhat...

Could you make one where the rows of pips are alternating in direction, just to see? It might be better, but I won't know until I see it.

Like this (supposed to be hearts):

. . . V
. .A A
. .V V
A A
V V
A

If that makes any sense

Hey MagikFingerz,

I thought I'd try out your idea. I went in thinking I would hate it, but thought the first one looked pretty good and then went ahead with all of the 10s for a new B version. I'll be focusing on the Back Card and other Courts next, so I'll have plenty of time to decide which orientation version to go with for the rest of the Number cards during that time. The original version has the Suits' orientation symmetrical from the Top and Bottom. The new B "Magik" version has the Suits' orientation as more of an organic symmetrical mix. I think the way some of the other finished Courts look will help decide which direction to go. Thanks for the input!! Either way, I see a freebie Deck or 2 coming your way in the future.

thanks, Randy

Happy to help

I still can't decide which one I like better though. Maybe just reversing what you did originally would work too (the top ones being the "right" way).

Hey randy,

Are the backgrounds of the cards going to be white? I think the way you did it with the ornates really made it stand out from the rest of the decks, perhaps you can also try your original pip placement but flipped so that all the pips on the top half of the cards are facing upwards, and the bottom half downwards, instead of downwards as per your original design, I know it's going to be plain and normal, but my brain hurts from trying to flip the pips lol

Edit- dang fingerz you beat me to the comment lol

Thanks guys! Flipping the Suits' vertical orientation on the original version will most likely be the way to go. That would give the Number Suits layout the same angle AND orientation as the Eggs on the Courts. I'll check it out tomorrow night and see how they look.

Yep, the Faberge Deck will be a white background Deck. I would hope the Eggs, PIPs, Back Design and other design elements would help it stand out. Part of the fun of doing custom Decks is to change it up with each one.

Plus, I spent most of tonight prepping the New ORNATE files for print!

Thanks, Randy

That's gre... wait, what?



"New ORNATE files"???