I think the rework looks awesome! Here's my suggestion for the other detailing:
Since the two main colors for PAX are Blue for prime and Red for east, why not do a one color fill on the Gabe/Tycho side in the PAX color for that pressing? In other words, the raised areas in the design would stay metal, and the other areas would be either Red or Blue, depending on the location.
As for the edges and reverse, would it be more trouble than it's worth to have the PAX dates and location on the edge? Like going around the coin it would read "PAX PRIME 2010 - September 3-5, 2010 - Seattle"? Then the PAX logo side could stay plain, cuz I have to admit, I really like the simpleness of the design.
Anyway, great job Willeth and iscribble!
I like both of those ideas: the alternating color background and the dates around the outside. I approve.
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Also, note that we don't really have to come up with an exact coin. Just need a decent idea for what to put on it. For example: I could probably take Willeth's original submission, send it to a company and have them spruce it up with more coiny details.
No, we'll need to nail it a bit more than that. They might alter text to make it stamp better or take out lines that are too thin, but they'll not add design elements entirely.
If I have a spare few hours tonight I'll knock out another iteration.
EDIT: And I'm thinking that if we're having a unified coin then there's no need for the city names at all.
Willeth on
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I'm in for a small ($10-$20) donation to make sure these coins get made. Of course, I want one, and on that note, I thought I'd throw out a semi-clarified idea for distribution.
Since these must be given away, and are likely to be distributed by one person, it makes sense to me that that person's coin distrubution schedule be posted solely in this thread. Certainly, onlookers at any location will be interested, but if all of us who are on board at this point are in the know on where to be to get a coin, it will simplify things greatly. Ideally, each time and place for coin distribution would have a set limit of coins to be given away, so as to work into the maximum number of people's schedules, and ensure that coins are not gone in the first minute/day of PAX. Also, a limit on number of coins given away to any one person at any one coin distribution point makes sense to me. I personally would only want one, perhaps two if I'm picking one up for a friend, and think that a low number (below 5) makes the most sense.
That's the best idea I came up with while reading, and certainly is open to discussion. I'd also like to point out that if, by some circumstance, I did not get a coin, I would not be terribly upset. I see this as a donation to the community, which is what PAX is all about. Reasonably, however, the people involved in getting these coins made should have all the necessary information to get their hands on one, should they so choose.
Furthermore, I LOVE Willeth's design.
EDIT: Should we run with some semblance of that idea, I will happily volunteer to run a distribution session so that all the load does not fall on one person. Obviously that would need to be coordinated with the person who is placing the order via PM, but I just want to put my hat in the ring.
I think to keep it fair, no one should be given more than 2 coins at any given distribution session. If you need to collect for more than one other person, put in the effort to find the guy twice. Make it a CHALLENGE to get several. :P
Okay, so looking at the current proposed designs, they are indeed rather simple.
Is anyone here familiar with common conventions in challenge coin design, or whether any exist as they do in heraldry? If so, if someone were to point me toward such rules, I would be willing to research and investigate other possible elements that we may include on a proper challenge coin. At the very least, we should come up with a motto to wrap around the edge of the coin. Bonus points for anyone who comes up with a Latin translation.
Shit, I actually know someone who speaks Latin really well. I can't remember who this is right now. Dammit, I'll find that out.
EDIT: I put the call out on Twitter. Apparently I know like four people who either teach Latin or who studied it for years.
I'm getting differing opinions. I like "numquam mentula es," which is 'never be a dick'. Apparently the inflection of that might be off, though - the corrected version I was given is "mentula non es", which while might be more correct doesn't quite strike the same authoritative tone I'm looking for. I'm still waiting on the Latin teacher's take. In the mean time I'm working on a more coiny version.
EDIT:
I can't decide what I'd prefer for the back - it's either white recessed, grey flat, black raised, or grey flat, white slightly raised, black fully raised. What do you guys think?
EDIT: I'm also toying with finding a newer drawing of Gabe and Tycho. While it's definitely classic PA, it's not entirely indicative of how Mike draws them today.
EDIT: I took the image that Mike posted on Monday and drew this up. Any feedback?
EDIT: An alternate:
I like the Pac-Man detail on this one. I think I might put this on the final design, but I don't know if I'm too keen on the English motto.
EDIT: Also, looking at getting these paid for once we decide on a final design (do we even want colour? I've been working on the assumption that we don't, but we probably need a poll on that), and looking at Khoo's comments, I'm wondering if something like this would work:
Would a sort of preorder system work? Something through ChipIn? It's a service that tracks donations. You give it a PayPal address, you can set a cap on it, and I think you can set it so that once the cap is reached no more donations can be made. You can also include a note in your donation.
Say we want 100 2" coins from Coins for Anything. The site says $2.80 each. If you want one, donate $2.80. If you want to donate more, go ahead. (I realise that this is essentially a purchase, but there's a difference between this and one of us acting as a vendor for something with the PA logo on it, which is what I believe Khoo is against.) Once we hit the target, we look at the run that we'll do, guarantee a coin for everyone who donated through the widget, and then any amount of coins that are left over get put onto a first-come first-served list and are given out.
In summary:
1. We gauge interest in who would like a coin with a poll somewhere.
2. We see how much that would be to run, and set up a ChipIn widget for that amount. Anyone can donate and include their name with it.
3. We hit that amount, and make a list of everyone who donated.
4. We make a list. Anyone who donated is automatically on it. We fill out the rest of that list with anyone who previously registered interest. The few left over go up for grabs.
How comfortable is everyone with this? Does it fit in with Khoo's ethics and practices that he posted? If enough people agree and if he doesn't see it, I'll take it to him, but shoot me down ahead of time if there's a better way.
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The latin at the top is good. The pac-man chips on the side are also very clever as a substitute for stars. I'm not sure I sit well with the English at the bottom either, at least not as a repeat of the Latin above it. Perhaps a sub-motto in the vain of "service before self", but with a gaming/PAX slant. If this were 2006, for instance, it might be "All Hail Ball."
Honestly I'm going to err on the side of IP safety and say that we should probably go with an original design, not use anything that PA owns, including Mike's art. Having viewed many challenge coins after diving into this discussion, I think something more appropriate/traditional can be arrived upon for a design. I'm not big on graphic artistry (no wacom or nothin'), but I'll see if I can't come up with some ideas and some concept art. I encourage others to submit their ideas as well. Be back later.
EDIT: First idea: As a background, consider a crowd of attendees holding their DSes above their heads as we do at the concerts (or perhaps just a couple attendees doing this, or simply two hands from the elbow up holding up DSes). Not sure if this is very doable considering the fine detailing that would be involved, but something to consider nonetheless.
Eh, without Mike's art is doesn't really say Penny Arcade, to me. Given that the coin is going to be vetted with the crew before minting I don't see any problem with drawing up these drafts. Of course if Mike doesn't want it doing then we won't do it, but I for one really like the idea of having Gabe and Tycho on the coin.
As to the motto, how about "Welcome Home" for the bottom of the coin? That's always resonated with me.
EDIT: And I'm wondering about the back. Maybe making the PA logo smaller against a silhouette of either a D20 or the wombat.
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Replace "Defenders of the Sky" with something like "Hold 'em High", "United States Air Force" with "PAX PRIME 2010". Replace the USAF coat of arms with a single hand holding up a DS. Replace the stars with pac-man and dots, and have the year as Roman numeral MMX.
This would not replace the numquam mentula es side of the coin. This would be the flip side.
And yes, I like the "Welcome Home" bit too. That would be a good replacement for the English at the bottom there.
That is a very nice coin and something I'd hope to emulate. I need to be mindful not to clutter the PA one too much - the open space works well.
I really like the icon of a hand holding up a DS, but it's very PAX-specific, and that's a bit of a problem with 'welcome home' as well. Why not just 'Penny Arcade'?
I think we were hoping this would be a surprise for Mike and Jerry but I also kind of want their signature Gabriel and (CW)TB on the back of this, too. What do you guys think of that? I know it's not official and very much a community thing, but it's also something that feels very much a PA icon to me, as well.
If I'm running away with this a bit, rein me in. I just had a sudden burst of ideas and I really want these things to get made, now.
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I understand your enthusiasm. Enthusiasm composes approximately 94% of the Community DVD effort. :-D
I suppose our lines of thought on this are slightly divergent: I was thinking this to be very PAX-specific, while you are leaning more toward a general Penny Arcade design. Let's make that the poll question. "We are making challenge coins. Should the design be more evocative of PAX or Penny Arcade?" I would lean toward PAX because it's more like a unit. Challenge coins are often made with the "unit" in mind, not the entire army. Therefore, we would make PAX (our unit) coins as opposed to army (Penny Arcade) coins.
As for the Gabe and Tycho signature... That might be taking things a little too far. Besides, what the heck would Mike and Jerry get for their challenge coins if we take that design for ourselves? That would be akin to everyone having an army chief of staff coin. At least that's my take.
See, I see Penny Arcade as the unit and gamers as the army. I see a future where someone walks into a bar and someone slaps down a coin with Ethan and Lucas on it, and we reach into our pouch and exclaim 'oh, it's ON, bitch.'
EDIT: For the signatures, I'm thinking tiny representations on the back, not as a main feature. Similar to how they're engraved on the limited-edition prints.
EDIT: Another motto idea: "In Wang We Trust".
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Clearly, we are of different minds on the subject.
Let's make two designs: A Penny Arcade design, and a PAX design. I submit my idea above for the PAX design. If anyone else wants to submit a competing design, by all means, go ahead. Whoever wants to make a Penny Arcade design, go with that. Let's agree on a short period of time by which point designs must be posted in this thread. Once that time is reached, we will vote on designs. Once a single PAX and single Penny Arcade design is agreed upon, a poll would then be posted (which would get more feedback than people posting in the thread, since it is easier to click a radio button) asking whether we should make the Penny Arcade or PAX design.
This is my proposal. I submit it in the spirit of fairness and gentlemanly compromise. Feel free to make your own suggestion on how to proceed.
My reasoning behind this is more to do with PAX being a transient thing. PAX comes and goes, but the reason I enjoy PAX is because it's an emblem of Penny Arcade as a whole, and that's what I identify with, not the emblem. Given that these are permanent and will be pretty special once the community decides what the final thing will be, it feels more appropriate to me to have something representing what underscores it rather than the event itself.
PAX is an opportunity for us to meet up and celebrate our community, and in itself is worth commemorating and remembering - but they're moments to remember rather than constants, and the buttons and cards and so forth do that well. What's worth celebrating is the community, what Penny Arcade as a whole does and is and what it means to be even part of that. PAX is a celebration of that community, and I think that due to how permanent these coins are that they should represent why we go to PAX, not PAX itself.
It's probably obvious that I have very strong feelings about Penny Arcade and this community, and I know PAX means something different to everyone who goes. But in my mind, having something as solid and permanent as a challenge coin doesn't gel with the idea of the two weeks a year where we all hang out. It's bigger than that.
Willeth on
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I'm a relative newcomer to both the forums and this thread. That said, I believe that PAX is a wholly separate thing to Penny Arcade.
I appreciate Mike and Jerry's dedication to the community, but I'm not always a fan of the comic. There are many who go to PAX who don't read the comic at all. In my opinion, PAX is for gamers - not just those who read Penny Arcade.
I like this one. Maybe just have the latin spread out across the top half and the dots along the bottom half with pacman in the middle. But I think we should go for color to make it stand out a little bit.
As far as a Penny Arcade coin vs a PAX coin, I'm sure we could find enough supporters in either camp to donate money. I myself am leaning towards a Penny Arcade coin. But we shall see.
I went on a bit of a limb for the front of this one, and I'm not sure it works - I prefer the characters better - but the edge is definitely getting close to final, I think.
What can we agree on between the PAX and PA ideas? Is the outer ring it?
EDIT: There's also Kiko's shirt design here to bounce around. I don't want to use it verbatim but it's something we can use as a style guide for something crest-like.
EDIT: This is the combination of all of them that I like the most. I've coloured it (although the colours are subject to change from eyedropping the actual ones from the source), and tried to emulate the proof of the Navy one that was posted on the first page.
EDIT: It could probably do with some white in the eyes and teeth and leave the metal for just the outlines. I'll do that once I've had a nap.
Willeth on
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Personally I don't think "In Wang We Trust" is very classy or clever. "Don't be a dick" isn't very classy, but we were able to dress it up as such. Makes for a good inside joke. As for the colors and the big pac-man, the colors are honestly something I wouldn't want to have on a coin, and the big pac-man is redundant. The little pac-mans are relatively unassuming, and are thus probably better.
But then my tastes tend toward military-like designs as evidenced by my suggestions above.
Yeah, the symbols idea was one that didn't really pan out. I was against colour at first as well, but as evidenced on the first page, they can turn out really well.
I hear you on the wang line but I think it's the snappiest we've had so far. I'm open to other suggestions but I definitely want something at the bottom so it's not so top-heavy.
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I'm not too keen on 'In Wang We Trust' being at the bottom of the coin. It might just be the size of the font but it seems kind of awkward when put together with "numquam mentula es" up top. 'welcome home' feels a lot more PAX-appropriate, and i think repetition of the dick joke would kind of be a
As for Jerry and Mike's signatures on the coin, I kind of feel it wouldn't be right for a PAX coin to feature their markings. It kind of marks the coin as a product that they created and while admittedly, they did take part in PAX's creation, the coin itself is a creation of this community, and I kind of feel that the coin should be less about the creators and more about commemorating the connection we all share when we attend PAX. I still think Gabe and Tycho should be represented on the coin but I feel having them sign the coin would somehow bring more focus onto them rather than the event and all of us.
Still, I like what you've done so far . I think I'll take a crack at making an emblem but in the mean time, I look forward to what gets cooked up next.
I generally agree with classeye. This is a product of- and a celebration of- the community, not of Penny Arcade Inc.
As for the design, I'll see if I can't get something put together, but I'm doing data backups for the PAX DVD right now, which I anticipate will take a couple days yet. With that much disk I/O, it makes it difficult to do anything else at the same time.
I really like the new designs people have posted. Specifically: Wheaton's law in latin is great, I like the pac-man border (maybe with no English), and I like any design that features a menacing Gabe & Tycho. The hand grasping a DS sounds pretty cool as well.
Regarding the poll: I'd prefer a coin that is neither entirely PAX nor PA. Can't we do a mix? PA on one side (ex: G&T) and PAX on the other! This should be a third option.
The ChipIn idea: This sounds good- the people who donate get priority when dispersing coins. However, as I've tried to stress before, there must be no correlation between your contribution amount and the number of coins you receive. Otherwise, philosophically speaking it is always "charging."
Oh, damn, really? How does it apply to the PA logo itself? Is there any artwork you're willing to let us use at all?
Right now with something a little less overt I'm thinking the PAX D-pad on one side and a D20 on the other. How's that, folks? The D-pad I think nicely says PAX and gaming without being too in-your-face.
Willeth on
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Sorry to stomp out the fire, but we don't want our characters on these - the guidelines I had laid out before applied to usage of the PAX logo only.
Thanks Mr.Khoo! You've settled yet another one for us.
That said, it looks like we are for-sure going a PAX-specific (or possibly forum-community-specific) design... Based on what I've seen so far, my current vote is: PAX logo on one side with the Latin slogan and a hand grasping a "handheld gaming device" on the other side. Or maybe a d20 ala Willeth, I like d20s.
Oh, damn, really? How does it apply to the PA logo itself? Is there any artwork you're willing to let us use at all?
Right now with something a little less overt I'm thinking the PAX D-pad on one side and a D20 on the other. How's that, folks? The D-pad I think nicely says PAX and gaming without being too in-your-face.
Not for the actual characters or Penny Arcade Logo. These are high enough quality where people will think they're actual products (and they very well could be down the road) - I'd like to avoid that if at all possible. These coins are for PAX. They're specifically for the show and it makes sense they're branded as such.
Fair enough, thanks (and awesome that you're thinking about making official coins!).
I'll upload a quick front and back in a sec based on your guidance. They're a lot more vague - not so much that a PA fan wouldn't recognise them as PA-related, but abstract enough so that I'd hope they wouldn't be taken as official merch.
Willeth on
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I like both of those ideas: the alternating color background and the dates around the outside. I approve.
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If you want to do a unified coin and add a little extra coin-ish graphics to the front, how about scrolling Seattle - Boston inside the top curve.
Then we could scroll a statement around the bottom edge (like "In God We Trust" on American coinage).... "Don't Be a Dick!" perhaps.
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If I have a spare few hours tonight I'll knock out another iteration.
EDIT: And I'm thinking that if we're having a unified coin then there's no need for the city names at all.
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I'm in for a small ($10-$20) donation to make sure these coins get made. Of course, I want one, and on that note, I thought I'd throw out a semi-clarified idea for distribution.
Since these must be given away, and are likely to be distributed by one person, it makes sense to me that that person's coin distrubution schedule be posted solely in this thread. Certainly, onlookers at any location will be interested, but if all of us who are on board at this point are in the know on where to be to get a coin, it will simplify things greatly. Ideally, each time and place for coin distribution would have a set limit of coins to be given away, so as to work into the maximum number of people's schedules, and ensure that coins are not gone in the first minute/day of PAX. Also, a limit on number of coins given away to any one person at any one coin distribution point makes sense to me. I personally would only want one, perhaps two if I'm picking one up for a friend, and think that a low number (below 5) makes the most sense.
That's the best idea I came up with while reading, and certainly is open to discussion. I'd also like to point out that if, by some circumstance, I did not get a coin, I would not be terribly upset. I see this as a donation to the community, which is what PAX is all about. Reasonably, however, the people involved in getting these coins made should have all the necessary information to get their hands on one, should they so choose.
Furthermore, I LOVE Willeth's design.
EDIT: Should we run with some semblance of that idea, I will happily volunteer to run a distribution session so that all the load does not fall on one person. Obviously that would need to be coordinated with the person who is placing the order via PM, but I just want to put my hat in the ring.
Is anyone here familiar with common conventions in challenge coin design, or whether any exist as they do in heraldry? If so, if someone were to point me toward such rules, I would be willing to research and investigate other possible elements that we may include on a proper challenge coin. At the very least, we should come up with a motto to wrap around the edge of the coin. Bonus points for anyone who comes up with a Latin translation.
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operor non exsisto a mentula
No, this is GREAT. I'm calling this an absolute must for inclusion in the design if we can figure out an accurate translation.
EDIT: I put the call out on Twitter. Apparently I know like four people who either teach Latin or who studied it for years.
I'm getting differing opinions. I like "numquam mentula es," which is 'never be a dick'. Apparently the inflection of that might be off, though - the corrected version I was given is "mentula non es", which while might be more correct doesn't quite strike the same authoritative tone I'm looking for. I'm still waiting on the Latin teacher's take. In the mean time I'm working on a more coiny version.
EDIT:
I can't decide what I'd prefer for the back - it's either white recessed, grey flat, black raised, or grey flat, white slightly raised, black fully raised. What do you guys think?
EDIT: I'm also toying with finding a newer drawing of Gabe and Tycho. While it's definitely classic PA, it's not entirely indicative of how Mike draws them today.
EDIT: I took the image that Mike posted on Monday and drew this up. Any feedback?
EDIT: An alternate:
I like the Pac-Man detail on this one. I think I might put this on the final design, but I don't know if I'm too keen on the English motto.
EDIT: Also, looking at getting these paid for once we decide on a final design (do we even want colour? I've been working on the assumption that we don't, but we probably need a poll on that), and looking at Khoo's comments, I'm wondering if something like this would work:
Would a sort of preorder system work? Something through ChipIn? It's a service that tracks donations. You give it a PayPal address, you can set a cap on it, and I think you can set it so that once the cap is reached no more donations can be made. You can also include a note in your donation.
Say we want 100 2" coins from Coins for Anything. The site says $2.80 each. If you want one, donate $2.80. If you want to donate more, go ahead. (I realise that this is essentially a purchase, but there's a difference between this and one of us acting as a vendor for something with the PA logo on it, which is what I believe Khoo is against.) Once we hit the target, we look at the run that we'll do, guarantee a coin for everyone who donated through the widget, and then any amount of coins that are left over get put onto a first-come first-served list and are given out.
In summary:
1. We gauge interest in who would like a coin with a poll somewhere.
2. We see how much that would be to run, and set up a ChipIn widget for that amount. Anyone can donate and include their name with it.
3. We hit that amount, and make a list of everyone who donated.
4. We make a list. Anyone who donated is automatically on it. We fill out the rest of that list with anyone who previously registered interest. The few left over go up for grabs.
How comfortable is everyone with this? Does it fit in with Khoo's ethics and practices that he posted? If enough people agree and if he doesn't see it, I'll take it to him, but shoot me down ahead of time if there's a better way.
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Honestly I'm going to err on the side of IP safety and say that we should probably go with an original design, not use anything that PA owns, including Mike's art. Having viewed many challenge coins after diving into this discussion, I think something more appropriate/traditional can be arrived upon for a design. I'm not big on graphic artistry (no wacom or nothin'), but I'll see if I can't come up with some ideas and some concept art. I encourage others to submit their ideas as well. Be back later.
EDIT: First idea: As a background, consider a crowd of attendees holding their DSes above their heads as we do at the concerts (or perhaps just a couple attendees doing this, or simply two hands from the elbow up holding up DSes). Not sure if this is very doable considering the fine detailing that would be involved, but something to consider nonetheless.
As to the motto, how about "Welcome Home" for the bottom of the coin? That's always resonated with me.
EDIT: And I'm wondering about the back. Maybe making the PA logo smaller against a silhouette of either a D20 or the wombat.
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This would not replace the numquam mentula es side of the coin. This would be the flip side.
And yes, I like the "Welcome Home" bit too. That would be a good replacement for the English at the bottom there.
I really like the icon of a hand holding up a DS, but it's very PAX-specific, and that's a bit of a problem with 'welcome home' as well. Why not just 'Penny Arcade'?
I think we were hoping this would be a surprise for Mike and Jerry but I also kind of want their signature Gabriel and (CW)TB on the back of this, too. What do you guys think of that? I know it's not official and very much a community thing, but it's also something that feels very much a PA icon to me, as well.
If I'm running away with this a bit, rein me in. I just had a sudden burst of ideas and I really want these things to get made, now.
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I suppose our lines of thought on this are slightly divergent: I was thinking this to be very PAX-specific, while you are leaning more toward a general Penny Arcade design. Let's make that the poll question. "We are making challenge coins. Should the design be more evocative of PAX or Penny Arcade?" I would lean toward PAX because it's more like a unit. Challenge coins are often made with the "unit" in mind, not the entire army. Therefore, we would make PAX (our unit) coins as opposed to army (Penny Arcade) coins.
As for the Gabe and Tycho signature... That might be taking things a little too far. Besides, what the heck would Mike and Jerry get for their challenge coins if we take that design for ourselves? That would be akin to everyone having an army chief of staff coin. At least that's my take.
EDIT: For the signatures, I'm thinking tiny representations on the back, not as a main feature. Similar to how they're engraved on the limited-edition prints.
EDIT: Another motto idea: "In Wang We Trust".
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Let's make two designs: A Penny Arcade design, and a PAX design. I submit my idea above for the PAX design. If anyone else wants to submit a competing design, by all means, go ahead. Whoever wants to make a Penny Arcade design, go with that. Let's agree on a short period of time by which point designs must be posted in this thread. Once that time is reached, we will vote on designs. Once a single PAX and single Penny Arcade design is agreed upon, a poll would then be posted (which would get more feedback than people posting in the thread, since it is easier to click a radio button) asking whether we should make the Penny Arcade or PAX design.
This is my proposal. I submit it in the spirit of fairness and gentlemanly compromise. Feel free to make your own suggestion on how to proceed.
PAX is an opportunity for us to meet up and celebrate our community, and in itself is worth commemorating and remembering - but they're moments to remember rather than constants, and the buttons and cards and so forth do that well. What's worth celebrating is the community, what Penny Arcade as a whole does and is and what it means to be even part of that. PAX is a celebration of that community, and I think that due to how permanent these coins are that they should represent why we go to PAX, not PAX itself.
It's probably obvious that I have very strong feelings about Penny Arcade and this community, and I know PAX means something different to everyone who goes. But in my mind, having something as solid and permanent as a challenge coin doesn't gel with the idea of the two weeks a year where we all hang out. It's bigger than that.
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I appreciate Mike and Jerry's dedication to the community, but I'm not always a fan of the comic. There are many who go to PAX who don't read the comic at all. In my opinion, PAX is for gamers - not just those who read Penny Arcade.
I like this one. Maybe just have the latin spread out across the top half and the dots along the bottom half with pacman in the middle. But I think we should go for color to make it stand out a little bit.
As far as a Penny Arcade coin vs a PAX coin, I'm sure we could find enough supporters in either camp to donate money. I myself am leaning towards a Penny Arcade coin. But we shall see.
What can we agree on between the PAX and PA ideas? Is the outer ring it?
EDIT: There's also Kiko's shirt design here to bounce around. I don't want to use it verbatim but it's something we can use as a style guide for something crest-like.
EDIT: This is the combination of all of them that I like the most. I've coloured it (although the colours are subject to change from eyedropping the actual ones from the source), and tried to emulate the proof of the Navy one that was posted on the first page.
EDIT: It could probably do with some white in the eyes and teeth and leave the metal for just the outlines. I'll do that once I've had a nap.
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But then my tastes tend toward military-like designs as evidenced by my suggestions above.
I hear you on the wang line but I think it's the snappiest we've had so far. I'm open to other suggestions but I definitely want something at the bottom so it's not so top-heavy.
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As for Jerry and Mike's signatures on the coin, I kind of feel it wouldn't be right for a PAX coin to feature their markings. It kind of marks the coin as a product that they created and while admittedly, they did take part in PAX's creation, the coin itself is a creation of this community, and I kind of feel that the coin should be less about the creators and more about commemorating the connection we all share when we attend PAX. I still think Gabe and Tycho should be represented on the coin but I feel having them sign the coin would somehow bring more focus onto them rather than the event and all of us.
Still, I like what you've done so far
i can't go to PAX prime, though
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As for the design, I'll see if I can't get something put together, but I'm doing data backups for the PAX DVD right now, which I anticipate will take a couple days yet. With that much disk I/O, it makes it difficult to do anything else at the same time.
Regarding the poll: I'd prefer a coin that is neither entirely PAX nor PA. Can't we do a mix? PA on one side (ex: G&T) and PAX on the other! This should be a third option.
The ChipIn idea: This sounds good- the people who donate get priority when dispersing coins. However, as I've tried to stress before, there must be no correlation between your contribution amount and the number of coins you receive. Otherwise, philosophically speaking it is always "charging."
Right now with something a little less overt I'm thinking the PAX D-pad on one side and a D20 on the other. How's that, folks? The D-pad I think nicely says PAX and gaming without being too in-your-face.
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Thanks Mr.Khoo! You've settled yet another one for us.
That said, it looks like we are for-sure going a PAX-specific (or possibly forum-community-specific) design... Based on what I've seen so far, my current vote is: PAX logo on one side with the Latin slogan and a hand grasping a "handheld gaming device" on the other side. Or maybe a d20 ala Willeth, I like d20s.
Not for the actual characters or Penny Arcade Logo. These are high enough quality where people will think they're actual products (and they very well could be down the road) - I'd like to avoid that if at all possible. These coins are for PAX. They're specifically for the show and it makes sense they're branded as such.
I'll upload a quick front and back in a sec based on your guidance. They're a lot more vague - not so much that a PA fan wouldn't recognise them as PA-related, but abstract enough so that I'd hope they wouldn't be taken as official merch.
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