Thinking outside the box.

[Don Boyer]

Looking forward to seeing those pictures.  What two designs for the case were you considering - the "steel flooring" look and...?

Don't go too industrial with the design's appearance.  It tends to turn off the female half of the market.  I'd say to simplify the design and make it more "gender-neutral".

[codehog]

Don,

You all here keep surprising me in a good way with your great suggestions. My strength is being able to mold and cast cases at prices cheaper than anything china can put out. Simply because I do it myself. The quality is awesome and the paint is not lead based. So why not show it off a little in my programs. Cases are easy to make because if you take your time sculpting clay is a great medium to work with and your imagination is the limit, varnishes and other paints on the clay can take out the fingerprints from the molds. But, for this program I am going to use a themed industrial case for the one, and, I am leaning towards one of Alsa fx sheeting finishes for cars that can not be scratched for the sleek line appeal to others with a more distinguished class. The sheeting per case will run about $2 bringing those cases to around $2.75 my cost to make. I am looking hard at your suggestions and trying to come up with practical solutions. All my cases will have the carabiner application. Once again Don and others here, thanks for your valuable help.

Jon H.

[Don Boyer]

Don,

You all here keep surprising me in a good way with your great suggestions. My strength is being able to mold and cast cases at prices cheaper than anything china can put out. Simply because I do it myself. The quality is awesome and the paint is not lead based. So why not show it off a little in my programs. Cases are easy to make because if you take your time sculpting clay is a great medium to work with and your imagination is the limit, varnishes and other paints on the clay can take out the fingerprints from the molds. But, for this program I am going to use a themed industrial case for the one, and, I am leaning towards one of Alsa fx sheeting finishes for cars that can not be scratched for the sleek line appeal to others with a more distinguished class. The sheeting per case will run about $2 bringing those cases to around $2.75 my cost to make. I am looking hard at your suggestions and trying to come up with practical solutions. All my cases will have the carabiner application. Once again Don and others here, thanks for your valuable help.

Jon H.

Alsa fx sheeting?  It that the carbon-fiber stuff some guys put on their cars to make the look cooler?  If it is, carbon fiber's an excellent choice.  If it isn't, carbon fiber's still an excellent choice! 

[codehog]

Don,

Wow, you have heard of it...they offer some incredible styles, very thin, almost indestructible. I was also considering using it for the reinforcement around the center holes. I am doing some testing with it. I would say it is cost prohibitive unless you have money to burn, but in this case each card is small so it makes its less painful/noticeable.

Jon H.

[codehog]

Waiting for my friend to supply the graphics for the faces and back. Talked to Alsa again they thought it would be really cool to have a deck back in their diachromatic styles, not just the case. They have a self adhesive in a matt black, unscratchable, chemical resistant velvet to touch finish that I cant wait to see how it looks for a case, but what do you think about a back in a depth dichromatic film with a white trim in the available attached colors. Is it carrying the trek (car) theme to far, or go with a more custom card back. The attachment does not do the actual back justice. The actual laminate has a real depth(almost 3d) that is impossible to capture by a picture or drawing. Perhaps a video.

What do you think?

Jon H.

[codehog]

Finally the USPCC contacted me. I was not holding my breath because of how busy they must be even though their site says they return all quotes in 72 hours. Well they did get back to me and I am impressed. Although they can not do the work personally they suggested the use of a third part. I copied and pasted their note below with their contact info for those wanting work done by them.
__________________________________________

Hi Jonathan,

 

We currently don’t do decks with a unique shape here in our facility, but would go through a 3rd party in China. This would require a 6 to 8 week lead time…in order to get this quote for you, I would need to know what your deck would look like (colors, artwork, etc). Pleas advise. Thanks!

 


-Nikki Singson
 Custom Sales Representative
 The US Playing Card Company
 300 Gap Way | Erlanger, KY 41018
 ( 859-815-7413 | 7 859-815-7361 | * NicoleSingson@usplayingcard.com
 Visit us online: http://www.bicyclecards.com/
 

[Don Boyer]

Waiting for my friend to supply the graphics for the faces and back. Talked to Alsa again they thought it would be really cool to have a deck back in their diachromatic styles, not just the case. They have a self adhesive in a matt black, unscratchable, chemical resistant velvet to touch finish that I cant wait to see how it looks for a case, but what do you think about a back in a depth dichromatic film with a white trim in the available attached colors. Is it carrying the trek (car) theme to far, or go with a more custom card back. The attachment does not do the actual back justice. The actual laminate has a real depth(almost 3d) that is impossible to capture by a picture or drawing. Perhaps a video.

What do you think?

Jon H.

I thought you were aiming more eco-friendly?

I suspect these laminates would be nice enough for the case, but would make the cards too thick and ruin their handling.

If this is for someone who's trekking, something that bright might be a bad idea.  It stands out like a sore thumb and something that bright and reflective might attract some unwanted attention from certain animals.

I'd go with a neutral "camouflage" color for the case, with a thin strip (or just a few tiny squares) of blaze orange reflective tape to make it visible if dropped.  Colors that would work would be black, gray, khaki, tan, brown, olive drab - colors better suited to blend in with the surroundings.

You should check into some new plastics on the market.  I've seen ones that naturally biodegrade as well as ones that are composed of plant materials and are completely petrochemical free.

[Lara Krystle "Lane"]

I never had the time to really read through all of this but today I was finally able to.
I think this a great idea. I'm actually an outdoor girl because my father used to be a mountaineer and we loved to hike and climb and having a trek deck is really a great idea

But do think about the brightness of that design. Sometimes we are in board daylight when we rest and take out cards. The sun's light will reflect on that and really hurt someone's eyes. And if that is dangling from their backpacks it might also cause some problems with the same reflection on light. So yeah. Try something a bit more non- shiny. That is just my take on it since I myself love the great outdoors and would love to have something like this to play with while up in the mountains.

ｐｓ．　ｆｏｒ　ｓｏｍｅ　ｒｅａｓｏｎ　ｍｙ　ｆｏｎｔ　ｃｈａｎｇｅｄ．．．　ｓｔｕｐｉｄ　ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ　ｃｏｍｐｕｔｅｒ　ＯＳ．　：（

PPS.. There I changed it. I finally figured it out.

[NathanCanadas]

ｐｓ．　ｆｏｒ　ｓｏｍｅ　ｒｅａｓｏｎ　ｍｙ　ｆｏｎｔ　ｃｈａｎｇｅｄ．．．　ｓｔｕｐｉｄ　ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ　ｃｏｍｐｕｔｅｒ　ＯＳ．　：（

We noticed lol.
@Jon I don't think printing through a USPCC 3rd party is necessarily a good idea. The quality probably won't be better, and the price will be much higher.

[codehog]

Thanks everyone for your comments, ok, back to more Eco friendly, bury the bright/look at me walk with the flashy cards on my back pack idea. I scheduled my trip back to the states for the 7Th of June so finally I can get this project underway. I will be purchasing the resins to start the castings when I get back the following week. The company in Montana sent a sample to someone in the states and it checked out ok, so I will be using them for the printing. They will print 200 decks and up, Lacquer, UV finish.

The problem with Eco friendly is the chemicals that I use that make up the plastics. I am experimenting with home made plastics.......corn starch, glycerin, vinegar, dyes, but for large scale it does not look feasible. The whole Eco friendly problem is this; it only applies to the manufacturing process, and that can have real hidden damaging consequences to the environment. Most chemicals are byproducts of other processes. The bio friendly process realeases co2 and other contaminates. Then, there is absolutely nothing bio friendly about a landfill which by laws in the states demand that the trash thrown in them can not decompose the trash but must serve as a holding facility only. Strict fines are imposed if any decomposition takes place. Well governed functioning land fills were excavated (Wisconsin) and newspaper over 40 years old was legible. The secret here is if a product is really biodegradeable do not throw it in the trash, but try getting that to pass with any success.

I will try as much as I can to go Eco friendly but, I have my limits. I might consider putting a tree seed inside every bamboo trek case and tell the consumer when it is time to ditch the case bury it instead and see what happens in a few years. That might work better and hopefully others will do the same in other projects for a real green project, not just use it as a sales pitch.

OK, now for the bad news. My friend who was working on design backed out because of work. Glad I have not put any time limit on myself to get this project flying. Any takers on this. I would consider making you a partner in this project or a cash payout ONCE it is successful on ks. Yep, risk, but if you have talent lets talk. If this is against the rules of this forum then please forget I mentioned anything about this. I will continue going it alone, and throw out ideas for your open suggestions.

Thanks for all your comments

Jon H.

[Don Boyer]

This is precisely the correct forum for asking for design help!  I'm no designer, but plenty of people here are.

[codehog]

Thanks Don,

Let's give this a try (anyone). I know we are all busy but I am sure that you and I can kick this around until we come up with a decent/awesome deck built around a trek theme. There is a great group of people here who show no reserve in telling the bold truth. That is what I need to hear. I want to offer 2 custom decks, One standard Bridge size, and one novel shape. The novel shape could fit into a reward for KS to see how it fares. If it crashes it would not kill the program, just that reward. The various TrekCases (working on eco-friendly) each with a hole for a carabiner and your (if no one helps then "MINE") custom design back and face. Rewards galore, Cases, plates, Uncut sheets, lots of feedback, answered comments to feedback and questions, If it goes over a high percentage mark, we could offer to put their name in a free ticket(s) drawing to travel anywhere in the U.S. Just talking off the top of my head, but, it seems that rewards are the secret to a successfull program, not to mention keeping your shipping date word. Please tell me what you think.

Jon H.

[codehog]

OK, I have been experimenting with design. I am no pro on the different graphic programs like gimp, photoshop, corel. But, it seems there are only 2 avenues to take. If you use real photos or photoshoped real photos you end up with a too "game look" set of playing cards or too "cartoonish" if you go with surreal or multiplied shape it becomes more the standard Poker back set. I am going with the later. I think it will hit a broader range of players, with tuck box, and trek case.

[Don Boyer]

OK, I have been experimenting with design. I am no pro on the different graphic programs like gimp, photoshop, corel. But, it seems there are only 2 avenues to take. If you use real photos or photoshoped real photos you end up with a too "game look" set of playing cards or too "cartoonish" if you go with surreal or multiplied shape it becomes more the standard Poker back set. I am going with the later. I think it will hit a broader range of players, with tuck box, and trek case.

Plenty of decks use photographic images to good effect.  I have a great one: a tourist deck from Key West.

[ItsMagicITellYou~]

very noble endeavor I'm not as smart as most of the people on here haha but i really like what you are doing and i think you'll succeed

[codehog]

Thanks Magic, your humbleness in your post actually makes you smarter than most, because it makes you willing to learn new things.

I sure hope it will succeed!!!!

Honestly this is much bigger than I was planning. But, I can not stand to do a project that is half hearted or looks  thrown together. So, thanks for your patience and comments. I am learning lots from watching the Grid play out, as well as all your comments. I have been plugging away on 2 custom deck designs.....far from finished but advancing.

Jon H.

[Don Boyer]

I think you mentioned at one point you were considering cards shaped like a dog's bone?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cool-Luminous-Paper-Playing-Cards-Poker-Glow-Dark-/251054762933?_trksid=p4340.m1374&_trkparms=algo%3DUPI.GIROS%26its%3DI%252BC%252BS%26itu%3DUCI%252BUCC%26otn%3D15%26pmod%3D150829586021%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D9009149593374282706

Someone in Hong Kong beat you to it - and this deck glows in the dark!

[codehog]

Hey Don,

Nope that was not me but I am still pushing through with the novel style deck idea that supports the idea of a carabiner. I really do not think the glow in the dark cards are worth it simply because the chemicals used do not have a long enough glow life....even the newer chemicals put out by alsa are not quite there yet. Not quite. In my opinion that is.

JJH