Personal Designs
The following notes I have designed myself mainly for fun and to learn how to use the photo editing software, PhotoShop. They are not the best, but I had fun with them.
The next two notes I made for some friends. “Deckion” is a type of user name for them, and thier skill in the game has garnered their geographical area to be called the “Deckion Kingdom” within the game. The note is filled with images and symbols from the game, as well as a hidden image – well, not that hidden! I’m sure you can find the Hidden Mickey without too much trouble. In addition, I’ve used the Eurion anti-counterfeiting pattern on the reverse, interspersed and mixed with other green dots that are found throughout the game.
The back of the 5000 CMU also has hidden Mickey symbols for Disney parks worldwide. The three glyphs at bottom left are a code within the game. The three glyphs each have a meaning, and in this combination, it is ‘We Accept Enlightenment’, reference to their particular team they are aligned with in the game.
The game has a type of virtual currency called Chaos Matter units, of which the base unit is 2500, which is why I used that denomination as a base unit, and the 5000 CMU as a second. The colors of green and blue represent the sides the players are on. As my friends are the green side, that is the dominant color.
Lastly, a bit of tongue-in-cheek. Since the game is conquest based, and they, like my wife and myself, are fans of Disney and also Star Wars, I’ve added the phrases at the bottom on the back of the banknote.
Here are some notes I designed while under COVID-19 lockdown in November/December 0f 2020. I had COVID at the time of some of these, and I think it shows. Nevertheless, it was a fun task.
Below is an assemblage of notes from conception to finish for the ancient Roman Province of Lusitania – found in the Iberian Peninsula, mainly in Portugal. There was a gentleman who contacted me and commissioned me to create the notes, under intense scrutiny, and many changes of ideas and design parameters, and with no real idea of how the process of designing them digitally really works. But, after some time, it worked out with these designs being a few that were submitted. The 100 below was only a refamiliarization with software for me. Figuring how to create guilloches (Spiro-Graph type designs) that was the hardest – and most rewarding – part. The 1 and 2 Kantimu following are the processes that were developed under the the clients guidelines and accepted.
Though the final designs are not what I personally liked, it was what the client wanted. Unfortunately, the gentleman later decided that he did not want to print them himself, and I certainly wasn’t going to purchase the cotton fiber banknote paper and the printer, inks, etc. and then ship them to him. After I declined many times to print and ship the notes, he decided to cancel the commission, citing that the printing quality showed them to be of inferior design, even though the designs were made under his direction. Oh, well – it was fun to get back into designing – something I really did enjoy – even if it was only for a short time, and I was paid for the majority of the work performed.
Then fast-forward a couple of years and I get an email from a professional Fantasy Banknote Designer. He informs me that he had been aware of my site and this article, and was surprised to get an email from someone connected with this Lusitania group. This gentleman was contacted by Kim Gastun, the person whose signature is on the notes (except the first draft) below. This professional designer informed me that he had been asked to design some new notes for this group, as they liked his designs and would appreciate his hand at designing for them. And so he did.
His first draft, like mine, was rejected outright. He was then told some very specific design requirements, and as he got these requests and some basic images, he realized that they were my images that I had made to their specifications. Kim Gastun then told him that he also needed to print these notes himself and print them on special paper, and then send them to him. When he declined, and told them that they had the designs already, and didn’t want a new design, the professional designer told me that “…they broke off ties with me… in a most finalizing way.”
I would recommend to anyone else that if they have any contact from this group, that they steer clear, or at least proceed with due caution. There’s something sketchy about them.
