Raukodur's 2014 MTO challenge coin/tool design

[Raukodur]

Re-entering the design I made for the 2013 competition. 3d Mock-up kindly made by Tofty:



The thinking behind this was a keyring coin you could attach your stuff to, while still having the ubiquitous hex tool in the centre, and an aesthetic tri-symmetrical design.

[kkokkolis]

Like. I would remove some of the lettering.

[stealth007s]

Looks great

[microbe]

I like your design, but entering a contest with the same entry of last year is not showing a lot of creativity isn't it? 

[Raukodur]

I like your design, but entering a contest with the same entry of last year is not showing a lot of creativity isn't it? 

Last year wasn't really a competition the way this year is. Plus, if I could think of any improvements on this design, I would have put them in.

[Raukodur]

Like. I would remove some of the lettering.

The lettering wasn't my idea, I think Tofty added that.

It could be changed, any suggestions?

[Tofty]

To be fair, it's no less creative a design, it was just early.
Last year was not a competition as such, so most designs shown in that thread, were never going to be used and would otherwise be wasted and forgotten, if not submitted again properly.
There is still much work to do on the design, especially on the text, which was just a placeholder added by me at the time.

[kkokkolis]

Instead of repeating the MTO address and Hex sing, write it once. Use a proverb and an icon (the MTO multitool that looks like a Gerber) instead.

[kkokkolis]

Now I think of it, scrap the Hex, we all know what it is.
I suggest a Greek proverb for a change. Using capitals you avoid the difficult accents. The proverb means "Be prepared", it was ancient and it is used now by scouts.
ΕΣΟ ΕΤΟΙΜΟΣ
You can but a multitool and a SAK on the other side. A Wave and a Huntsman for example. This will show MTO's main interests.

[Tofty]

Which Gerber does it look like?

[kkokkolis]

If Greek lettering isn't available, you might use angled S instead of Σ, but it reminds of Nazi SS and it isn't popular any more. Angled C is another option, Greeks of Magna Graecia (Ancient Sicily and South Italy, before the Romans) used that C.

[kkokkolis]

All out of the front Gerbers look like MTO's avatar.

[Raukodur]

Now I think of it, scrap the Hex, we all know what it is.
I suggest a Greek proverb for a change. Using capitals you avoid the difficult accents. The proverb means "Be prepared", it was ancient and it is used now by scouts.
ΕΣΟ ΕΤΟΙΜΟΣ
You can but a multitool and a SAK on the other side. A Wave and a Huntsman for example. This will show MTO's main interests.

Interesting, I like it.

Tofty, do you still have this saved on your system? If so, would you be able to add the geek lettering suggested by kkokkolis? I'd prefer not to include the tool symbols, for simplicity of design.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I think you mean "GREEK" not "GEEK" but since I am a proud geek I can't take offense to it!    True geek lettering looks different, kind of like Elvish, written in the language of Mordor... but in Klingon.   

Back on track, I know this sort of kills the three way symmetry, but what about opening up one of the holes a bit more so that it functions as a bottle opener?  Every multitool needs a bottle opener.  All you would need to do is widen one of the slots a bit so that it looks kind of like this:



Def

[kkokkolis]

It takes a Geek to use Greek, Latin, Runic, Klingon, Linear, Cuneiform, Hieroglyphic or whatever these days. So, whatever one uses that has nothing to do with pop, gangsta and celebrities media culture, is geek anyway.

[Raukodur]

Def I would have definitely considered that if I didn't consider the bottle opener to be the most useless tool in the world 

[Tofty]

Yes i still have it, and adding the letters won't be a problem, whatever they are, as i can draw them as vector entities rather than scripted fonts.
First though, the coin's dimensions need to be looked at. The model in the render was just a modification of my original coin, in size and thickness. My design was 40mm in diameter, which i feel would be too large to use as part of a keychain. It's thickness could also be reduced, down from 3mm to perhaps 2mm, to help ensure split rings can be installed onto it without being permanently deformed.
I would also suggest, as kkokkolis has, to get rid of the hex driver, but also move back to an earlier design of yours:



A coin used on a keychain needs to be as light as possible, to be as unnoticeable as possible while EDCing it.
The edging features could then also be changed, as the coin no longer needs indents for grip.

[Raukodur]

I'd forgotten about that!

OK, if you could make a 3D mock-up of that, that would be great. I think I included the hex driver in the original thread because it would have been a replacement to the original challenge coin design with the hex driver.

[bmot]

Hmmmm, maybe it would be possible to put lettering on the side of the coin, instead of on the face? Say, like some euro coins:

[Romanoat]

Re-entering the design I made for the 2013 competition. 3d Mock-up kindly made by Tofty:

(Image removed from quote.)

The thinking behind this was a keyring coin you could attach your stuff to, while still having the ubiquitous hex tool in the centre, and an aesthetic tri-symmetrical design.

I would carry this in my pocket as is. Multifunctional: check. Good looking: check. Mto.org logo: check. Cool.

Edit: instead of writing "1/4 hex" around the center, just put "We all blame Kirk". Then it has everything Mto stands for lol.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Def I would have definitely considered that if I didn't consider the bottle opener to be the most useless tool in the world 

If it was that useless then every multitool in the world wouldn't have one! 

Def

[Raukodur]

Hehe, of course it is my opinion, maybe because I don't drink, I have never found myself needing a bottle opener.

Tofty, would you be able to make a 3d mockup of the initial design with the hollow centre, with kkokkolis's Greek message around the inner rim?

[Cogito]

Even I don't drink, but bottle openers have the added benefit of making one piece tools lighter by removing excess metal

[enki_ck]

I like your design, but entering a contest with the same entry of last year is not showing a lot of creativity isn't it? 

As was said the last year we were throwing around ideas a lot in the design thread and it was decided that we'd use some of them for the future editions of the Challenge coin. Tofty asked me to redesign mine a bit if needed so that's what I'll be doing also. Some refinement, maybe additions, maybe simplifications.

[Tofty]

Tofty, would you be able to make a 3d mockup of the initial design with the hollow centre, with kkokkolis's Greek message around the inner rim?

Sure, it will take me a couple of days though.

[Raukodur]

Tofty, would you be able to make a 3d mockup of the initial design with the hollow centre, with kkokkolis's Greek message around the inner rim?

Sure, it will take me a couple of days though.

Many thanks 

[kkokkolis]

An example of Archaic Greek font with the motto, for your convenience.
Greeks loved geometry. Anlgles should be 90 degrees, S with equal line segments, E and T symmetric and O a full circle.
Every city had different writtings through the centuries, but this archaic form is easily perceived as universally Greek and will give an exotic touch to the coin.
I also attached a more contemporary form of sigma, used also in the ancient times.

[Raukodur]

So I'd would love to get some ideas from the MTO community on this.

The basic idea I am going for here is a keyring of sorts, so it is a 'tool' in that you can attach other things to it, but by itself it has no function, so no bottle openers, or hex driver.

The original design was a disc (i.e. a 'coin') with three cutouts around its rim, to allow you to put split rings or whatever else you want to attach onto it.
The centre was empty, to save on weight.

However, thinking about this, if I was using this, I am not sure if that design would make it annoying to attach split rings to the three different cutouts since you would end up with a coin with keyring attachments on three sides, they wouldn't be able to come together, and so it would add considerable bulk to the keyring as a whole.

As such, thinking about how to simplify this while making it more functional, why not just have a metal ring, which would replace the central split ring in your keyring? It could be just wide enough to have a motto and the MTO sign on it, but thin enough to easily put split rings on, and for it to be even lighter and so a natural part of the keyring.

And then I thought a bit more, and figured it doesn't need to be a circular shape even. It could be rectangular with rounded corners, or oval. To add aesthetic and tactile appeal, its edging can be ribbed.

As I said, would love to get some feedback from the community. I've quickly found this image on google, its the right kind of shape for what I have in mind.

[kkokkolis]

Will it be considered a challenge coin then? You don't want to throw you out of the contest.
I like the idea of non circular shape. There are pentagon and hexagon coin shapes in the world. You even might try a rounded triangle such as guitar pens. In a triangle the hex central hole becomes functional again (great shape for torque) and gives symmetry (three sides of the hex parallel to triangle's sides). Just don't add a "Hex 1/4"" sign. Otherwise you might make it a ring and still be pretty as an unusual triangle or pentagon.
Pentagon contains the golden ratio and forms the dodecahedron. It's a very nice shape. With the keys on one corner you can put the finger on a side. Still, ask the admins if a ring is eligible in the contest.

[Raukodur]

Interesting idea for the triangle. Maybe an isosceles with rounded corners?

I don't think I am going to go with the idea of the hex in the centre, because we already had that on last years design, and a lot of us, myself included, carry a pocketwrench, which has a hex, and I HATE redundancy.