LocostUSA.com

I definitely have too much time on my hands. I was playing with the logo a bit this morning. For those of us [myself included] who can't visualize, I printed it on some clear acetate film. I then temporarily taped it into place on my car. It is not the best material for curved surfaces or for the inkjet printer but it gives an idea as to how this, or any other logo might look on a clear backing. I personally really like how the roll bar logo turned out. for the rear panel, perhaps a smaller rear panel sticker might be warranted. Pardon the pieces of tape.

What do you think?

Here's an idea for a mold to get a dome shape - how about the inside of an engine block frost plug? It's about the right size, and has a gentle dome shape...

I'm intrigued about this idea! I was thinking of doing my car's logo (as in my avatar, on the left) as center caps for my wheels, horn push, and another one on my nose cone. This would be an ideal way to accomplish that...

That looks Awesome ..well done

I like the roll bar logo. I agree that the rear panel one might be too large. Right now my preference would be to use a round Shrinky logo on the nose cone and the rear of the car to identify it while the roll bar tells people how to find out more about the car.

How high are the letters on the roll bar logo? How far away do you think another driver could be and still read it?

The letters are currently about 1/2" tall. For reference, the printout is on a 1.5 inch roll bar. I can read it from about 2 car lengths. There is some room for enlarging the text at the risk of extending the length. Not everyone has the available length. In my case, I am limited by the 3rd brakelight mounting. Perhaps an increase to 3/4" tall and proportional lengthing would work. I think it would read better still if the letters were outlined in white to increase the contrast; still remaining on a clear vinyl background of course. I'm not sure I have the tools to outline the lettering. I'll keep looking but this type of work is not my expertise. I'd like to see some improvement myself. Perhaps the car drawing would also benefit from a white shadow background slightly larger than the car itself.

Chuck, that looks nice. It's too bad the car is understeering so much, but I don't think it will look right if you change it much. Bigger print is probably a good thing, I don;t think it looks as long as a normal bumper sticker. Maybe wrong though.

Lot's of good work you guys are doing. I think it will pay off, we're gonna get some nice designs here and that will probably get some more cars on the road.

found this thread...got a few ideas to sketch up. OK, need to know how to upload pictures? wait...lets try adding a file...ahhh it worked....

flag background is mine...the car sketch (rx7locost...hope you don't mind pirate and the 7 added to the nose) and most words pirated from this thread...So the saying of two (or more) minds are better than one!

both need lots more tuning, but it's the concept...USA, the dream, lotus 7 which we know...but many people don't.

also, will work in just black with some work. BTW the bumper sticker is for a 3.5 x 9 size.

This was a good exersize...thanks!

yep, i put the bumper stick on upside down, or did i roll the car?

I was not intending this version for being a bumper sticker. Rather, a roll bar sticker. However, that doesn't preclude it from being scaled for a bumper sticker size. I have found the magic to outlining the text using the "wordart" tool. I went on to modify the design with a larger font (just under 1" tall), added a white border around the car and simulated a clear sticker on my gray roll bar by filling in free space with a gray field. It is now easier to read and looking much better. Pardon the different shades of faux-gray. No need to spend too much more time getting them to match perfect. Remember, the gray background will really be clear. If you have a black roll bar, it should now be easy to read due to the white outlining. This addition adds a 2nd color printing to the stickers but is well worth it IMO. One sticker for all color cars. As shown below, it prints out at 1-1/2" tall x 9-1/4" long. Coincidentally, it fits my rollbar perfectly between the mounts for my 3rd brakelight. I wonder how that happened? Things related to the design are now easy to change such as Font style and size and drawing scale. I think plain ol' Arial font is very easy to read from a distance. The more ornate the font, the more difficult reading it becomes.

I envision the roll bar sticker (shown), a bumper sticker (resized with a white background), a rear panel sticker (clear background) and maybe an inside rear window sticker (clear background). that is it for my last offering.

I also like Martin's shrinky-dink adaptation of 53Sled's design. I wonder if you could reverse print it on the clear sheet. That would put the ink underneath the plastic. Perhaps the plastic shrinky-dink would work as some sort of UV filter and stabilize the ink better. It certainly should protect the ink from being scratched and eliminate the need to spary clear overcoat on it. Many of the inkjet printers have specialized UV stabilized ink for photo printing. You might also take the shrinky-dink film to Office Depot or other office service shop and have them print your design using their laserjet color printer. That should make it waterproof. So many variations.....

Must have posted while I was writing.....

Don, Some good ideas there too. I don't mind the "theft". It looks good with the grill. Not my grill and not Chet's but still good..... I personally like the introduction of the American flag. For a t-shirt, I'd like to see a non-linear edging, perhaps fading out at the edge. The square edges of the design makes it look like a "cheap" shirt. I'll admit, I'm no t-shirt designer. But I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express once.

Oh so many ideas.........

it's the concept!

Just a little note on DonChez's work, I think it will sound or read better without the word "then". And possibly without the "American 7" part. Just thinking simple gets thru better.

Also I think too many colors, between the flag and the "American" it will be hard to print. Printers, especially t-shirt ones, need simple graphics. Every color is a separate step...

It looks nice just not sure it's practical though.... Maybe it makes a nice poster. Yet another category, nothing wrong with that - this is becoming a LocostUSA artwork thread.

less words, less colors...I agree with the fading flag, but it's beyond my capabilities! and graphic art guys here?

printing on tees...they now have inkjet that prints directly to t shirts (DTG) or garment. so, multi colors is not an issue like with screen printing. got a online quote for printed on both sides at 100 pcs for 10.75 each plus shipping and tax...so not too bad? more info on DTG see http://www.t-shirtforums.com/direct-gar ... -printing/

I can screen print these, and send them to http://hydome.com/. they'll use industrial uv cured clear to actually drip a dome onto the part. it flows out and stops on the edge of a die cut decal.
I do this all the time. Plus, they'll have good pressure sensitive adhesive on the back side.
but the cost is all in setup, so we should do 50-100-150 of maybe 2 sizes, and sell them via the site



Not good printers. I could run them all together, bumper stickers on one end, domed decals on the other. I could fit 7 or 8 of the ideas on a sheet, spread out setup time. Material is cheap.
A decal with white on clear is crazy cheap, $.50 - $2 retail cheap.

What, no carving wood blocks anymore? Hmmph... Oh well, carryon!
I'm glad this is more possible then I thought. I am drawing the line at printing the actual car though!

Alright Mr. Hempy,

It's been a month since the last entry on this thread. Any decisions yet?