posted
finally installed the logo I posted last week after making the few changes inspired by my sample
I'm editing in the sample so I can see them side by side to decide how much I like the white outline. (I'm sure the red was an improvement, but the white almost made me want a thin black pinline between white & gold)
[ March 10, 2003, 06:08 PM: Message edited by: Doug Allan ]
posted
I love it Doug!! and I bet in real life it is even nicer!
-dan
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8738 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
| IP: Logged |
posted
Thanks Dan, yes it's truly difficult to get the Signgold to look as nice in a photo as I would like. Something I would imagine to be true with gilding as well.
I forgot to mention the client has decided to have their new logo installed on their older truck as well.
posted
Thats a compliment.... when one turns into two!
-dan
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8738 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
| IP: Logged |
The design is super, colors are wonderful, and it does pop out. Your customer must be riding "proud"! reminds me of the aquas and baby blues popular in the 50's. My dad had a baby blue cadillac with a telephone and in the glove compartment he had red hot gumballs. The car color was popular back then, loved those blues!
-------------------- Deb Fowler
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible - Walt Disney (1901-1966) Posts: 5373 | From: Loves Park, Illinois | Registered: Aug 1999
| IP: Logged |
Very nice job--this looks like one of those fun ones that makes all the others worthwhile. That layout also begs to be executed as a glue chip glass panel.
[ March 09, 2003, 02:13 AM: Message edited by: David Harding ]
-------------------- David Harding A Sign of Excellence Carrollton, TX Posts: 5089 | From: Carrollton, TX, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
| IP: Logged |
posted
Way to go Doug, this is the kind of work that will bring in more customers to you.
-------------------- Bill Riedel Riedel Sign Co., Inc. 15 Warren Street Little Ferry, N.J. 07643 billsr@riedelsignco.com Posts: 2953 | From: Little Ferry, New Jersey, USA | Registered: Feb 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
Thanks for the feedback. I can honestly say this was a letterhead inspired job. In the years of looking at trade mag pics, I always appreciated them, but never could see the first step to take to develop me designs, just figured ..."some year down the road..."
After hanging around here I got to where I had much more drive to experiment. And I also, built up a little more supply of artwork collections & thought of looking for panel shapes, or a floursish (sp) or an extra unique font, instead of just looking for clipart when a client asked for something I didn't trust myself drawing.
So thanks again to all here who inspire me.
(BTW, I thought I posted this in the portfolio page yesterday, guess my sub-conscious was steering for mass exposure )
posted
Okay, I'm not nearly so impressed as most of you, but Doug didn't ask for critiques. Soooo.....
-------------------- "A wise man concerns himself with the truth, not with what people believe." - Aristotle
Cam Bortz Finest Kind Signs Pondside Iron works 256 S. Broad St. Pawcatuck, Ct. 06379 "Award winning Signs since 1988" Posts: 3051 | From: Pawcatuck,Connecticut USA | Registered: Nov 1998
| IP: Logged |
posted
Actually Cam, I did ask for critiques back when I could still do something about them. 2 posts on the portfolio page, one when I had only a drawing & one when I had done a test panel to try to work out some color problems I needed to see in actual materials. I'll admit I didn't (or couldn't) follow every suggestion, but I wouldn't be learning to improve my designs here if I wasn't paying attention to critiques.
As much as I would have preferred to recieve critiques before the fact, I have my own shoulda, woulda, coulda's on this job to help improve my next job, so I would still welcome critiques. Just "not being nearly as impressed" does me no good, lets here the constructive criticism from Cam, & anyone with some comments to offer.
posted
The flower was the wife's (good ole gal Gigi's) idea. In fact the whole sign was her idea, & outta her pocket. I met Earl when they picked up the truck. (He dropped it off early before I got there) but he had seen the drawings so I think his appreciation was genuine, since he could have made revisions if needed.
But the appreciation of the "Earl's of the world" is the easy part, lets see where I could do better. Besides a little black between the gold & the white outline, I also thing the "panel" around the "TRUCKING" is a little awkward. I'm not sure it works with the main panel shape. I like the 2-tone floral print in there but not sure about those colors. In fact the imitation gold on the border is a little too mustardy for me & not metallic enough for what I originally intended. Filling the space left by the mismatched curves with the gold flourish seems to work ok to me, but trying to use a few of the same thing cut in half on both sides of the flower is not working as well. Rick pointed out that negative space problem in the center, & I'm not sure I solved it well with my easy way out. I also started out with the black "perspective" shadow & since the client liked it I never changed it, but it seems too fat. I also wanted to try changing it to a true shadow appearance where my 2 tone "wallpaper" (as Nettie called it)would have 2 more tones instead of just black, but I decided not to give away too much free time on this layout after the client was already happy. There's always the next job to apply some of these lessons. The last thing I would do different was that even though $700 felt like a good job for me, not having sold too many expensive designs, or truck doors, when she wanted to do another truck, I was sorry I showed an invoice for $350 design & $350 pair of doors, because I don't mind getting less for design then others would have, but I think the 2nd truck could be fiar to charge more then $350 on even though all my files are ready to cut.
posted
Very cool design and implemented perfectly on the truck doors. You should be proud and so should the customer as I can see by your replys was very satisfied. Youre a man of many talents there Hawaii Doug!
-------------------- Maker of fine signs and other creative stuff. Located at 109 N. Cumberland ave. Harlan, Ky. 40831 606-837-0242 Posts: 4172 | From: Ages-Brookside, Ky. Up the Holler... | Registered: Jul 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
Sorry to have taken so long; I've been off-line for a week due to computer problems. Since I mentioned a critique, I suppose I'm obligated to give one. My first observation is a problem with legibility - at first glance I read "BARbS". Looking again, I could read EARLS, but I would have chosen a less decorative font. While this might have worked OK as a sign over a sidewalk, where it gets read close up by people who are walking, we should remember this is a truck, to be read at a glance. A really effective design has to include what you are designing for - what may look great on a sign does not necessarily work as truck lettering.
I'm also curious as to why the blue panel? The truck door is black, which is a great background color for contrast to sign gold, so I don't quite see the point of paneling the entire image on another color. If a truck has a difficult background color, a panel can provide better contrast, but on this job that seems to have been turned around.
The other color issue is that heavy black shadow and outline around the EARLS and the TRUCKING panel. This seems to have been done to increase contrast from gold to the light blue, which again makes me question the use of the bright blue background panel. Then there's the word Trucking, in a pale color on a gold background, so it needs an outline/shade to make it readable.
Were I to design this job, I'd start with EARL'S in a simpler font - I'm particularly fond of Hensler, from Letterhead Fonts - in Gold with a fire red outline and shading in a deeper tone, think a dark brick-red, not too wide. The arc works OK, there's not enough letters in EARL'S to play around with other distortions; I might have looked at using a larger or perhaps somewhat more decorative letter E, and left the following letters on a straight line. The flower works OK, and possibly you could place that on a blue oval or diamond-shaped panel. TRUCKING I'd have as a panel (as you did) of sign-gold and continued with the fire-red outline, with plain black copy. The phone number would have used the same typeface as EARL'S, and done the Upcountry, Maui, in a loose script of bright blue.
My overall impression is that this is one of those designs that doesn't seem to be able to get out of its own way; god knows I've done them, we all have. Doug, I'm sorry I did not see this on the portfolio page, or I might have offered a critique at that point. Having seen some of your earlier work, I can see you're learning fast, so I hope this critique is accepted in a constructive sense.
I
-------------------- "A wise man concerns himself with the truth, not with what people believe." - Aristotle
Cam Bortz Finest Kind Signs Pondside Iron works 256 S. Broad St. Pawcatuck, Ct. 06379 "Award winning Signs since 1988" Posts: 3051 | From: Pawcatuck,Connecticut USA | Registered: Nov 1998
| IP: Logged |
posted
My main critique is that white is not a good color choice for an outline for gold leaf. Blacks works best - makes the leaf jump out. Maroon makes a great outline when the leaf is going on a black background. But with white, there will invariably be several viewing angles in which the gold appears light, and will meld with the white outline and make an already tough-to-read font even tougher...
posted
Cam, thanks for sharing your many constructive insights. They all make enough sense from reading them once, that there is a very good chance they will sit in the back of my mind waiting to help me out on the next relevant design.
I kind of decided arbitrarily to try to use a panel shape of some kind because I had liked so many designs I've seen with an interesting background shape & I've never done more then an occassional triangle here or an oval there, so I just threw one in for no reason.
Peter, I would normally agree with your comment on the white outline, but I did a test one with a maroon outline on black (shown below the first pic on the opening post)That sample is still here in my office & it does not work. It is too dark. The white works better then the maroon, but I agree that it still may interfere with legibility when the gold catches a lot of light. I think it should have been a little thinner & it probably should have been in-lined from the actual letter so it would create the true letter shape when the gold & white blend together in the light. I guess the font selection is most at fault for this legibility issue.
[ March 19, 2003, 02:57 AM: Message edited by: Doug Allan ]
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic