My firetruck location LOVES having shadows on all their lettering. Gold reflective text with black outline/shadow combo normally on red background.
Lately, some lettering is required to go on some dark windows. My customer still insists on a shadow with the gold text for lettering consistency. He asked for a white shadow with gold text last time and I nearly died. I did it and it looked exactly how I expected it to look... yech...
What is your recommendation for the color of a shadow on an already blackish background?
posted
old rule Donna when you need another color...on any job Use blue! gold on black...Id use reflex or sapphire make the copy holler make the shadow whisper outlines go the other way
[ October 19, 2003, 08:55 PM: Message edited by: Michael Boone ]
Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity. — Charles Mingus Posts: 6806 | From: Mendocino, CA. USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
Donna, the words themselves are the message & are more important than the shadow. A dark shadow of any colour, on a dark background will be subdued, so will maybe enhance the words, without taking over/dominating- no problem then- except for the time involved!
-------------------- "Stewey" on chat
"...there are no limits when you aim for perfection..." Jonathan Livingston Seagull Posts: 7016 | From: Highgrove via Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia | Registered: Dec 2002
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posted
Donna... Look at it like this. Shadows are a natural darkening of the background colors, so on a real dark background, real black will still show up and look the most like a shadow. But if you can't do that,I would use a darker color. Since reds are hot colors, they tend to come forward to the viewer, while blues recede, so if you stayed in the blue range, it would look somewhat natural.
Of course most of this can be tossed out in certain situations, because sometimes red does look good. But I would not normally select a light color in this situation, because to my eye it makes the shadow compete with the letter, causing the words to be harder to read.
Just my quarters worth..........
-------------------- Jeff Ogden 8727 NE 68 Terr. Gainesville FL, 32609 Posts: 2138 | From: 8827 NE 68 Terr Gainesville Fl 32609 | Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
can you take a digital pic of the window, and play around with colors on the puter. I actually think black would work fine. A lot of what the eye will see will be reflections of the surroundings, sky etc. the black will block the reflections and still be visible.
-------------------- Dave Utter D-utterguy on chat Sign Designs Beardstown, Il. signdesigns@casscomm.com Posts: 777 | From: beardstown, illinois, usa | Registered: Mar 1999
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Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Here's what I did.
I informed my customer that my 'signpainter' friends know what they're talking about and black seemed to be the fav choice. So he allowed me to try it.
It looked ok but not fantastic. The window is nearly tinted black itself, so it doesn't show up much if at all, but I'll admit it looks right. Customer shrugged his shoulders and commented he still liked white but he didn't care today. LOL!!
I have a feeling I may be doing white in the future. I may try a very thin gold outline around the black shadow so he'd be happier with it for next time. I'm fortunate that he'll let me try things that don't jive with him right away. He's starting to give me abit more creative freedom, first time in, what, 11 years?
posted
Great idea Danny! I'll make a couple samples on clear acetate and hold them up to the window for his viewing pleasure. He'll probably freak at the blue but I'll try it anyway.
posted
The "samples" idea is what I would do. If the guys you are working with are anything like all of the fire stations I've worked with, what a "natural" shadow would look like doesn't mean squat to them. Not that outlines or shadows should always necessarily look natural. Making sure that the color values work is what is important. Personally, I would try Ray's example. It's got legibility, shadow, and fire truck colors.
But, we all know that if you show him samples, and one of them is gold with white outline-shade, he'll pick it, they always do.
-------------------- Joe Endicott NEXCOM (Navy Exchange Service Command) Signing Programs Specialist Virginia Beach, VA jeendicott@msn.com
"I want to be Stereotyped....I want to be Classified." Posts: 681 | From: Virginia Beach, VA USA | Registered: Mar 1999
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Hi Donna, I hope you're not too wet, with all this rain you guys are getting. It's almost rediculous, one month forest fires like hell, a couple of months later you need Noah. Concerning the Shadows on a dark Background I have this situation come up all the time, and to bring out that shadow what I do is sometimes put a thin outline around the shadow with a complimentary color to the background color, nothing to bold, something subtle. This is a job that I just pulled out of the shop, can you see the light green around the black dropshadow?
-------------------- "Keep Positive"
SIGNS1st. Neil Butler Paradise, NF Posts: 6277 | From: St. John's NF Canada | Registered: Mar 1999
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![[Frown]](frown.gif)
I may try a very thin gold outline around the black shadow so he'd be happier with it for next time. I'm fortunate that he'll let me try things that don't jive with him right away. He's starting to give me abit more creative freedom, first time in, what, 11 years? ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Cool]](cool.gif)
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