posted
Hello Heads. Have many of you lettered vans or pickups with a Silver/Grey paint scheme? This is a background that I find very few colour combinations work well against. Because the silver grey reflects a certain amount of the light, it can appear dark at times, and when in another location, the paint can appear quite light. I've used white outlines to attempt to overcome this "chameleon" characteristic, but surely there must be colour combinations that do work well on this sort of background. I'd be interested if whatever you've found to be effective, since I'm becoming tired of the white outline solution.
-------------------- Ken Henry Henry & Henry Signs London, Ontario Canada (519) 439-1881 e-mail: kjmlhenry@rogers.com
Why do I get all those on-line offers to sell me Viagara, when the only thing hardening is my arteries ? Posts: 2689 | From: London,Ontario, Canada | Registered: Feb 1999
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I have used EDGE Cobalt Blue and Navy Blue cartridges in conjunction with Avery Metallic Silver in the past. It did the job for those particular designs, but not sure its as universal as White.
-------------------- Bob Gilliland InKnowVative Communications Harrisburg PA, USA
"The U.S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself." Benjamin Franklin
Posts: 642 | From: Harrisburg, PA, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
Hiya Ken I like to use panels that will contrast the letters on these jobs. Rectangles ,ovals,triangles.etc.. Here's another cool trick...give the letters an unreasonable outline..then knock off odd points and dips...this will give you a unique panel...bigger than an outline .I use this sometimes for simple logo design..easy huh? Ribbons and banners too.
A subject which has probably burned most of us at one time or another.
I'm not long on knowledge of the physics involved, but I do have a few theories.
White letters reflect all of the color spectrum, while colors, no matter which one, only reflect their part of the light spectrum, in other words, less reflection. With black letters the eye perceives the absence of reflected light.
The "squint" method of determining value of a color. Arbitrarily assign a numerical value to a color by squinting at it until it grays to the eye. Figure white as a 1 value, and black as a 10. The other colors lie somewhere in between. By squinting at a color 'til it loses its color, and appears gray, then you can figure its value. That would be somewhere between a 2 and 9. A silver or gray vehicle would probably land on a value of 3 to 8. I know-- wide range. Sorry.
Then pick your colors as far apart on the value scale as you can. My own preference is to use white letters for the main copy, with a heavy black outline, and weighted to the left and down for a little 3-d effect. Depending on the value number of the vehicle color, that would determine whether to go light or dark for the rest of the copy.
The classic example of bad judgement in color choice is probably red on a medium blue. It can be read, but with difficulty, and more so with increasing distance. "But red is a bright color." Well, yes and no. Squint at it 'til it goes gray, and it will be about the same value as the blue, and there goes your contrast.
Just my .02 for what it's worth.
Just read Mike Boone's reply-- panels and ribbons work well, too. Using them you can shoot for contrast between the letters and the panels or ribbons, and not worry about the vehicle color.
[ November 16, 2001: Message edited by: Bill Preston ]
-------------------- Bill Preston Fly Creek, N.Y. USA Posts: 943 | From: Fly Creek, N.Y. USA | Registered: Jan 2000
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