Hi folks,
The poll still has a few more days to run, but from what I can see the voting has slowed down and I would guess that we're looking at a positive 46 members for "I'd like one". To me, that means a run of at least 100 just in case some folks have 2 cars
Despite not posting recently on the topic I'm still keen and since the poll started I've done some experimenting to see what does and doesn't work. For all the budding designers out there I'll share what I've come up with, even though some of the things are probably obvious to most folks.
1. A round sticker at roughly 3" diameter works well behind the drivers' head. It is visible from outside and makes no impact at all on the rear view mirror. Because of that you can have a solid background in whatever colour you want with contrasting text. The downside is that you're not going to read the web address without thinking about it !
2. The horizontal "banner" sticker, if you put it in the center of the back window, needs some care on sizing. I found a 1.5" x 8" sticker at the bottom of the window to be too intrusive with a solid background but clear background with white block text would be ok. A 1" x 8" sticker with a solid background is acceptable if you put it at the top of the rear window. As you'd guess from that it isn't length being the issue, it's the depth which is a compromise between being easily readable and getting in your way.
3. Simple line drawings are better. I tried a couple of round ones with photographic quality images, the photo comes out fine but as a sticker it just doesn't cut it. Likewise I had some surreal photoshop effects which had great visual impact on-screen but lousy when printed as a sticker. It was the same with colour selection, what looks good on-screen doesn't always have the same impact as a sticker. A print shop would no doubt be able to advise on that one ?
4. Clear backgrounds limit the colours you can use effectively and I think it would either be a single colour or a couple at most. Only having an inkjet for trials my I can't print white but think that's the best colour for easy reading on a clear background. Silver works ok but white will have greater impact against the darker interior of the car.
My conclusions were that a banner sticker should be clear background with plain white text (maybe outlined in black ? ). Round ones can be clear or solid background and personally I think they work better on a solid background as it allows you to have something like yellow/black text for example.
Finally, given the make-up of the forum and the fact there's more than just a couple of us interested, it makes sense to get them printed on your side of the pond. So a volunteer distributor is very welcome !
Brian
