andygeekboy 62 Posted August 22, 2016 (edited) Hi All, I was going to take a crack at cutting some signage for my truck, are there any particular do's and don'ts? Something like: no goofy comic sans fonts only easy to read fonts only 'opposite colors' at least 3 forms of contact Telephone Number Email Address Website at least 2" high letters If my truck is ' Red Rock Metallic ' what would be a good 'opposing color' to make the lettering stand out? Last question Is matte or shiny preferred for vehicle signage? Thanks Edited August 22, 2016 by andygeekboy added a bit Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wildgoose 4,200 Posted August 22, 2016 I don't think there are hard and fast rules but generally you want whatever you decide to put on there to be legible from as far away as possible. Goofy frilly font's generally don't end up being very legible. I once did my business vehicle with heavy drop shadow behind the text. I layered it because it was easy and found that from about 50 feet it looked blurry and was hard to read. The next time I did the vehicle I used the "knock out" style of drop shadow which keeps a defined clear area around the text rather than layering it on top of each other. A little harder to build and keep everything perfect but 100% easier to read. My suggestion for coming up with contrasting colors is to do a mock-up with a good pic of your vehicle and add your design on top of it in your program of choice just like you would do with a client and that will let you experiment with colors that sound good. Once you place them on the mock you may decide they don't look like you thought they would. Some vinyl colors are tough to match up in a graphics program but you can get close enough to get a general feel for the finished effect. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darcshadow 1,626 Posted August 22, 2016 For a red truck I'd suggest white, silver, or grey. Black on red sounds good, but it's not easy to read from a distance unless you have pretty large letters, even then, a white outline would make it pop a lot more. Something else to keep in mind would be color blindness. Red/Green is a common one so you wouldn't want to use Green on your red truck, aside from that color combo being hard to read in general, there would be some people that wouldn't be able to see it at all. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dave_dj1 39 Posted August 24, 2016 White is by far the best contrasting color out there. One thing I hate is when people put so much information on the truck you can't figure out what they do or how to get a hold of them unless the truck is stationary and you are standing there to read it all. KISS One thing I have found in the short time I have had my machine is that there are a few things I would like to change about my truck lettering now that I know my way around the program a whole lot better. One of these days I may just peel it off and start over. There is a local slate guy that has a nice blue truck and had a very nice decal/paint job on it. The work is immaculate but unless you know him and what he does there is no way you can get it from his truck unless he's stopped and you are beside him. It's a total waste of money if you ask me. 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
signyouup 178 Posted August 25, 2016 I saw a white truck the other day and the layout of the vinyl looked good but you couldn't read anything. It was red lettering with a with a fairly thick black outline that left the center of letters completely black and the logo was a blob with a couple white spots. Once I got within 10 feet I could tell what it said but it wasn't comfortable to read at all. You best bet is to cut some letters out of the colors you are considering and put them on the truck for comparison. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,297 Posted August 25, 2016 54 minutes ago, signyouup said: I saw a white truck the other day and the layout of the vinyl looked good but you couldn't read anything. It was red lettering with a with a fairly thick black outline that left the center of letters completely black and the logo was a blob with a couple white spots. Once I got within 10 feet I could tell what it said but it wasn't comfortable to read at all. You best bet is to cut some letters out of the colors you are considering and put them on the truck for comparison. any vehicle signage should be readable as it passes and intersection - which is a couple of seconds - too many new people try to get to fancy and lose the reason for the signage - to get a message across in a short amount of time 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cal 393 Posted August 26, 2016 Here is a chart that may help the op and other newbies. Do not know where it came from, I am sure this site several years ago. Cal Lettering_Readability_Chart.pdf 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
andygeekboy 62 Posted August 26, 2016 1 hour ago, clhyer said: Lettering_Readability_Chart.pdf This is great thanks Cal! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
castironrobbie 30 Posted August 30, 2016 First thing that pops in my head is metallic silver when reading your text 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
painperdu 3 Posted August 31, 2016 On 8/22/2016 at 4:44 PM, Wildgoose said: . . .I used the "knock out" style of drop shadow . . . I'm trying to think of this. Is this where the shadow is on the inside? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
andygeekboy 62 Posted September 2, 2016 So, follow up question. If I go ahead and put some lettering on the truck and decide I don't like it, how difficult is it to take off? Is there some special goo gone type spray? Thanks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wildgoose 4,200 Posted September 3, 2016 It will pull back up easy for quite a while. Probably won't need the adhesive cleaner either. I use the orange peel adhesive remover sold on USCutter. There are others but it seems to perform about as good as anything I have found and the smell is better than the aerosol spray types. Just be sure you do a thorough cleaning afterword so your next graphic will stick. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jay2703 704 Posted September 30, 2016 Here is a chart having to do with the most contrasting color combinations. the higher the number, the easier to read. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
andygeekboy 62 Posted September 30, 2016 Thanks this is excellent info! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wildgoose 4,200 Posted October 1, 2016 5 hours ago, jayhoover2703 said: Here is a chart having to do with the most contrasting color combinations. the higher the number, the easier to read. That's nice. Don't quite understand why black on white is only 91. How can you get better contrast than that? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Go-C Graphics 856 Posted October 1, 2016 4 hours ago, Wildgoose said: That's nice. Don't quite understand why black on white is only 91. How can you get better contrast than that? I was wondering the same things. If that's the sliding scale then there has to be some color combo that's 100. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FrznFire07 217 Posted October 3, 2016 Same here since black on white is the best contrast but yellow on red is the most readable. Anybody know what LR(%) stands for? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Command 97 Posted October 3, 2016 55 minutes ago, FrznFire07 said: Same here since black on white is the best contrast but yellow on red is the most readable. Anybody know what LR(%) stands for? I'm guessing percentage of light reflected. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FrznFire07 217 Posted October 3, 2016 8 minutes ago, Command said: I'm guessing percentage of light reflected. oh that actually makes a lot of sense, incl why black and white wouldn't be total values since some light is always absorbed. hmmmm, interesting, thanks!! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FrznFire07 217 Posted October 3, 2016 So here's a blog I found that explains this chart... http://designworkplan.com/design/signage-and-color-contrast.htm I found this very interesting. This gives me some facts to stand on when customers are arguing with me about colors, lol. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Woody68RS 15 Posted October 18, 2016 I am a little late to the party, but I definitely suggest white, or a white/silver - white/chrome combo. I know this red is brighter than your truck, but it will give you an idea. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
andygeekboy 62 Posted October 18, 2016 Thanks @Woody68RS that's exactly what I was thinking when I was looking at these pics in your other post, the white outline is a great effect. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jeekinz 6 Posted December 15, 2016 Some states/cities have requirements for commercial vehicle lettering. NY is 3" minimum for physical address on contrasting colors. Phone and website is plenty for contact info IMO. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites