Vehicle Lettering - My Mobile 2011 Fit

J

jashton

Member
Hey guys,



I hate to start a new thread on this topic, but i'm having trouble deciding how I want to letter my vehicle. It is a 2011 Honda Fit that I use as my mobile detailing rig.



I'm stuck between doing small stickers on the windows or going with larger lettering on the side of the doors and rear window as well.



I did multiple searches on this site as well as google and it's really hard to visualize something on the car, when all I can find are vans, trucks and trailers. I would rather be prepared with my own blueprint instead of relying just on the advice of the sign shop.



Any opinions would be greatly appreciated. I'm not sure if i'm allowed to post a link to my website but I will add a picture of my logo later tonight.



I am going in for measurements at a local sign shop tomorrow. The funny thing is I contacted 6 different local shops through their websites and only one that responded. This must be a new business technique I haven't learned yet, playing hard to get.



Thanks in advance!



Jeff
 
Your best bet would probably be to take a picture of the side of your car and play around with photoshop or a similar program to see what you like the looks of. On a car that small confining your graphics to the windows won't grab someone's attention as well as a full wrap, but it all comes down to your preference and your budget.
 
Just something to think about. When I was getting ready to do the lettering on my shop sign and door, I went out and spent about $400 on a vinyl cutting machine and a bunch of rolls of vinyl. I did that lettering, which pretty much paid for the cutter and now occasionally do lettering and decals for customers. You could get a setup and play around with the vinyl right on the car, then just peel it right back off if you don't like it and start over. Sign shops charge an arm and a leg for something you could make a small initial investment in, do your car and make the money right back doing stuff for customers. Maybe not something you're interested in but thought I'd throw it out there.



This is similar to the one I have. Cheap but works really well for a value priced cutter.



NEW 34" Vinyl Cutter / Cutting Plotter USCutter w/USB | eBay
 
C. Charles Hahn said:
Your best bet would probably be to take a picture of the side of your car and play around with photoshop or a similar program to see what you like the looks of. On a car that small confining your graphics to the windows won't grab someone's attention as well as a full wrap, but it all comes down to your preference and your budget.
Click to expand...

I'm definitely going to start playing around with photoshop, thanks for the input.



ExplicitDetails said:
Just something to think about. When I was getting ready to do the lettering on my shop sign and door, I went out and spent about $400 on a vinyl cutting machine and a bunch of rolls of vinyl. I did that lettering, which pretty much paid for the cutter and now occasionally do lettering and decals for customers. You could get a setup and play around with the vinyl right on the car, then just peel it right back off if you don't like it and start over. Sign shops charge an arm and a leg for something you could make a small initial investment in, do your car and make the money right back doing stuff for customers. Maybe not something you're interested in but thought I'd throw it out there.



This is similar to the one I have. Cheap but works really well for a value priced cutter.



NEW 34" Vinyl Cutter / Cutting Plotter USCutter w/USB | eBay
Click to expand...

I never thought about getting a cutter and didn't realize they were affordable. Do you have any pictures of your work? What is your opinion of the software it includes?
 
ExplicitDetails said:
Just something to think about. When I was getting ready to do the lettering on my shop sign and door, I went out and spent about $400 on a vinyl cutting machine and a bunch of rolls of vinyl. I did that lettering, which pretty much paid for the cutter and now occasionally do lettering and decals for customers. You could get a setup and play around with the vinyl right on the car, then just peel it right back off if you don't like it and start over. Sign shops charge an arm and a leg for something you could make a small initial investment in, do your car and make the money right back doing stuff for customers. Maybe not something you're interested in but thought I'd throw it out there.



This is similar to the one I have. Cheap but works really well for a value priced cutter.



NEW 34" Vinyl Cutter / Cutting Plotter USCutter w/USB | eBay
Click to expand...



Wow, that's pretty awesome!



Damn... I really don't need another gadget sitting around :o
 
Here's the lettering on my shop door. White with red layered on top. This was the first one I ever tried and as you can see it came out quite well.



cap001-1.jpg




This is on my office wall, just plain black vinyl.



cap-1.jpg




The software that's included is pretty nice. Very easy to make simple lettering like this. You can import from other programs, convert files, get it to automatically outline and cut for making decals, etc. A little bit of a learning curve but there's some good forums to learn on out there. The cutter I got is really good quality for the price, even though it's so cheap. You can find packages that include the cutter, an assortment of vinyl, etc. I'd definitely recommend a setup like this to anyone who needs to cut the occaisonal vinyl job.
 
ExplicitDetails said:
Here's the lettering on my shop door. White with red layered on top. This was the first one I ever tried and as you can see it came out quite well.



cap001-1.jpg




This is on my office wall, just plain black vinyl.



cap-1.jpg




The software that's included is pretty nice. Very easy to make simple lettering like this. You can import from other programs, convert files, get it to automatically outline and cut for making decals, etc. A little bit of a learning curve but there's some good forums to learn on out there. The cutter I got is really good quality for the price, even though it's so cheap. You can find packages that include the cutter, an assortment of vinyl, etc. I'd definitely recommend a setup like this to anyone who needs to cut the occaisonal vinyl job.
Click to expand...

Wow,



That really came out great! Do you have any other links you can give me to purchase vinyl?
 
jashton said:
Wow,



That really came out great! Do you have any other links you can give me to purchase vinyl?
Click to expand...



Thanks



I get my vinyl from signwarehouse.com, uscutter.com or on eBay. Another place is fellers.com but they are more specialized for car wrap vinyl. tiptopsigns.com has a nice selection of specialty vinyl as well at a good price.



There's alot of different grades and brands of vinyl out there. For indoor use, you can get away with the cheap stuff, but if you're going to be making something for an outdoor sign or a car, you will want to go with a better grade.



There's plenty of videos on Youtube to get you started learning how to cut and weed the vinyl and transfer to whatever you're putting it on. Weeding can be a pita, but it's really pretty fun once you get the hang of it.
 
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