custom decals
 

ive seen some people post their bikes with custom decals...where does one get these made?

at school we have a vinyl cutter, but im not sure if these are the same thing.

yeah it's the same thing. a machine-controlled die vinyl cutter is best and most sign shops have them and can do custom one off jobs for a reasonable price.

of course, vinyl is one-use and it gets silly expensive for what you're getting, especially if the sign shop thinks their time is super-seriously valuable. if your school can do it, do it there. you'll need a vector design (cad, illustrator, cnc) file of your design.

if you just have a raster image, like a picture, it will take some doing and that's when it gets expensive.

if you just have text it should be easy, because text is vector as long as you have the font. typography can be complicated but for most intents and purposes it should be simple.

yeah i just want to do one to replace my mercier decal on my down tube, which will be text. i also want to make one for my headtube as well. i just feel that the vinyl we have at school is thicker than what the factory made decals are made out of...no?

it's quite possible. vinyl is measured in 'mil' width. you're going to want something small, but opaque.

i really want to get some made as well... i'm going to PM you about it.

there's a mac font that looks very similar to the mercier font in itallic, it's called haettenschweiler

anyone have hands-on experience doing this? i would like to hear from someone who's had custom ones made/made them themselves.

there's that pista concept on v-space that has a sweet edwardian-style bianchi custom logo... white and grey... looks very trick.

Ive got some custom vinyl on my bike. Its not too hard. Im a designer so I just made what I wanted in Illustrator. Then measured where I wanted it on my bike, and sized it appropriately. My friend who works at a sign shop made the vinyl. Mailed it to me and I just cleaned up the bike where it was going to go, and placed it kind of like a sticker, then rubbed it down really well. Its stayed on fine thus far.

Cut vinyl is only one color, so no effects and such. If you want multiple color you basically have to stack vinyl on top of itself. It comes in lots of colors and some crazy glittery styles as well. Overall the stuff is pretty cheap by the yard. It will stick to anything smooth and not oily (windows, cars, tables, walls, electronics, etc…).

If you have any more specific Qs let me know.

If you're not looking for 'homemade' check out my friends at blackbookstencils.com

They're sure to create something incredible.

100 dollars for a tee shirt, three peices of board, a can of paint, a roller and some instructions? wow.

and i thought 6 dollars shipped for an injet printed vinyl decal that i thought was going to have actual colored vinyl was a ripoff.

http://www.edecals.com is a decent online source if you want something fairly simple.

You can actually print on vinyl to get multiple colors without stacking it. It's a foil type print so it's really durable. I ran a sign shop for 4 years and did all kinds of decals for bikes and cars and boat etc... You should follow cc700's advice about the graphics 'cause you have to go vector. The key is to find a shop with a vinyl printer and do as much of the design as possible. Ideally, you want to walk in with a disk with everything sized correctly and in vector. Also, don't forget to outline your fonts.

i dont even know what i'd want my bike to say, but i know it'd have to be something vulgar.

Step 1: Make some spiffy design in photoshop.

Step 2: Print it on some nice thick paper.

Step 3: Have at it with an exact-o knife.

Step 4: Stencil that with krylon.

Step 5: Clearcoat.

If that isn't too ghetto for your tastes of course, I plan on doing some crazy stuff if I ever get around to re-painting my frame.

I'm toying with the idea of something sacriligious to bikers, like Gueripotty or 3sancho or Biancheeze or Bridgescone or Cinderelli or Snott or Bob Johnson or Coldnadso or something else.

vulgar is good too though. I like all the "One F***** Speed" decals on ebay.

4rensho has come and gone...

http://velospace.org/files/4rensho.jpg

best pista ever(not mine)