The Basics
Next time you see some nice graphics on a storefront or the side of a vehicle, take a close look at it. From a distance, it may look as though someone carefully painted it onto the surface. In fact, even within arms reach it may still look that way. However, run your hands over the graphic and you'll notice it's simply a big sticker.
That 'sticker' is nothing more than vinyl that was cut from a larger sheet. Knowing that, you still may be baffled as to how they are cut out. Did someone buy pre-cut letters from Wal Mart and just slap 'em on? Based on some of the poor designs out there, it sometimes seems that way. But, that doesn't explain how custom grphics or weird lettering is created.
It's fairly simple. The vinyl comes on a roll. The rolls are in various widths from a few inches up to 5 ft. (we can handle up to 48"). Each roll holds about 150 ft. The rolls are placed in a cutting machine (exactly like the old-school pen plotters for those who know what that is). From your graphics program, you simply 'print' the graphic and viola, custom cut vinyl 'stickers'
Vinyl
There are essentially two types of vinyl: Cast and Calendered. Cast is considered high performance (that's the only stuff we use) while Calendered is considered intermediate. Cast is the only vinyl to use for outdoor applications that need to last up to about 7 years. Calendered is ok for short term applications.
Design
When you check out some of these other online resources for boat lettering and graphics, they pretty much give you free reign to design anything you'd like. They give you many different font options. They also offer special effects like outlining and drop shadows. I can certainly do that too, but I'm going to be a friend and suggest...K.I.S.S.
Every boater knows what that means: Keep It Simple, Stupid. That means, don't pick some crazy, curley cue script font and NEVER use drop shadows or outlining. On the next page are some guidelines that I highly recommend you consider before designing your name.Guidelines
Size
You need to make your boat name large enough to be read. In fact, if done well, the name can be almost as big as you want. There are a lot of boats whose names cover the entire transom or half the length of the boat. Keep in mind, these could be very expensive and very difficult to apply. If your vessel is NOT a US Coast Guard registered vessel, there's no limit to how small you can make the name. If it IS a US Coast Guard registered vessel, the name must be 4" or higher. You must also include the hailing port if your vessel is USCG registered and the 4" rule also applies to that. Also for USCG registered vessels, the name can't exceed 33 characters. So, a boat name like 'Monty Python's Incredible Flying Circus' at 34 letters won't cut it for a registered vessel.
For up-to-date info on USCGÂ Documentation Requirments, check out their FAQ.
For small registered vessels like ours, 4" hailing ports can be a bit distracting. One way around it is to use a narrow font.
Style
The font styles (letter styles) available are practically endless. But, that doesn't mean you can or should use any letter style that floats your boat. Below are some good and bad examples:
