Body Lines On Trucks
Posted by Carol on November 09, 2001Remember when trucks had easy to read body lines and you could follow them with your layouts?
I see many of these new vans that have a sloping line from the rain gutter toward the back with this hump in the middle. There are a few vans around here and whoever did them pulled all the layout lines down from the gutter. The whole van looks strange to me. There is a reverse panel that is crooked where it hits the raised band across the center of the van.
Many of the body lines on new vehicles taper and illusions are often needed to make things look straight.
Posted by Mike Jackson on November 09, 2001I almost always measure from the bottom up on vehicles. It doesn't always work but usually does. Another tip that I read here (I think) is to use one of those small tape measures made for key chains. They are more flexible for measuring over chrome strips. I now carry one in my sign kit.
Posted by Art on November 12, 2001We usually tape the vinyl legend or pattern against the truck where we think it should go, based on the tape measure, and then back up to see if it "looks right". Sometimes fudging an 1/8" will make all the difference! Of course, you need to adjust by the same amount on the other side but in the opposite direction, based on the direction of the taper.
Also, the actual design make a lot of difference. We have one customer who's logo had a triange shape at the top, while the bottom is basically a long line of straight copy. This woud be one example of measuring from a major line on the truck near the bottom of the door or panel.
We also fight those side mirrors that drop down into the copy area. Another problem now is the huge door handle "block". In the old days, it was just a silver handle with a button, usually near the top and out of the way. Now they are 6" x 8" blocks of black plastic with a handle hidden in it. Some doors are 48" long now, and you always have to wonder whether to center the copy in the middle of the entire door, or adjust to allow for the big handle block. I often measure the center both ways, and then average the two.
The old Ford and Chevy trucks were much easier to work with!
Mike Jackson
beware of opticle illusions, too much measuring is doubting your ability. Rather,position the graphics(of course the vehicle must be level),back up, eyeball it,adjust if necessary,even ask the neihbour's opinion if need be, he'll love you for it!If in doubt, there's always a carpenter's level!
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