An Old-School Perspective (Web Exclusive)

Q: What’s your vehicle-graphics background?

A: In 1969, the first time I was offered money for a vehicle-lettering job, it probably amounted to three dollars an hour. Okay, maybe four! I cared more about the art than the money, even though I was a cash-strapped college student. I didn’t know much, except that, somehow, I needed to get black letters on each side of a corrugated school bus. I used stiff, sable brushes and watery, bulletin colors, but I also had endless optimism and plenty of light. It was a parking-lot job!

Q: What types of vehicles and clients do you typically service?

A: Smaller clients want a unique look, and they’re willing to pay more for that because they know it takes more time and thought. I do a fair number of everyday street rigs, like pickups, SUVs and motorcycles. I don’t do much production work. I produce “period” work on a hotrod, with hand stripes or computer-cut graphics. I recently cut small Ford logos in vinyl and then domed them with epoxy resin to replicate the raised logo on chrome pieces, which are no longer available.

Q: When using goldleaf, how do you determine whether to use SignGold or traditional goldleaf?

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A: The deciding factor is cost. I might recommend SignGold (photos) for a vehicle that will only be kept for three years. It’s genuine gold, but looks like vinyl, so it might be half the cost of applying traditional gold leaf. Hand-applied gold is only cost-effective when kept over five years, but, aesthetically, it looks the best.

Q: How has switching to plotter cutting changed your business?

A: I was initially resistant because the first plotters’ meager programs were so cumbersome. I did better work, but, even in those days, plotters were faster. Now, the computer is one of the many tools we have. The trick is to use the right tool combination for the job. Sometimes the hand is the best way to work, but the computer is mandatory for some part of nearly all jobs. The change for me has been that the hand work now only amounts to about 10% of everything I do. Design, color and approach are still up to me. The best computer, of course, is the one right between our ears.

Q: What are the common pitfalls with vehicle-graphic applications and how have you learned to avoid them?

A: I think it’s easy to go crazy with Photoshop®. Dressing up the vehicle like an unrecognizable bride sinks the message in an ocean of ink and vinyl. This is why ST should do a feature issue on ugly vehicle graphics. They’re everywhere. It’s difficult to keep a firm grasp on what idea we’re trying to convey and focus on the best way to do it. I have paused at the “print” or “cut” button more that once and thought, “What is this?”, and, instead, pushed “delete.”

Q: What have been some of the wildest jobs you’ve done? What was unique about them?

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A: We decorated an airplane two years ago in a small hangar. Before we could return to photograph it on the fly, the owner/pilot experienced what he called a “hard landing” and mangled the graphics. We’re still waiting for a callback on that one.

Once, at a Pinhead meet over at Steve “the Wizard” Chaszeyka’s shop, an editor from Hot Rod dropped off a chopped, purple, 1941 Buick. Twelve of us looked it over, decided what to do and then spent the next two hours chasing each other around that car with stripers and quills! We did a whole day’s work in a flash! It was like being in an old Keystone Cops movie — tons of fun and a sweet look when we were done. How often can you gang-stripe a nice ride?

Q: What would be your dream job, and how would you do it?

A: I would assemble a team to design and produce updated graphics for the next NASA Space Shuttle. They are using laughable “graphics” from the ’60s. It would only cost maybe 1% of their launch budget – I think we could do it for $4.5 million — to get their graphics into this century! Our team would then go on a public-relations tour, promoting the “new look” of NASA and promote signmakers’ importance to the world. Imagine that!