Side art & CP critique

[iceman73]

This is my very first forum post. I have been following this forum for quite some time and finally decided its time to lay it all on the line and let you critique my design work. I welcome any changes or idea you might have. I am also having a hard time coming up with a design for the marquee. I don't want to overdo the Leafs logo as it is already on the side art and the CP. I was thinking of using blue buttons and joysticks. The monitor bezel I was going to leave black. Thanks in advance.

[mike boss]

Toronto born and bread......but not a true DIE HARD Leafs fan...... none the less I think this is cool.
I like the CP image.

Good stuff.

[PL1]

Welcome aboard, Iceman73.

The CPO looks good.

The only things that might be cause for concern involve the amount of wiggle room you're allowing for.

The text around the buttons might be a bit close to the top edge and the button bezels. (flat part that rests on the surface of the CP)

Standard button holes are 1.125", but the button bezels are about ~1.3".

Also, are you planning on curving the CP to match the corner curves?

If so, you may want to use your t-molding to provide the curved rink outline.

If you use a printed outline and it is a bit off, it will be far more noticeable than if you extend the "ice" and use the red lines to align the art.

Marking the center of the holes will also help you to keep everything exactly aligned.


Scott

EDIT: Looking closer, I noticed quite a number of resizing artifacts in the posted image.

You'll probably want to create a 300 Pixel Per Inch image to work with -- check with your printer to see what resolution they recommend.

[iceman73]

I think I may drop all of the top buttons about 1" to give me more room at the top. I wasn't sure how much to leave around the buttons so I will make sure that my lettering is 1.5" around the button.

After your thoughts about misalignment maybe I should get rid of the curved corner. It still looks good without them.

I was going to have the CP printed in 3 sections (left side up to the blue line, between the blue lines, and right side of the blue line). That way if they change the center ice graphics on the real ice surface I only need to print the center section. I can use blue pinstripe where they would join together.

I was also thinking of adding various cab makers logo such as Midway, Taito's, etc where the normal sponsors logos would go. What do you think?

[PL1]

After your thoughts about misalignment maybe I should get rid of the curved corner. It still looks good without them.

Just wrap the print over the edge and pin it down with the t-molding like Rikitiki shows from about 11:00-17:30 in the 4th video of the Side Art Install 101 thread.

Curved corners on the panel will also make applying the t-molding a bit easier.

I was going to have the CP printed in 3 sections (left side up to the blue line, between the blue lines, and right side of the blue line). That way if they change the center ice graphics on the real ice surface I only need to print the center section. I can use blue pinstripe where they would join together.

Hmm . . . not so sure about that idea.

It might work OK if you use plexi over the CPO, but it sounds like a huge pain aligning 3 separate prints, plus if you try to remove the pinstriping and the side print tears . . . 

IMHO a one-piece print would be the better way to go.

In addition, the center ice design goes with your sideart.  Will you want to replace the sideart too?

I was also thinking of adding various cab makers logo such as Midway, Taito's, etc where the normal sponsors logos would go. What do you think?

Not so sure that works from a perspective viewpoint if the CP is the ice and the t-molding is the outline of the rink since most sponsor logos are on the boards. YMMV.


Scott

[iceman73]

I can put the radiuses on the front corners but what do I do for the back corners? This will leave a hole to the inside of the cabinet.

OK a one piece CPO will make my life easier. Yes, I will have acrylic or lexan to protect the CPO.

This is the original image of the ice surface with the sponsors.

[PL1]

I can put the radiuses on the front corners but what do I do for the back corners?

You can probably leave the black curved areas from the original image.

That should blend well with the black bezel you mentioned above.

Also, that original image might be a good candidate for vectorization using the Vector Magic website -- less effort than editing out the resizing artifacts.


Scott

[Monkeyvoodoo]

Not quite my cup of tea but I like the overall theme. I know you've done quite a bit of work already but how about going a bit more retro and use the old logo on a beat up board. Maybe beat up the ice graphic a bit too so it looks like a game just finished?  Give it an aged look?

[iceman73]

Thanks PL1 for your input. I think I have used all your suggestions and it looks great.

I wish I knew about Vector Magic before I started. I used CorelDraw to vectorize the image manually. It wasn't too bad because it's just circles and lines and I already had a vectorized Leafs logo.

As far as making it look older/retro I think this requires more artwork skill than I possess. Maybe on a future cabinet. It might look cool to have a shiny new cabinet with the new logo next to an older looking cabinet with the old logo from 1938 - 1967.