Category: Boat Lettering

Boat Name Graphic Lettering Design of Steel’n Time with the removal of Piper Belle

Before a new boat name is designed, printed and installed it is most important to make sure the new name will fit just right in the same area where the old name was.

Also before removing the old boat name I made sure of my measurements of where Piper Belle exactly laid. I also took note of colors and took many pictures before removing the old name.Piper Belle

With some heat of a heat gun and peeling with a razor and my nails, the boat name slowly came off. I removed the rest of the adhesive with acetone and some old white rags. I then buffed the area with a little bit of compound wax and water. Then a final washed with soap and water.

Mean while I sent proofs to the customer after they filled out the boat name form. When I receive the form I have a better understanding of what the customers wanted. I follow up with a proof of there boat with the new name laid on top of the old name to show the difference of what they had verses what they will get.

It didn’t take the boat owners long to make a decision on what font they loved. 

I sent the first proof with many font options. They also knew that they had the option to go to dafont.com to see if there were any other fonts that I might of missed.

I then added a silver drop shadow to the name to make it pop off the back of the boat.

There was a small issue that I had to work out with the back of the boat. If you look real close you will see a 2″ round door stopper that I had to figure out in the equation to make sure none of the lettering would be in its way. Thus you will see that I placed the “n” in Steel’n Time exactly over the stopper. So the lettering would not be destorted from a distance.

Final Proof

After the final proof is approved I go to printing production. The silver and Marine Blue were printed separate and the placed together to make one complete graphic. I then place te graphics centered on the boat before I apply them. Constantly checking my measurements to make sure everything is centered and has flow over any contours in the boat or door latches and gaps.

Boat Name Installed in Clearwater Beach, Florida

Everything is perfect! Straight and perfectly placed around the obstacles that were on the back transom. The final boat name product is complete and looks fantastic.

Boat Name Steel’n Time is complete

Boat Name in Clearwater Beach, Florida

The name is complete and looks exactly how the Boat Name Guy showed it in his proofs.

The customers are ecstatic and very happy of the end boat name product.

Boat Name removal and replacement is very common for new boat owners. Doug the Boat Name Guy offers very reasonable prices for the designing, printing and removal and install of all boat names in the Tampa, Pinellas County area.

Call  Doug the Boat Name Guy today for your new boat name at 727-742-6162 or fill out the easy Boat Name Form for your no hassle boat name estimate and proof!

Full Color Boat Name Design, Printing and Install in the Tampabay Clearwater area

Some boat name lettering and graphics are requested to be in a full color. In other words you can see the fade of each color compared to just solid spot colors. It can be considered that three to four colors on a boat name logo could be declared as a full color if that’s all the color that is needed in your logo.

A four colored boat name like Sandy’s beach above was plotted out in separate colors. Then each color is installed on the boat separately until the boat name logo is achieved.

The technology for printing boat names has come a long way and today we are able to make full Color Prints last for years. The process is still done on vinyl. Large format printing machines can print on a white 3M vinyl. After printing the graphics, another large laminating machine laminates on top of it to help protect from scratches and UV rays.
Here are some of the pros and cons of having a full-color graphic rather than having solid base vinyl colors.

  • Still to this day solid non printed viynl colors will not fade as fast as a printed viynl.
  • Full color printed graphics are a little more costly to design and create out of 3m material.
  • The full color boat name is clearly more vivid and pleasing to the eye.
  • It is important to have someone design it corectly to compliment your boat and to stay away from high contrstd that could make the boat logo muddy and not visiable from a distance.
  • If part of a full color graphic some how gets damaged it is a bit more costly to repair.

Two color lettering in Black and white with a Full color Mermaid Graphic.

 

Reel Dreamin Boat nameThe best boat name graphic material to use is called 3M 180c Controltac viynl with a clear outdoor laminate. The boat Name Guy only uses the best quaility when doing boat names.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes we find ourselves to get too detailed with our boat names and it tends to get lost in the colors of our boats. Staying with just one color often does the trick and is much more visible from a distance.

The Boat name guy can help you with every aspect of the boat name process. From Boat name Ideas and design to printing and installing in the Tampa Bay, Clearwater area. Check out the Boat Name Form and see how the boat name guy can make getting a boat name a fun and easy process.

Joan Harrell

Soul-Mates

Re-Doing A Boat Name from Krissy to Pair O’ Docs

There is always that feeling when re-doing a boat name. Will the boat forgive me that I changed its name? Maybe spiritually the boat likes its name. It has gone this far with no problems. Then there is that fear that it is bad luck to change a name.

Well I have a few ways to get around these little traditional problems!

  1. Put the old name underneath the boat. Keep the name but don’t tell anyone! Have the old name reprinted in a smaller font and placed under the boats bow.
  2. Have your boat baptized as a re-born vessel. The boat will feel like it has a new start in life. Don’t forget to completely sage your boat. To learn more about using sage contact a Celestial Circle Metaphysical Store.
  3. Doing a renaming ceremony might be for you if your really religious. Inviting your friends and family to participate in a spiritual ceremony with a priest and a nun might be what you need to get through these changing times. Your family may think you just found a premature reason to drink before getting the boat in the water. But also calling so many people to your boat and pointing out the issue with your new boat seems to be just as unlucky to already have such a problem.

Removing Boat Name Krissy

What happens when you are removing a name that has been on a boat for 8 to ten years is that it preserves what is behind the lettering. The graphics stop the UV lighting and weathering effects. It preserves that new boat shine and stops the aging process in its tracks. 

 

I slowly removed the name with Windex, a painter’s scraper razor and a heat gun. This process needs to be done with caution!  When using a heat gun you risk burning and cracking the gel coat. Just adding a little bit of heat at a time right before the vinyl begins to melt.

After removing as much of the vinyl as you can use a moderate amount of Windex. Then use the razor blade scrapper on a 40 degree angle or less to prevent digging into the gel coat.

Next use liberal amounts of acetone on a rag to remove the adhesive. Keep turning the rag over to a new area to prevent rubbing the glue back on to the boat. Here is where you are going to use the most elbow grease.  It may be necessary for you to continue using the paint scrapper to remove the entire amount of adhesive. You don’t want to use a buffer until you remove it all! When complete it is possible that you will see the ghost of the name still. This is where you may want to use water and a very fine grit sand paper. Only rubbing the areas where the graphics were.

It may also be necessary to apply several coats of a compound wax cleaner to remove all of the ghosting. Sometimes you will still be left with the ghosting when you look at it in a certain angle. It really depends how long the name was there. With this project it was estimated that the name was on the boat when it was purchased new in 2003. That makes the name 13 yrs old. That is a long time especially in warmer climates areas.

After many proofs and making sure what the customer was looking for I immediately went to print. Pair O’ Docs is a two color, black lettering with a gold metallic. Both colors were printed separate and then placed on the boat together.

After the name was installed additional coats of wax were applied.

Pair O' Docs

 

Redoing the Boat Name Invictus Exactly How it was Before

Sometimes when I re-do a boat name the customer wants the same boat name with some small graphic changes. And Sometimes I’m asked to do a boat name exactly how it was before. The only reference I had with Invictus is a few photos of what it looked like before. invictus-reference-only

I tried to take a photo in the same angle the old photos were in. I took accurate measurements of the boat and transferred all the information to my design software

invictus-proof-only

PROOF ONLY

program, Corel Draw X8. I then took the new photo of the boat without the name and placed it under the old reference pictures. I then enlarged the photos to eight feet.

 

I found the font called “Algerian”, the same font that was used. I then placed the fonts over the photos to mockup as close as I could to the reference photos. I then took that and placed them over the real measurements I had to work with including the hatch door gaps and hinges and eclipsed the lettering along the curve of the railing. I was pretty confident that I had the same size I would just have to make sure when I installed the lettering that they were placed in the same way.gold-engine-turn

Next I wanted to be sure of the colors. By looking at the old photos, I saw them as an imitation gold and a red shadow outline. Although the customer and I did not think red was going to be a good color choice. We decided to go with a burgandy color. More like a light Merlot wine color to match better with the dark marine blue.

The two colors we went with was:

  •    Gold Turn Engine
  •     Burgundy

color-chart-boat-names

Once the material was ordered and delivered I went to work applying the graphics at the graphic studio. Each color was cut out in burgundy letters, then all the gold letters were cut out. I then placed the gold on each letter with application tape.

I scheduled the following day to install the graphics. It couldn’t have been a nicer day. It was one of Florida’s first cool fronts. Light wind, low humidity and highs only 78 degrees.

The owners were nice enough to have the hull fully cleaned before I arrived. I only had to make sure it was dust free with a micro fiber cleaning cloth.

blue-yacht

I carefully placed the graphics where they laid before. I continued to look at the old pictures and placed them just right on the hull. I stood back many times just to make sure it was in the right spot.

aplication-invictus

The application paper was removed and the lettering adhered to the boat very nicely as if the boat was missing them. Next I applied the hailing name or some say Port name to the boat.

invictus-boat-name

After I was finished applying the last letter I actually felt that this boat was happy again. A nice breeze came by and it felt like a new life. Also at the same time I finished the last letter a drip of water came out of the doors hatch handle and fell across the letter and on to my hand. Chills came over me… And although I felt stupid for telling the owners what just happened and how I felt. I felt compelled to tell them. They simply replied back with a smile like they knew too.

I never asked why the owners choose to keep the name or why they liked such a name. But after rereading the poem again since the last time I did in elementary school, it was understandable how this name is one of the best names to have for such a strong and majestic boat,

I N V I C T U S

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

 

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

 

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.

 

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

I am the captain of my soul.

 

 

Boat Lettering Fonts Should Relate to Your Boat Name Theme

What Font to use makes or breaks the Boat Name!

It all depends on what your boat name is. If your boat name is “Wet Wind”, you probably don’t want to see the name in a block letter. But it sure would look good if the word wind was in a whispering font and the Wet word looked like the word was wet in the wind. That is why boat lettering fonts should relate to your boat name theme

Wet-Wind

So before I start proofing a boat name, I first go through some fonts that look good. I pick fonts that either looks wet or windy. Latter on I can make changes to each letter if need be. I throw in a couple of plain ones just to help with the visual of the name. Sometimes names get to fancy or are flooded with graphics and the name is hard to see from a distant. Or even as far as the dock.

I did a simple search in google and came across a font website that had the look I was thinking of. The font is called wet dream. With some changes to the font I made it look the way I wanted it. Also notice the opening in the “e”.

Wet Wind

So this would be the first proof I would send a customer that picked this name. It is sometimes overwhelming to see so many fonts and graphics. You may sometimes feel like you want to see it all. Maybe in the near future we will have motion graphics.

Another boat owner wanted to have the name Aqua Marie. The theme of this particular boat had to be about the owner’s daughter and a Disney character.

Aqua-marie-ProofAqua-marie-Sail-Boat

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every boat name that has been thought of usually comes with the work of picking the right boat lettering. Sometimes a font will scream your boat name and then you just know they were meant to be together. Out of a lineup of ten fonts the boat owner knew that font #1 was the right feel for his marine identity.

Aqua-marie

Picking the right boat lettering fonts for your boat is crucial. Some believe of just having their name in just a basic traditional font. Then later decide that there boat name had no spark.

When you have a graphic artist create your name it is important to explain exactly what you are looking for. The boat name guys form is a great place to start. Then leave the rest to a creative artist to do the rest.

There are some boat owners that make the mistake of ordering from those websites that the customer designs themselves. But always comes up short with a lack of options to change anything. You are basically stuck using only a few font selections and minimum of graphics. So if you need some boat lettering done to your boat be sure to have the Boat Name Guy help you!

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