ENCLOSURE: Replicating Vintage Graphics

I've had a couple of questions about this, so I thought I might lay out my process for creating vintage-style graphics here.  

It's not perfect and I'm no graphic designer, but I have had some good results using this method.  Exhibit A:  The Marshall Supafuzz shown below.   I think this came up pretty well - it looks the part to me.  

Now some might say that I should not have used the Marshall logo, but I don't mass-produce pedals and anyone that has any idea at all could tell this is a repro.   I like the way the text is a little worn-looking and a bit off - for me this helps give it a vintage feel.  It 

PROCESS

Ideally purchase an appropriate enclosure, as shown above, at what will feel like an exorbitant price - or just use a regular Hammond and give it the same graphic treatment.

STEP 1

Google is your friend.  Find an image of a pedal that you like with clear text / graphics, ideally a photo taken directly above the pedal, with good contrast between the text and image.

STEP 2

Save that image locally and use whatever is at your disposal to adjust the contrast to highlight the text / graphics.

STEP 3

Load the image into a jpeg into raster to vector converter, I use autotracer - play with the settings until you have results that you're happy with, and download as an SVG file.

You're looking for the cleanest outline possible, that best represents the original - it's near impossible to get it perfect here, so onto the next step.

As an example: here's a Vox Tone Bender that I've been working on recently.  Looks really bad, but there's a nice contrast on the graphic that I want. 

STEP 4

Load the SVG file you converted into something that can edit vector graphics, like Corel Vector online (it's free).  Use this to clean up the text / image by removing the unnecessary bits and make a few adjustments here and there to fix outlines.  This can take some time and patience to do.   Scale as required and adjust to suit your needs.

Important to note:  Clear waterslide decals are semi-transparent.  The colour of the enclosure will affect the colour of the graphics.  So if you want to apply graphics on a solid black enclosure, good luck with that.

Sometimes I'll create a scale mock-up of the pedal in Corel Vector, so I can get a better idea of how it's all coming together.  Occasionally I'll redraw elements that I have not been able to capture via the raster to vector converter, or replace text with a similar font - which again, needs a bit of patience to scale and match the graphics.

I recreated the arrows and redrew the outline of the FUZZ graphic.  I kept the outline of the FUZZ font and replaced the VOLUME and TONE text with a matching font.

STEP 5

Test print on plain paper to make sure the scale is right, and everything lines up

STEP 6

Print and apply the decals as normal.   I used a very thin waterslide decal that follows the contours of the paint well and has an edge that can be extremely hard to notice.  

For the examples below, the decal does not cover the entire front face of the enclosure - the decal was cut around the edges of the text.   It's a little harder to line up the text this way, but it uses less decal stock, and it does give a little freedom to play with placement.  I would not recommend this method with anything other than super thin 8-micron decal paper.   When using regular thickness decals, I'd run the decal right to the edge of the enclosure.

WORD OF WARNING

Replicating vintage graphics may infringe copyright and/or registered trademarks.

You can destroy all of this work with impatience, or one heavy spray of clear coat, that might react with the paint on the enclosure.     

Test on scrap before you attempt to finish your enclosure unless you have used the same paint combination successfully in the past.  Mixing different paint types can and often does cause issues.

I probably wouldn't bother testing paints that are designed to be used together, such as an automotive paint that has a matching clear coat from the same range.  

• Allow the paint on the enclosure time to thoroughly dry & cure, before attempting to apply a decal (a week).  You can do this in much less time, but a week is a very safe bet.  The paint will have fully hardened, and you will be less likely to cause handling damage

• Give the decal time to dry, I usually leave it overnight - you don't want moisture under clear coat

• Light clear coats can avoid nasty reactions with paints, they dry quickly before reacting with the paint below

• Just like the base coat, give the clear coat adequate time to harden up as well before finishing boxing up.  If the clear coat hasn't had time to harden, the hardware will cut into the finish, and potentially be stuck there.  If you've rushed and both the paint and the clear coat is still soft, you're almost guaranteed to do some damage to the finish

Good luck!