OMG vinyl me up some more

Petzl · 27 Mar 2007 at 06:34

I own a sign company and have been in the industry for many years, you can get small digi printers that are more suited to this type of output and can be produced very cheaply but as with many sign companies such as ourselves our smallest media is 1300mm wide so producing a print for a laptop would be very expensive. If you take the size of the print for a laptop it shouldn't cost any more than a tenner but we would have to charge for the wastage so on 1300mm media you would be realy looking at £40plus. This is not an advert btw folks as I dont realy want this sort of work, most of my work is for the exhibition display industry.

Cheers

Steeps · 27 Mar 2007 at 08:03

my laptop top is scratched to hell, i'd love to get a new top for it but as stated there's a lot of wastage considering the job. out of interest, as you know the market are there people that do smaller runs? or would doing the whole laptop be another idea if possible, not just the top.

WJA96 · 27 Mar 2007 at 08:33

Steeps said:
my laptop top is scratched to hell, i'd love to get a new top for it but as stated there's a lot of wastage considering the job. out of interest, as you know the market are there people that do smaller runs? or would doing the whole laptop be another idea if possible, not just the top.

Look for Vehicle Wrap Printers in your area. We had one of our company cars done by a place in Thetford and they also had a Lian Li PC7 in their lobby, vinyl wrapped.

gt_junkie · 27 Mar 2007 at 09:04

R B CUSTOMS said:
Thats not really the point tbh tom, its more about simply printing out peoples designs / drawings / artwork / photography and sticking it on - specialy for a profit.

Agreed! Better to have something that is your own and that you are proud of!

I do however understand the views on vinyl posted so far. If you're part of the xpress-on nokia group who wanna change styles every other day it's an excellent solution. Also, if you have a laptop and want a robust finish it is again an excellent choice!

The vinyl is convenient, fast, flexible and replaceable. If you want a new design you can get it on demand and have it fitted 10 minutes. However, although it's very effective it's merit is limited!

Custom painting is a labour of love and down to pure skill and painstaking attention to detail. Plus the outcome is always totally unique! For that reason i'd rate it above vinyl!

gt

Raikiri · 27 Mar 2007 at 09:21

Steeps said:
my laptop top is scratched to hell, i'd love to get a new top for it but as stated there's a lot of wastage considering the job. out of interest, as you know the market are there people that do smaller runs? or would doing the whole laptop be another idea if possible, not just the top.

http://www.decalgirl.com/browse.cfm/2,224.htm

Pretty sure they aren't a competitor, might be worth considering.

WJA96 · 27 Mar 2007 at 09:50

gt_junkie said:
Agreed! Better to have something that is your own and that you are proud of!

I do however understand the views on vinyl posted so far. If you're part of the xpress-on nokia group who wanna change styles every other day it's an excellent solution. Also, if you have a laptop and want a robust finish it is again an excellent choice!

The vinyl is convenient, fast, flexible and replaceable. If you want a new design you can get it on demand and have it fitted 10 minutes. However, although it's very effective it's merit is limited!

Custom painting is a labour of love and down to pure skill and painstaking attention to detail. Plus the outcome is always totally unique! For that reason i'd rate it above vinyl!

gt

That's a really interesting take on this.

Can I spin it like this? I can design what I want on a PC, but I'm hopeless with an airbrush, paintbrush, pallet knife or any other kind of artistic implement. If I take my design down to the Vinyl Wrap people they take my design, print it and wrap my PC for me - is it any less my own than if I had airbrushed it? I don't think it is.

Many artists use artisans who actually do their work for them - pour concrete, cut wood, I'm almost certain Tracey Emin didn't do the semen on the tissues herself for "My Bed"

The roof of the Cistine chapel was the work of several painters, but only one artist. I don't think how the art is actually executed is the problem - the artistic concept is the key. If It's what I want, then it's mine.

[Edit]Having just seen Decalgirl.com I can see where you are coming from![/Edit]

gt_junkie · 27 Mar 2007 at 10:08

WJA96 said:
That's a really interesting take on this.

Can I spin it like this? I can design what I want on a PC, but I'm hopeless with an airbrush, paintbrush, pallet knife or any other kind of artistic implement. If I take my design down to the Vinyl Wrap people they take my design, print it and wrap my PC for me - is it any less my own than if I had airbrushed it? I don't think it is.

Many artists use artisans who actually do their work for them - pour concrete, cut wood, I'm almost certain Tracey Emin didn't do the semen on the tissues herself for "My Bed"

[Edit]Having just seen Decalgirl.com I can see where you are coming from![/Edit]

You're right WJA, i was just meaning the vast majority of people would simply lift a poster or design from someone else and use that.

A creation of your own is a very different thing and far more inline with what RB does. Like you - my paint brush skills leave a lot to be desired so something like vinyl would be ideal!

gt

Raikiri · 27 Mar 2007 at 10:19

WJA96 said:
[Edit]Having just seen Decalgirl.com I can see where you are coming from![/Edit]

They do however do custom designs (don't know if they do for laptops) so you could use photoshop to make your own design.

G|mp · 27 Mar 2007 at 10:29

I was gonna ask you to do one for me for a small fee but your trust is shocking :/

WJA96 · 27 Mar 2007 at 10:29

I only was only trying to clarify that it wasn't the medium or the actual execution that made it good. I think if you want to have an album cover on your laptop then go for it - as long as it's what YOU want, and not an express-on cover type thing. That was all. I'm getting a field of free-range ducks on my next Eclipse :eek:

.

I couldn't believe how easy it was - I phoned them up, they said bring a hi-res image file in and we'll do it. Tacky plastic front and all. If you leave the drives in, they can vinyl wrap those too apparently! Sounds like it's a combination of vacuum and heat-shrink technology. Not £10 though. More like £100 by the time they're completely finished from the sounds of it. I'll post piccies!

gt_junkie · 27 Mar 2007 at 11:27

G|mp said:
I was gonna ask you to do one for me for a small fee but your trust is shocking :/

Maybe those are broken laptops he's planning on selling on!

The vinyl's just a smokescreen!

gt

Drazic · 27 Mar 2007 at 18:30

gt_junkie said:
Maybe those are broken laptops he's planning on selling on! The vinyl's just a smokescreen!

gt

Humm i got a Dell with a cracked base that could be done!!!

Also my new one...

I duno what to have on ether of them.

Who's doing it, can you contact me please!