Branding a Colman cooler

[GAC05]

Hi all,
looking for some tips on branding a cooler.

Customer will be giving them away so they want it to look good but not cost an arm & leg. I don't know the count yet but at least a few dozen.
Seems like a stencil and paint might be the best bet but I'm worried it will have the pro level look equal to using a Sharpie to mark your kids underwear before sending them off to camp.
I was thinking to replace or decal over the existing decal on the front but it is designed to be easily peeled off and underneath is a recessed area with the embossed Colman logo.
They already have the coolers so getting them marked before shipping them here is out.
Any ideas out there from someone who has done this before?

thanks
wayne k
guam usa

 

[jtiii]

Hey Wayne,
We lettered about 40 kayaks a few years back. It's true that nothing seemed to want to stick to that polyethylene. Customer says they're holding up great though. I can't find my pictures of them, but there are a few on this page on their site -
http://allaboutwaterusa.com/premiumkayaks/

In the pics we did their logo, website, and boat numbers. We cut stencils, then in the spot we were applying we scuffed them lightly, acohol prepped, flame treated them, applied the stencil with heat and a rivet brush, did one more flame treatment (we did them in batches so they sometimes sat for a few minutes), and then sprayed with Krylon Fusion, two light coats right back-to-back, peel the stencil while it's still wet.

If you've got time to play with one you should be able to dial in; that Fusion dries quickly but takes a week to harden, so it requires faith or (much better) a week to confirm your sample works!

The flame treatment makes a HUGE difference, didn't work at all without it.
Here's part of their logo to get an idea of the detail we were holding -

Good luck!
P.S. We used some extra cast material laying around as our stencil, to work into the textured plastic. If you go that route, don't use stuff with air release channels!

 

[GAC05]

Thank you for the reply,
the info helps a good deal.


wayne k
guam usa

 

[2B]

we have found a good high tack vinyl will work, like Arlon 8000

regardless you will always need to prep the surface.