Lettering on Chrome Color Selection

[Stacey K]

I hate to ask such a stupid question but I find chrome difficult to letter on because it can look light or dark and in-between. Customer has chrome rocker panels. His colors/font are 3M dark green and English Vivace font. Is there a rule of thumb for colors on chrome?

Do you think I will need an outline or will this show up OK on the chrome? Just a general idea below...

 

[rjssigns]

Colors on chrome or chrome lettering on anything work the same.

Old sign guy taught me this decades ago. Chrome is like a mirror and mirrors only reflect dark not light.

If you put dark on chrome it's going to disappear.
Same as if you put chrome lettering on a black or dark vehicle.

Outlining may help but a shadow would help "push" the lettering off the background.

That font may be an issue on the rockers. IIRC that has a really thin stroke weight.

 

[Gino]

Not sure I've ever heard that one, but what we tell people is simply..... on a bright day, it will reflect light. On a dull or darker day, it will reflect darker. Therefore, to get the best of both worlds, it is best to use a light color with a dark outline and maybe a shadow, too. Or the other way around. I've never seen my reflection in the bathroom with all the lights turned off and no light in the room. I always thought mirrors reflected light. However, that type style will prove useless, especially down that low.

 

[Billct2]

What Gino said. I hate chrome.

 

[Stacey K]

OK, this is very helpful! I also hate chrome and for these reasons...59 people looked before anyone commented...I guess I'm not the only one who is troubled by this. I'll try and figure something out, maybe run it past you again for final comment. Thank you!

 

[SignosaurusRex]

We are regularly required to supply and install small and/or light weight lettering on chrome truck tool boxes, tanks etc. Our rule of thumb is White lettering with a Black outline. In your case, the Dark Green used for the outline might work well. Best to try an actual sample of both Dark Green w/White Outline and White w/Dark Green outline. Color combinations other than B&W generally don't work well on Chrome.

 

[Patentagosse]

What SignausaurusRex said... If you really need to keep customer's font and color, that's what I would propose here

 

[McDonald Signs]

We install letters on Stainless Steel Chrome Semi Truck battery boxes all the time and we usually use dark colors for the lettering and if they want an outline with a metallic Silver or gold or lighter color.
Or we use a light or dark color letters with a dark or light outline to make the lettering look better

 

[Stacey K]

Update. I talked to him an suggested that we use a white outline, maybe with a little shadow so it shows up nice. I explained the above with how chrome looks. He said, "I never heard of that, that makes no sense, I have it on my other truck and it looks great."

I told him as long as he's happy with it, that's fine by me.

 

[Gino]

Those people are called 'schmucks' or idiots.