Van Living Forum decal

Hey all, we are designing a decal for Van Living Forum and I'd like to know what you think of this design.




Does this suggest Van Living when you look at it? I'm interested in your ideas.

I think it's close, but ummm...somebody is gonna say it if I dont...so here goes:

Why is the guy holding his crotch?

Once you see that, you can't un-see it. Maybe he played baseball?

How about he should be petting the dog or resting his hand on his knee...

Better to see this and have it fixed before it goes to the printer...or so it seems to me.

And also, how about a slightly older man? A touch of grey in his hair maybe?

I dunno...he looks to me like a 20-something on a weekend trip.

Just sayin.

He''s holding his crotch because there's no woman in the picture...

I didn’t even notice that, tx.

It looks a bit yuppie-ish, to me, and I agree that someone a bit older would be more representative.

A little grey, some facial hair, maybe.

And maybe a cast iron skillet on a spider over coals, rather than marshmallows.

It's very nicely done. (That's not "praise sandwich," I mean it. And I think the general style is a good fit.) Here's my quibbles:
Marshmallows over an open fire kind of suggest a holiday or weekend trip rather than "living."
The background seems much more abstract/geometric than the foreground, does that seem OK when you think about it? I don't have a strong feeling + or - but it's unusual.
If "vanlivingforum.com" was black or a dark color, instead of white with a border, it might "pop" more -- be more recognizable from a distance.
If you have one non-abstract human figure, it's going to be hard to please everybody, demographics-wise. I hesitate to suggest anything that would crowd the image more -- because simple and recognizable from a distance = important -- but if there was a way to show multiple different-looking people in a simplified or abstracted way? pop some faces into the van windows maybe? A definite vote to include some olds! ... if you're too close to the final iteration to consider something like that, never mind.

Decal in general = a nice idea!

PS is really not praise sandwich. I hate praise sandwich.

Morgana said:

The background seems much more abstract/geometric than the foreground

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At first I thought they were Tipis...........................

DOH! The van's front tire is rolling up on his right arm!

Dang that's gonna hurt!

But the font is nice. I like the font.

I'd only add a few subordinate refinements in order to make it look more like a Nomad living in a Van that's set up for van living. Over all I think the design was well executed. The vignette works well and draws the eye thru the art.

It's a bird, it's a plane, no its an RC airplane!

And oh heck yeah! I like the cooking pot and the solar panels and the spare tire...NOW we're getting there!

How'd you like the awning just below the solar panels ?

Hate to be the one to bring this up but stickers proclaiming you live in your van probably will cause you problems that could have been avoided by not advertising the fact in certain situations.

lol...you can always stick them on your fridge or your silverware tote!

Just sayin..

Tex, your funny. I thought you might want something different on the Shish kebab. Haha!

I think it nice and a good idea. However, may I suggest using V.L. Forum instead of Van Living Forum? I know it is the name of the forum and is great advertising and branding. All of us would know what it stood for though. I am just against having anything on my van that indicates I am living in it as opposed to camping in it. Many jurisdictions do not allow people to live in their vehicles but camping in them is just fine. (Go figure) I recently bought one of Bob Well's T-shirts but I got the one with the van pic on it that says "Born To Wander" and "Freedom is a tankful of gas and an empty road" The other designs all said Cheap RV Living on them and I did not want one of those for the same reason. (Nothing against Bob at all, I think he is great) Too paranoid? Maybe, but Kentucky is one of the 20 states that has laws against sleeping/living in your vehicle and I do not want to advertise that activity. Just a thought.

Need a coast line and the van should be forefront not some preppy lookin _______ roasting marshmallows…….. really doesn’t even need a human in the pik.

……..and it needs to capture a free spirit lifestyle ; ala Living not vacationing.

……..and contrary to some comments; needs to emphasize the energy of the youthful vagabond.
A template:

And I could go on but……
Itsa D kal.
INTJohn

bullfrog ! said:

Hate to be the one to bring this up but stickers proclaiming you live in your van probably will cause you problems that could have been avoided by not advertising the fact in certain situations.

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I'm guessing that the decal initiative comes from the folks that expect to profit from the forum. (A legitimate expectation; they did pay for it after all.) And that they would expect to see the decals more on RVs in paid campsites than on stealth-camping vehicles. That's where it might be seen by people who would visit the website and buy stuff from the advertisers.

Stealth campers may need to put their decal somewhere more stealthy, and just flash it when they need it, like an FBI badge

No reason the monetizers and the community-builders can't peacefully coexist, in fact some might be the same people, but might as well be clear that there are different goals. The decal seems like a fun, light touch.

I agree with the observations above. But sticking them on a Van isn't the only place where they could be of service. If there are kiosk or bulletin boards in the camp grounds & parks, one could be placed there too. University & College campuses often have bulletin boards
in student centers where one of these could play well.

The coastal scene (or river or lake) with just the front of a Van rig showing could be effective too. Let the viewer's imagination fill in
for what they don't see.

Thought should also be given to how permanent these will be once applied to a surface. Companies like 3M offer materials that can be printed on and then once applied to a surface can be pealed off again.

No human and their desired pet 'just camping' ----ugh
I find it as a bad representation of the spirit of what this is about.
But I did not have a long time to think about it ......so no great changes to make other than what is 'camping decal' won't ever respresent what van living is about in my eyes...........NOW THESE are MY eyes and thoughts LOL but the hand in crotch sure stood out to me HAHA
and I never personally liked a 'cartoon like image' to represent life ya know......again ya asked, I told me! My brain goes something like this:

Maybe add an antenna and show the person/or one of two using their laptop, as in for work, as there are lots of folks out there working remotely.

lets show a bucket and poop bag too