Van Living Forum decal

[Southbound]

I'm thinking these would more likely be on a bit of gear when you are set up for a bit. Many would put in the windows of their home vehicle, but I can see the issue of not brining attention to the set up, especially if stealth living in a populated area.

I do appreciate the suggestions for the changes.

 

[PlmrPaulie*]

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


View attachment 33809

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

Another possible point: Some (like myself) have an suv, tent & teardrop trailer - rather than "a van."
While this doesn't stop me from reading/following along on here, it may be somewhat of an awkward representation to put on my rig, which is clearly not a van.
So maybe I do not qualify to use the sticker (?)

 

[SierraVanCampers]

Hi
I realize everyone is a critic. Sorry, you did do a lot of nice work.

My preference would be for a decal to accurately reflect the forum. I would use a "real" van picture or at least an outline of a real van. Using a comic strip van is not realistic enough for me, nor shows something similar to what forum owners might own. The mountains like someone else mentions look like teepees.

I would go with a rectangular decal, name of the forum in bold and easily read from a fair distance, and maybe a desert or mountain scape in the background.

Just my two cents, wish you the best in your decision.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Another possible point: Some (like myself) have an suv, tent & teardrop trailer - rather than "a van."
While this doesn't stop me from reading/following along on here, it may be somewhat of an awkward representation to put on my rig, which is clearly not a van.
So maybe I do not qualify to use the sticker (?)

Oh yes you belong, don't you dare go anywhere!

You should see my 'sticker wall'....a wide variety of rigs...

 

[Frood]

In my own personal opinion I generally prefer simpler and more abstract designs as logos. Maybe a sun cresting over a mountain or ocean but with minimal colors and primarily as a line drawing. Highly
stylized here as well with shapes indicative of mountains or oceans rather than detailed imagery...
Generally I don't recommend including images of humans in a logo unless they are highly stylized and
barely recognizable as people except in the abstract.

As a somewhat tangential thought when thinking about the terms Vanlife or Vanliving, I have always
mentally placed the emphasis on the "life" or "living" part of the phrase and have always considered
the "van" to be synonymous for simply meaning a "marginally or expressly nomadic, non-stationary,
loosely independent, environmentally and ecologically aware" lifestyle. I'm fully aware that this is just
a personal opinion and definition rather than a definitive description of nomads as a while, but it's the
ideal I am looking to reach as I strive towards the goal of an untethered lifestyle.

 

[Frood]

Self-deleted after minimal introspection for not adding anything of value to the conversation.

 

[maki2]

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


View attachment 33809

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

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


View attachment 33809

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

No it does not. I dislike the Van itself in the image. It just does not read “true” as a van, too many windows for one thing. Van dwellers do not typically choose as a living space a passenger van with a lot of windows. I myself do not even have a van, people in this forum camp in cars, vans, motorhomes, trailers, box trucks, truck campers, even a few bicycle campers. But the most popular are cargo vans, not window vans.

I would rather not see a stereotype white male on a sticker. It is not “inclusive” or even accurate of the community as many Van life dwellers are not white males. If you were to do a survey you would also find that there are more seniors in this forum than younger generations. A grey haired male would be more representative than that young looking male. But you should, at minimum, for changes also have a female in the image if you feel you absolutely must have people.

The image while colorful and well executed is too close to being cartoon, coloring book style for my personal taste as a senior in my 70s. I do not absolutely hate it but I do not “ relate” to it.

 

[bullfrog !]

And in the interest of diversity maybe a few stickers on the van windows! After all we are a diverse group.

 

[ardentmouse]

No it does not. I dislike the Van itself in the image. It just does not read “true” as a van, too many windows for one thing. Van dwellers do not typically choose as a living space a passenger van with a lot of windows. I myself do not even have a van, people in this forum camp in cars, vans, motorhomes, trailers, box trucks, truck campers, even a few bicycle campers. But the most popular are cargo vans, not window vans.

I would rather not see a stereotype white male on a sticker. It is not “inclusive” or even accurate of the community as many Van life dwellers are not white males. If you were to do a survey you would also find that there are more seniors in this forum than younger generations. A grey haired male would be more representative than that young looking male. But you should, at minimum, for changes also have a female in the image if you feel you absolutely must have people.

The image while colorful and well executed is too close to being cartoon, coloring book style for my personal taste as a senior in my 70s. I do not absolutely hate it but I do not “ relate” to it.

often that which we believe to be true isnt always so. A simple look up of website traffic one can find that this site is NOT mostly "older people" indeed according to just this ONE site and others showing similar data shows 55+ to barely be a1/4...65+ is only 10% of traffic to this site. https://www.similarweb.com/website/vanlivingforum.com/#demographics

YOu may not like that it is now VANLIVING forum instead of cheaprv living,.. but vans are the demographic AND the movement using this site and so their sticker is a VAN. Clearly the new owners are looking for a more networked and youthful crowd and not a bunch of chatter about metamucil and a bedpan.

Your also are completely wrong about a white male not being indicative of the lifestyle. I would figure you need to expand your bubble because indeed the vanlife phenom is MALES.. WHITE and in their mid 20s to 30s. DO you have data to show it is majority black or hispanic women????????

This website is a business and I am certain they have other engagments with seo and sem and assorted sites.

There may be many more older people chatting on this site but certainly not visiting it and those older users are a dying breed. Why would they invest in retaining that as a consumer of their product.??

KInd of a bummer for the owners of the site.. because with the more youthful traffic coming to the site at 75% of traffic there is only a stay of around 3 minutes... are those potential new users turned off by the chatter being of such an advanced age that has no relevance to them?? How does a business survive if such a large portion of its users get turned off??

 

[eDJ_]

I would imagine that if this keeps up we will have a decal that is just lettering without any clip art. Took some of the ideas to heart and revised this one.

Yes, some people are cat people and would want to lose the dog. But with the guy cooking the cooler may fit in better. Tried to make the marshmallows look more like a pie iron.

 

[ardentmouse]

I would imagine that if this keeps up we will have a decal that is just lettering without any clip art. Took some of the ideas to heart and revised this one.

Yes, some people are cat people and would want to lose the dog. But with the guy cooking the cooler may fit in better. Tried to make the marshmallows look more like a pie iron.

View attachment 33818

having the dog makes it seem much much less lonely than this version. I think the first version is jsut fine. I like that the windows are in the original van image. It makes it look more OPEN to society and not hiding something. One of the biggest problems we in the VANlife community has is people being freaked out about a windowless van and drugs or whatever sinister "othering" they can create and label with. The least threatening and most fun is the point i think. I guess there could be a clown behind one of the trees to make it more enjoyable? LOL

 

[bullfrog !]

I’ll make a guess that the majority of people answering inquiries are older experienced nomads that wish to share what they have learned over many years of “cheap RV living”. Your welcome! Lol!!

 

[PineyCruisin]

Great job, eDJ! Your alterations moved the needle from not liking the decal at all to finding it much more appealing and indicative of van "living".

 

[WanderingRose]

Agreed, tho I would still remove the marshmallows on a stick.

Maybe give him a cup or mug in one hand, for a beverage of choice.

With high flames like those pictured, one would not be roasting marshmallows nor using a pie iron.

Glowing coals beneath that kettle? Yes.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Clearly the new owners are looking for a more networked and youthful crowd and not a bunch of chatter about metamucil and a bedpan.

Thanks ardentmouse for being a supporter here, but that does not give you privileges to disrespect any of us, especially our valuable, yet seasoned members.

There may be many more older people chatting on this site but certainly not visiting it and those older users are a dying breed. Why would they invest in retaining that as a consumer of their product.??

KInd of a bummer for the owners of the site.. because with the more youthful traffic coming to the site at 75% of traffic there is only a stay of around 3 minutes...

90% percent of that 'youthful traffic' coming to this site is spammers, scammers, and phishing attempts. The other 10% are here to ask questions and gather knowledge from our veteran full-timers. You know, the ones who have been van-living for 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 years.

Us 'old farts' may be the 'dying breed', but guess who invented the internet, and the computer you are using?

Our veteran members have (and share) the vast majority of wisdom and experience here.

Please keep that in mind going forward.

 

[maki2]

That is looking better! I think the suggestion of a beverage is a good one. Lots of folks just sit around campfires without cooking on them. That white thing with red on top does not look like a cooler because you have not managed to use the correct perspective view point. It can be tricky to get right just imagining it all….however…

I have a suggestion for you. Get a camp chair, a cooler and someone to sit in the chair holding a beverage. Maybe even a van or substitute vehicle in the background. Stand back and take a few reference photos so you get the angles of all the objects in the right perspective. That is how many professional illustrators did/do these things, they stage it then either drew when looking at it in real life or used photos. Now a days you can even use the photo as an underlay and draw over it in a graphics program as the initial start. I have actually done a bit of that photoshop techniques myself when I had an architectural illustration business with my ex husband. We always had entourage to add into scenes, people, cars, tables, benches, food, dogs, etc. for initial sketches. The relative sizes had to be right and so did the perspective otherwise it just does not read correctly. The goal was for it to look festive, artistic and fun rather than photo realistic. You are getting there but have more time and revisions ahead.

 

[Frood]

That is looking better! I think the suggestion of a beverage is a good one. Lots of folks just sit around campfires without cooking on them. That white thing with red on top does not look like a cooler because you have not managed to use the correct perspective view point. It can be tricky to get right just imagining it all….however…

I have a suggestion for you. Get a camp chair, a cooler and someone to sit in the chair holding a beverage. Maybe even a van or substitute vehicle in the background. Stand back and take a few reference photos so you get the angles of all the objects in the right perspective. That is how many professional illustrators did/do these things, they stage it then either drew when looking at it in real life or used photos. Now a days you can even use the photo as an underlay and draw over it in a graphics program as the initial start. I have actually done a bit of that photoshop techniques myself when I had an architectural illustration business with my ex husband. We always had entourage to add into scenes, people, cars, tables, benches, people, food, dogs, etc. for initial sketches. The sizes had to be right and so did the perspective otherwise it just does not read correctly. The goal was for it to look festive, artistic and fun rather than photo realistic. You are getting there but have more time and revisions ahead.

One of the YouTube ads that I actually found informative and helpful led me to this little gem...

https://neolucida.com/
I don't have the interest to verify the accuracy of what they said about the old masters, so I'm sorry for that, but the tale makes for an interesting legend.

 

[abnorm]

We learned as the Camera Obscura

 

[ardentmouse]

One of the YouTube ads that I actually found informative and helpful led me to this little gem...

https://neolucida.com/
I don't have the interest to verify the accuracy of what they said about the old masters, so I'm sorry for that, but the tale makes for an interesting legend.

very cool item! I just bought the xl with free overnight shipping! I imgine this is going to give hours upon hours of entertainment.

 

[Southbound]

Thanks ardentmouse for being a supporter here, but that does not give you privileges to disrespect any of us, especially our valuable, yet seasoned members.



90% percent of that 'youthful traffic' coming to this site is spammers, scammers, and phishing attempts. The other 10% are here to ask questions and gather knowledge from our veteran full-timers. You know, the ones who have been van-living for 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 years.

Us 'old farts' may be the 'dying breed', but guess who invented the internet, and the computer you are using?

Our veteran members have (and share) the vast majority of wisdom and experience here.

Please keep that in mind going forward.

The bolded are mostly the ones that are not allowed to become full members after registering. Tx2sturgis sees those and helps keep the forum safe for the members. Those other 10% are the ones that do become members and are nomads, or nomads at heart.
This is a safe site.