Van Living Forum decal

[Happy Camper]

It might not apply to this sticker, but the forum needs a tagline. Maybe something as simple as
"Living your best life" on top and www.vanliving.com on the bottom.

That can be a multi purpose statement that applies to those living in vans and those enjoying traveling in their van. It might make displaying the sticker less of an announcement of someone living in it while those in the know see it and get it.

Maybe a shadow outline of a van in a nature scene and leave it open to imagination. Just thoughts.

 

[maki2]

After 3 years of full time Van life I would say it is a three way tie between those who travel as a couple, solo male travelers and solo female travelers. Age wise, by a large majority, they are mostly 50 years +. For weekend and vacation including summer school break, that is when you really start to see the younger age groups out and about in vans.

There is a big reason for that being the most common age and it is not about “ageism”. It is related to the years in life when people are typically raising children which normally requires a steady income often from both parents. Sure there are some younger people in the Van life mix and even a few of them have younger children along. The larger than a van vehicles are needed for more people when used for full time living so they tend to get motorhomes or schoolies.

This forum may or may not evolve into being more representative of younger adults. I suspect not as this style of forum is in terms of internet cultural media types very old fashioned.

 

[Overland One]

This forum may or may not evolve into being more representative of younger adults. I suspect not as this style of forum is in terms of internet cultural media types very old fashioned.

What you say here is true. To me, "Old Fashioned" is just another name for something that has worked very well, and continues to work very well. Things like a can opener, pencil sharpener, older less computerized vehicles, forums like this one, and bacon.

 

[tx2sturgis]

The bolded are mostly the ones that are not allowed to become full members after registering

90% percent of that 'youthful traffic' coming to this site is spammers, scammers, and phishing attempts.

Just to clear up a possible misconception, yes, those spammers, scammers, and phishing attempts are just that: ATTEMPTS.

We 'raise the shields', fire a few photon torpedos, and send the attackers looking for easier targets.

But the website that ardentmouse linked to was a website that counts raw website 'hits' and 'dwell time' and it has no way of judging our content otherwise.

Cancel Red Alert.

 

[WanderingRose]

And we appreciate your efforts, tx.

 

[wayne49]

One thing in common, is that this a casual, loosely organized group of persons who have varied approaches to the life they have chosen, either due to choice, or forced into by circumstances, and everyone has an opinion and a unique perspective.

Herding cats that have both differences and similarities.

How could anyone confuse snow capped peaks as teepees? There's a cloud encircling the middle peak. Sky scraping teepees.

 

[jacqueg]

It might not apply to this sticker, but the forum needs a tagline. Maybe something as simple as
"Living your best life" on top and www.vanliving.com on the bottom.

That can be a multi purpose statement that applies to those living in vans and those enjoying traveling in their van. It might make displaying the sticker less of an announcement of someone living in it while those in the know see it and get it.

Maybe a shadow outline of a van in a nature scene and leave it open to imagination. Just thoughts.

I like this idea. I’d never buy a sticker that implies that van life is a solitary male pursuit. Don’t get me wrong, if someone wants to sell one that’s OK by me. I’d just never buy one.

 

[Morgana]

How could anyone confuse snow capped peaks as teepees? There's a cloud encircling the middle peak. Sky scraping teepees

tbh I thought they were teepees at first too. then I thought about it and realized that they were meant to be mountains and were just more stylized/abstract than the foreground
(which is an unusual choice)
(and there's nothing wrong with unusual choices, in fact that's creative, but then you still have to ask "does it work?")
(if it creates confusion that might be a but then if you had enough other -- and you were sure that the overal impact was effective -- you might go with it anyway)

with an image like this people shouldn't have to think about it, it should be immediately clear. you're trying to cut through the noise in people's heads to get their attention -- not create more noise or make them work for it. a picture should be worth 1000 words, it shouldn't need 1000 (or even 10) words to explain it.

sometimes step 1 is "what does this mean to us?" and step 2 is "what will it mean to total strangers?" you can't skip either step.

good design and good critiques IMO!

 

[Morgana]

I’d never buy a sticker that implies that van life is a solitary male pursuit. Don’t get me wrong, if someone wants to sell one that’s OK by me. I’d just never buy one

Oh, interesting. I assumed they were going to be giveaways and the purpose was to advertise the website.
I might hesitate to pay for something that advertised a for-profit website. (or not! it's a fun image and a good website. I don't buy purses with a designer's name on them either, but lots of people do)
So what is the goal for this decal?

 

[WanderingRose]

I think they are simply to advertise this forum, not necessarily to represent whatever the most populous group is here.

Other forums sell decals, or send them with your membership renewal.

They also identify one member to others.

 

[eDJ_]

I haven't found a female camper clip art yet. But here is a revision with less aggressive fire, and a playmate cooler. The chair is now an arm chair with a beverage can by his right elbow. Pie iron better defined. I would consider the female image between him & the van walking towards him.

 

[WanderingRose]

Maybe a grizzly poking out from behind one of those trees, sniffing the air.

 

[tx2sturgis]

I just noticed he has boots on now...

He certainly looks more 'vagabond' than he did earlier, especially with the booney hat and a few weeks worth of facial hair.

Who knew we had such artistic talent around here?

 

[eDJ_]

So, with a woman in the picture. Maybe the bear chasing the woman who has the marshmallows ?

 

[maki2]

That does look very much better! The woman is a good addition. Set it aside for a few days without looking at it so you can see it “fresh” to know if you, yourself, think it needs any more adjustments.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Whoa! Not only does the presence of the lady add value, it helps with perspective...it makes the van look like it's positioned behind the man instead of almost on top of him...very nice.

 

[WanderingRose]

The van needs a cargo door, maybe partly open.

 

[maki2]

The van needs a cargo door, maybe partly open.

Agreed^^ However it was explained he is using clipart for the basic elements. Finding a van with an open door with with camping build stuff inside is not likely to be found in catalogs of clipart, ie vector art. Doing a quick search I found not even one example of a vector art image of any van type with an open door much less stuff inside the van showed up. So closed door is the only option for this particular method of copy and paste it into the scene graphics creation.

 

[NctryBen]

Seeing the evolution of this decal I tend to think as the fire is going down what’s left of those marshmallows is one burnt one. The lady adds like everyone says. I think you have something here. Nice work!

 

[A Wing and a Prayer]

I am a graphic designer/illustrator. I just wanted to add, make sure if you are using clipart, that it is free for commercial use clipart. Otherwise looks good. I would still make the mountains in the same style as the rest of the sticker though.