Vehicle and Equipment Signage

[therealjohnboy]

Gday,
I am about to redo my signage as i have a new truck and a few new machines that arent done. And i thought rather than just stick with my old fashioned signage I'd go for something modern and eyecatching so I am after ideas so please post up a pic of what you use so I can cheat a little.

Cheers John

 

[bear]

I'd have the Earthmoving part look like it was shaking and being moved. Seriously. Or you could have the sharp metal corner thing going on add some highlights and piping to the signature. Black or silver background. I'll think some more. Might try to draw a picture of what I mean too.

 

[dayexco]

i'd have your company name in reflective tape. easy to see at night.

 

[Hendrik]

Eyecatching.............hmnh?
A couple of nude ladies perhaps?
Neon signage?
Make the free in free quotes bigger.

 

[Squizzy246B]

John,
The best logos are very simple and have a distinctive shape/colour. They should be easily recognised at distance even if you can't read the lettering.

We get lost of comments on our diamond shape.

https://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=1895&page=3

 

[ddigger]

I dont think Id change much, thats a good looking logo. I`ve had mine since 1989 its now on my third machine, its different, but even if its to far away for people to read, guys are allways calling or telling me they spotted my machine somewhere. Its always good to let folks know your still around, rather than change a bunch and make em think theres a new guy in town. In smaller print it has my phone # and contractors license #.

 

[Red Bank]

I like it the way it is now, I would not change anything.

 

[Hendrik]

I like it the way it is now, I would not change anything.

Being serious for once, I would make the name a bit bigger, after all that is the part you want people to remember when they look at the sign.
Are there any plans for a website to promote the biz? 1300 number (although from what I heard they are very pricey)?

 

[therealjohnboy]

My thinking is to corporatise my image more to give the perception of a bigger company, I am chasing a few Government contracts and dont want to be seen as a mum and dad setup

 

[RTSmith]

Just a couple of cents of opinion here. HE is my hobby on the farm. My "paying business" (at least it paid up until this recession) is selling horse equipment. On the logo- the advice not to change it was very good. You've spent years getting it recognized. No harm in a slight refresh, but keep the basics so that it is still recognizable. Remember when Coke refreshed their logo a few years ago? No you don't because it was very subtle, it just looked a little bit neater, but still was instantly recognizable.
On the toll-free number: be careful. I have about 25 of them we use to track advertising. But if I hadn't had them for 15 years I wouldn't now. The people who want to call you for business will. In this day of free cell calls, long distance charges aren't what they used to be. But it won't take much for you to have $200-400/month in calls. Just my thoughts.
I like the current logo but I do wonder about changing the "free quotes" part to something the sounds like a larger firm. If you want to look larger, maybe adding " Since 1974 (or whatever)", or Corporation, or some other legalese? Or adding to make "Earthmoving Contractor" .Here in the states you'll often see LLC or Inc. after the name to show the legal status. It does add some legitimacy. So sorry to ramble, but the psychology of business marketing can get so interesting & confusing.

 

[RTSmith]

And website- can be great. A bit of history, pics of old jobs, a list of your services & capabilities, and bios of key folks in your group. People love to look through these things. But you have to make sure the site is listed on your trucks, eqpt. etc. If you do any advertising, the graphic artist at the paper or the sign co. that does your truck signs may have some good ideas for logo revisions also. Ask.

 

[Red Bank]

These pictures are trucks from my day job. In the beginning the company name was Kenneth R. Greene Utility Contractor, Inc. Mr. Greene died and his two sons took over the company. They built it up considerably from where Mr. Greene had it. Over the years, they decided to "unpersonalize" the name, so in keeping with what most companies around here do, they shortened it to KRG Utility. Also I wanted to show how we decal up our trucks, I think they look good, these pictures are from the staging area at this past Christmas Parade. We get a lot of compliments about our decals.

 

[Hendrik]

My thinking is to corporatise my image more to give the perception of a bigger company, I am chasing a few Government contracts and dont want to be seen as a mum and dad setup

Are you gonna keep the same trading name?

 

[Squizzy246B]

My thinking is to corporatise my image more to give the perception of a bigger company, I am chasing a few Government contracts and dont want to be seen as a mum and dad setup

I'm no artist but I'll see if I can offer some advice:

Get rid of the free quotes thing, thats for backyard jobs. In practice you do free intial consultations but when you are tendering big jobs you should be building the cost of your time into the task anyway.

Keep the colours the same

Take the same basic logo you have and get the text cleaned up so its less Fred Flinstone (not that there is much wrong with it) and more laser controlled GPS...by this I mean cleaner and clearer, less scrolly running writing.

Place the end profile of a loader bucket on the right side/end of the logo as if its about to scoop up the logo. Consider a simple emblem to emboss on the end of the loader bucket like "JRE" in a suitable font or logo type arrangement. This can follow through to other signage.

Change the "earthmoving" text to "Professional Earthmoving" or "Earthmoving Professionals" and make the name singular.

Thats my two bobs worth:beatsme

 

[KSSS]

Here is my logo. This is the only truck I have the big picture on. Everything else just have the name in blue.

 

[therealjohnboy]

Place the end profile of a loader bucket on the right side/end of the logo as if its about to scoop up the logo. Consider a simple emblem to emboss on the end of the loader bucket like "JRE" in a suitable font or logo type arrangement. This can follow through to other signage.
Sqizzy that is pretty much exactly what I had in mind I'll post a pic of what has been designed

 

[therealjohnboy]

just realised that I cant show you as the designer has it copyright protected

 

[therealjohnboy]

KSSS that is what I would love to do to my truck it looks awesomebut I dont have the space on the new truck plus they dont seem to do vinyl wraps here in SA yet

 

[Squizzy246B]

just realised that I cant show you as the designer has it copyright protected

It should belong to you when you pay for it...and the copyright would really only apply to another designer plagurising it for commercial gain. Its the same as the copyright you will see at the bottom of this page. It may be reproduced to show its proper/intended function. You will own the design at the end but you wont be able to actually sell the design. The final design is the designers intellectual property.

 

[bear]

John,
The best logos are very simple and have a distinctive shape/colour. They should be easily recognised at distance even if you can't read the lettering.

We get lost of comments on our diamond shape.

https://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=1895&page=3

In Suqizzy's case Fingerpainting! :tong (just kidding Squizzy) Squizzy is right about eye catching and simple.