Size of Lettering for Boat Name

[Rumdirty]

So I've finally come up with a boat name that I'm happy with. It's only six letters, I'm curious what size lettering most of you use? I was thinking 4 inches high (makes it about 13" long). On each side of the boat towards the rear. I used 2" for registration up front, don't have my hailing port done on the captains chair yet.

[Tomfoolery]

I used 2" for registration up front . . .

At the risk of being 'that guy', I thought 3" was the minimum height for the state registration numbers.

And 4" name height sounds pretty small. Looks big on the table, but looks waaaay smaller on the side of a boat. You might want to wander around a marina with boats on trailers, and see what looks like a good size letter scheme on a similar sized boat. You might be surprised how big the letters actually are.

Like traffic lights and signs - they're way bigger up close than they are from a distance. And 'yard sale' signs that you can't possibly read unless you get right up to them.

[Russ]

I agree with Tom. Sounds too small. Of course it's all subjective and name lettering is not a legal requirement like reg numbers.

Don't forget contrast. Mine have a black "shaddow" which is subtle but increases contrast.
I don't know how big mine are and the boat is too far away to measure.

[Rumdirty]

I used 2" for registration up front . . .

At the risk of being 'that guy', I thought 3" was the minimum height for the state registration numbers.

Ooops.. was working from memory. 3 inches then... it was whatever the minimum height required for NJ registration.

I have no issues making the boat name larger. How about 8 inches? I like the shadow look, says it would be visible at 80-200 feet. $160 for a set of two from BoatUS. Ouch!

[Tomfoolery]

I used 2" for registration up front . . .

At the risk of being 'that guy', I thought 3" was the minimum height for the state registration numbers.

I have no issues making the boat name larger. How about 8 inches? I like the shadow look, says it would be visible at 80-200 feet. $160 for a set of two from BoatUS. Ouch!

Keep in mind that mixing upper and lower case will make the whole thing look smaller than all upper case.

And wispy fonts need to be larger to look right.

These letters are 5" or 6" high (I thought 6", but my notes from back then say 5") by 4 ft long. But they're block-ish letters, all upper case. The original lettering on that boat was 8" high by 65" long (Selkirk Lass), and very thin and wispy, so it didn't look out of place.



I'll measure the same name on my Mac when I get down to where it's docked, but they're pretty small since they only go across the helm seat. I made them the largest I could that would fit.



If you're any good with photoshop, you may be able to model the lettering on the BoatUS graphics page, including aspect ratio (stretch/compress the length) and background color, take a screen shot, and overlay it on a pic of your boat, scaled to represent the right lettering to boat scaling. Should give you a good idea as to what looks right for the font, color, aspect ratio, etc. Just a thought.

[seahouse]

Remember to put out the boat fenders when choosing the location of the letters. Just looks neater to me when the name is not interfered with by the fenders or their lines.
-B.

[Russ]

Keep in mind that mixing upper and lower case will make the whole thing look smaller than all upper case.

+1

[Rumdirty]

Great words of wisdom from all of you. I totally never even thought of the fenders doh! I'll update you all when I make my choice.

Wasn't thinking to put the name on the back, was just (eventually) going to put my home port. My photoshop skills suck. I'm better off guesstimating

Thanks again!

[Catigale]

Too small. Especially if your kids are large...



The C in the boat name is 7 inches high, the lower case letters 5 inches

The Delmar NY is 3 inches and 2 inches, caps and Lower case, respectively.

[Highlander]

Yep the bigger the better !!
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee20 ... 010044.jpg

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee20 ... 010042.jpg

on the water
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee20 ... 0038-1.jpg


J

[NiceAft]

Big, bold, and proud of it

[Rumdirty]

Ordered the 8" tall lettering this morning. I'll post a pic when I get it on the boat. Thanks everybody for your input!

[mastreb]

We did 5" letters on Luna Sea, and found it was too small. I'd recommend 6", maybe 7" depending on the font. I think 8" would be too big for my preferences.

[Don T]

Hello,
We went small and classy.
Picture removed - Photobucket sucks
Picture removed - Photobucket sucks

Picture removed - Photobucket sucks