Da Groj

Was discussing this with some folks yesterday. It would make life a lot easier for course workers and timing if we talked about it a little bit...

We're not "real picky" about car numbers, but we'd really like to see them meet our meager guidelines set forth here:
Car Numbers

The most important words on that page are:

We need to be able to read your numbers easily from at least 200 feet away.

What does it take for a number to be readable from 200' away?

• First, it has to be large enough for a person with normal vision to make out the digits. At 200', that's a minimum of 8" tall. But, it's not that simple. It also needs to be a "fat" font style with a wide stroke. Something like "Times New Roman" that's great for writing letters is way too narrow to be easily read at a distance. The font should also be fairly consistent in width, not a "fancy" font where the stroke varies from wide to thin. A few people either get lazy (Times font) or try to get too fancy with their fonts... Keep It Simple.
• Second, it needs to contrast with its background. A lot of people have trouble with this. You don't have to go all the way to "complementary colors" from a color chart, you just need to recognize that there are dark, medium and light colors and you need a lot of contrast for distant visibility at a glance. A medium color on a medium color does not contrast well, nor does light on light or dark on dark.

That's it! Large, bold font and contrasting colors. Easy, right? And yet, so many people get it wrong...
Now, if you stand back from the above image, or view it a little smaller, you'll see that my categorizations are very true! The "bad" ones disappear, the "okay" ones are barely readable, and the "good" ones are as plain as day. Now, I don't want anyone to take this personally, this is all a learning exercise. But, to help you learn what is good and bad and why, here are some brief notes on each one:

18 - A little too small, font way too narrow, and text under number becomes "noise".
70 - Would be great if the window was tinted, but on clear glass, you have a constantly changing background. You got tape, you got a door... need I say more?
11 - Too small.
325 - Would be passable with white tape. Black on red = no contrast.
46 - Again, you got tape, you got a door...
10 - This one almost works, but black and red = no contrast.
224 - Too small, and silver is a such a strong "medium" color that it almost requires black or white to contrast with it consistently.
75 - Fancy font + Red/Blue doesn't work. Red and blue are generally not a good contrast.
27 - The "number bigger than the meatball" trick almost works, but it's not as easy to read as it could be. The addition of blue tape makes it nearly illegible.
07 - Way too tiny. (use some of that blue tape from the bumper!)
92 - This one is really close to "good", but you'll notice that it fades away at a much shorter distance than a same size bolder font.
757 - I only put this one in this category because this photo shows why you shouldn't use reflective material for numbers.
54 - Good use of tape and is legible most of the time, but this is a good example of how blue doesn't contrast with black.
50 - Too small, but great contrast and a good font almost make up for it.
47 - Best blue tape numbers EVER. The blue/red contrast is poor in certain lighting, but the bold font and good size help a lot.
37 - Silver on red works.
72 - Classic black on white "meatball".
91 - Magnetic numbers, plastic doors? No problem!
20 - White shoe polish on a tinted window with legible script. Good!
69 - It doesn't get any better than this.
85 - White on black. Smallish, but legible.
777 - White on red. Also smallish, but legible.
21 - LARGE white on silver, legible even in poor light.
33 - Fluorescent green tape on blue. Can't miss it!
61 - Another classic black on white meatball, you can't go wrong.
31 - Giant "NASCAR" numbers. Timing loves this.
4 - Simple and legible.
181 - Good use of tape. Red/Blue contrast is still an issue, but if you make it big enough and bold enough... it can still work.

Footnotes:
As a club, we need to quit buying 1" painters tape. It doesn't make good numbers. When we buy for the tech box, let's buy 1.5" or 2" wide tape to encourage those who use it to make bigger numbers.

Tech guys, don't pass a car without legible (from 200') numbers. Make them fix it!

I forgot to mention that for both good and bad, I purposely tried to select photos with the worst lighting. These are mostly "worst case" photos... but the same applies to the "good" photos. They are almost all photos of the side of the car that is in shadow.

If anyone needs help designing numbers for their car, just hit me up. I also have a good "cheap" vinyl guy if needed. He doesn't do magnet numbers, but has booth regular vinyl and lo-tac vinyl. The lo-tac is thicker and easy to remove and reapply. It's what Tim has been running on his vette.

Last years decals


Should have made my new graphics about 1-2 inches taller.

Glad you brought this up Loren, it really does make course working and timing annoying when you can only say "1 cone on the red Miata" because they were unable to read the number. As shown above, you don't need to spend a lot of $ on "good" numbers, painters tape and/or shoe polish can work great depending on your car.

47 also illustrates that it is possible to craft really stylish numbers out of lowly painter's tape. Nice work.

Loren wrote:47 - Best blue tape numbers EVER. The blue/red contrast is poor in certain lighting, but the bold font and good size help a lot.

That was tape? I never got a chance to look closely at the car -- impressive!

31 - Giant "NASCAR" numbers. Timing loves this.

Everything's "giant" on a Miata. I took that 12" pattern off the Prelude, where it wasn't quite as huge.

Tech guys, don't pass a car without legible (from 200') numbers. Make them fix it!

I'll add that to the tech checklist.

Loren wrote: 69 - It doesn't get any better than this.

Since Brian K is evidently asleep, I'll take a crack at this one--

"That's what she said."

garage west wrote:

Loren wrote: 69 - It doesn't get any better than this.

"That's what she said."

6 hours and 8 minutes. You guys are slipping.

garage west wrote:47 also illustrates that it is possible to craft really stylish numbers out of lowly painter's tape. Nice work.

Thanks guys. I just printed the numbers from the PDF file on our site and created a stencil. Sure, it took a while but I knew there was a reason for the specs. I would hate to retire the taped numbers now but I am interested in getting the magnetic ones only if I can reserve the "47" of course. I 'm not sure but I think the time came and went to reserve the numbers for the season.
Please advise the noob…

Thanks,

Robert
(started autoxing @ the age of … 47)

I bought some magnetic sheets at my local http://www.joann.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; , 4 sheets cost around $12 and was good for 6 9" numbers.

Okay I will dust off the black 8" numbers. I admit the black lined gold 9" probably was hard to see on titanium grey. Used to stand out good on the dark green Miata.

"99" is because a couple guys have permanent 96's and it's hard to see that blue "1" on that nice white circle with giant black numbers if I sign up first.

Also because that number is the age at which I will get FTD.

The "real" problem with modern WORLD cars is that they are not brand specific identifiable.

'The "black" civic, yaris, focus, altima, round, half moon sleeping outhouse door looking car has one cone.'

Anything with chrome bumpers is a piece of cake to identify as a collectible and it goes slow enough to actually read the numbers and the logo. Vettes all have a blonde bimbo in the passenger seat plus slide sideways thru corners and Miatae are MOST plentiful, topless, silent but yet lethal like a bean fart. All new pony cars remind one of the 60's and "The General" but are identifiable. All old pony cars are loud, slow and twist while leaving a rust trail making them memorable. Modified street cars are covered in race stripes and go fast stickers. Modified Race tired cars are covered in primer and go fast stickers. Open wheel cars spin out and are easily identified while trying to push restart or extract cones from the driver's mouth. Carts just aren't allowed because the driver would have to get 8" tattoos and buy the number forever.

I will show up with old 8" x 1 1/4" stroke black numbers next time. The down side to that is course workers will know the actual number to call in an "off course" on

Just did some samples for Ben Pickhardt, figured I'd post them here. He's considering color options for a neutral grey colored car. Have a look at some of the options. But, before you say "oh, that one looks kinda cool"... step back from your screen. From 10 feet back, squint and see which one is still easily legible. That's the kind of thing we'll see from across the course while you're out there setting FTD.

In this case, white is the obvious choice.

If we have two people driving one car, does both numbers have to be visible or interchanged per run? Also, can we use tape on the windows?

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Only the number of the driver currently in the car should be visible. Timing and the course workers need to be able to log times and penalties against the correct driver at a glance. Co-drivers typically choose numbers that only require changing one digit to make that easy.

Tape is fine. On windows as fine. As long as it's legible and easily readable from a distance.

Are we still reserving car numbers for a season or first come first served per event?