Custom Bats Cricket Forum
Equipment => Bats => Bat Making => Topic started by: Howzat on February 21, 2010, 05:14:50 PM
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(http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/1272/p2102101704.jpg)
(http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/6490/p210210170401.jpg)
(http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/9707/p210210155501.jpg)
Stickers were made on the computer as samples, looking for feedback...
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I like the simplicity a lot
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Any to go on the back mate or are they the same as the ones you had up a while back...looks ok would need pairing with a black grip to keep in with the colour scheme and ould move them a bit lower down so the grip doesnt cover up the sticker.
Would have the killer part in silver reflective and a nice gloss back for the rest of it but then thats just my opinion, Im sure others will disagree
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Yeah bit boring at the mo I think... Killer was meant to be red... but I ran out of ink ;)
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Bad times!!!! Yeh thought it was red and black as your colour schemes....mix in some silver perhaps and an outline for the Instinct to break it up a bit and add a bit to them to jazz them up a bit??
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you could have the black carbon effect like the newbwery c6+, that looks really classy
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The look good, Basic design, but that often works best, Like tom said, If you were to add some nice touches, they would be very good.
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Silver Border would look amazing IMO
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If I'm honest I think they're a bit bland. I appreciate the simplicity but I agree with Tom when he says add silver or something (electric blue ;)) to break it up a bit or make it stand out.
Sorry to be lame.
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i like them could do with a little graphite colour but i like the minimalistic look.
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If I'm honest I think they're a bit bland. I appreciate the simplicity but I agree with Tom when he says add silver or something (electric blue ;)) to break it up a bit or make it stand out.
Sorry to be lame.
I agree mate, they are boring!
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I would have a shot at making up an entirely new design - the one you have is ok, not good but not bad - it wouldnt hurt to have a little play around with fonts/colour etc. I know your printing them from your own printer so the quality wont be fantastic but like the others have said it would be good to border the word instinct to make it a little clearer and defined.
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things you should remember is that the most popular bats dont actually tnd to be the bats with the best performance.
first impressions matter.
look at the wisdens test gave Piri Piri best bat!!??
and kooks, GN, etc sell a lot of bats.
i also think that just because you guys know a lot about bats and batmaking does not nescassarily man you have a good eye for design and merchandising.
Addidas probably spent six months solid with teams of different designers in different countries coming up with ideas.
In short get a professional to come up with a design, and will come to you to mend their bats.
stick to what your good at is my moto.
youe design is fine, but if you lined it up with six different brands and asked joe public to pick one......
one example is Tailisman awesome bats that arent done justice by the stickers.
the sticjers are your shop window andhas to represent the huge effort you have gon e throught to creat a cuttinh edge quality product with snazzy deseighn etc, your companies story.
its difficult to do, the Indians are slowly catching up after years of (No Swearing Please) stickers and as a result becoming more popular.
get the professionals in!
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I do agree with steel... to a degree... but I'd additionally say it depends on your goal really. I mean a small boutique bat maker may only be looking to make a couple of hundred bats a year at most, and for this I think the main selling point is the quality of the bat, rather than the stickers. However if your looking to try and take on the GN's, Kooks of the world, perhaps like a Mongoose, then branding is absolutely critical and you'd definately need professional help then.
Also, for a small independent batmaker (as I am hoping to become!) cost is critical, and I'd rather put start up costs into the bat and get my product right, then hopefully improve branding/marketing as you go.
Anyway, no right or wrong I guess!
My opinion on Leo's stickers - I prefer understated stickers persoanlly, so like them!!
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How about throwing it open to the forum members to see if anyone comes up with any designs you like? could be a good starting point?
You could define the design points you are looking for, and I bet there are people talented enough on this forum to come up with some worthy designs????
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Ok yeah great idea Pete, maybe some forum members can mock up some designs? Dont worry if your not very good at it, I'm OK at image manipulation so could work on them further. If I choose one of them Im sure I'd be able to offer some sort of reward!
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Could you put the instinct logo on here so we can copy it into the design?
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Font: Have been using Xpress Heavy SF (google to download) but be my guest to use a diff one.
Logo: (http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/5006/logo2gv.jpg)
Use the invert function on your image program if you want it in white
My attempt: (http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/6869/instinctphotoshopped2.jpg)
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They look good but i think you could pick a better font!
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www.dafont.com Leo, pickout some class fonts.
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i personal think the front stickers too thin and not wide enough but then again i like big stickers :P
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I work in the signs/stickers/graphics industry, but having tried to design a few stickers for my own bats I can appreciate how tricky it can be to get the balance between eye catching without being garish.
I like your basic design though, but I'd have the one on the back a little bit bigger
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Not the best but I thought I'd have a quick go. Might spend more time on it tomorrow.....
(Shock horror - no electric blue :()
(http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/ab312/JoeColes/Slide1.jpg?t=1266866626)
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Nice one Colesy,
Heres my latest attempt:
(http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/6374/p2202101931.jpg)
(http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/2082/p220210193201.jpg)
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Very Neat Leo. Try different fonts aswell!
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They look much better Leo :D
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I like the new ones a lot Leo!
Funny how something small makes such a difference :D
I also have a design similar to the WilloStix one. But looks like you're sorted ;)
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Do people think the white band looks good or should it be silver/chrome?
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i still like the idea of having just the killer in red.
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Do people think the white band looks good or should it be silver/chrome?
Chrome
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Electric blue :D
Chrome seems to be a good idea, similar to the Woodworm Hard Drive stickers in terms of colours.
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Chrome is good but will need a decent printing company to do it properly, gives a good mirror finish when given a gloss coating as per our stickers of late
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The white on black background looks very dated.
It is not bad.
You logo is "killer instinct"
meaning Threatening, meaning basic raw emotive instinct.
So, for mr your image does not say that , so there is an "imbalance" between the name and the image.
TO create a balance and if your wanrted to stay with the name, whihc i thik is quite good,
then for me you would need image that were bolder, even aggressive.
The paw, but with claws, mad crazy eyes, or even if you wanted the thin rectangel image in the middle of the bat then perhaps you could turn it into a knife. These are just ideas off the top of my head, but i hope this makes some sense
On someone elses point:
Anyone who starts a company with the aim of selling 200 units a year, propbably should save themselves a lot of time and money and do something else.
Just becuase you start small doesnt mean you should not aim high and do the best you can at everything you do and actually as i think we being honest have to confess that image has a lot to do with buying cricket bats
A designer can do a job like this for a couple of hundred pounds or less.
If you go with ideas of the images that you want to portray then they add a professions touch.
As we know a couple of hundred pounds is not a huge amount of money to invest in a bat let a lone invest in the first thing anyone is going to judge your companies efforts on.
on a tangent, does anyone know which companies have sold the most bats in the western world last year?
Be interested to compare the numbers against which ones i would say have the most professional imaging
My point being the better the imaging the more you sell
1) Kooks ( interchangable with Puma)
2) Puma
3)Slazenger
4) GN
5) Addidas ( i think has the best branding, but is playing catch up)
6) GM probably the best bat out of them
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Leo - i think you should concentrate on making a few bats first - no point putting a fancy sticker on something that resembles a garden trowel - be happy with the product you want to sell then think seriously about getting some stickers done.
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by the way - that wasnt me saying your last bat resembled a trowel!!!
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My point being the better the imaging the more you sell
1) Kooks ( interchangable with Puma)
2) Puma
3)Slazenger
4) GN
5) Addidas ( i think has the best branding, but is playing catch up)
6) GM probably the best bat out of them
Nothing to do with them sponsoring most professionals in the 'Western world'..?
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Of Course, but sponsorship is all about creating an image, in sponsorship's case via the medium of vicarious association.
My point is, lets test my theory and that is all it is.
In my minde the bats with the most professional design that use all the latest design and sports marketing tools available to them will sell the most bats.
Could be wrong, but even professional will consider the look of a bat or bat sticker when deciding on a sponsorship deal in this day and age.
We are so bombarded by marketing adn design these days, apparently something like 1000 advertising images through all mediums A DAY that something bad sticks out like a sore thumb.
Just worth considering thats all.
There is a big difference between "classic and understated" than not very good.
I have not put my money where my mouth is and i think it is great that people do to be honest.
I look forward ot the day when peopl eon here are sell good numbers of kick (No Swearing Please) products and shake up the market. Good on you all.
Very sucessful products do have the "full package"though.
Think Mongoose in this one.
Bad marketing and they would have sold 50 units with jus tthe bats alone and a bit of PR, where as actually they have shaken up the market and we now see genuine innovations, unimaginable five years ago coming through. Obviously there are either factors such as timing, budget, but they are the full package.
Actually i think it can be done on a smaller budget that they had by looking hard at every aspect you can effect. Ayrtech for one is guess has a smaller budget, but does a good job
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Give most people the budget mongoose have and they will sell bats too
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Give most people the budget mongoose have and they will sell bats too
Maybe there's a reason why most don't have the budget monoose has..?
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Who did your Black Cat stickers Charlie?
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Leo how did you do those off your own printer???? would they rub off in rain????
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I think they're just samples mate :P
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yeah i just meant what are the samples made of??
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Looks like printed off from the computer then stuck on with selotape.
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Printed off on paper with vinyl stuck over them.
Charlie from black cat made some great stickers for me... will upload pics later.
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oh do the sticker work well like that mate???
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Looks ok just so that I can see what they will look like.
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Who did your Black Cat stickers Charlie?
I design all mine. It's easy if you have the right software.
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What were's charlie's like leo?? Any pics??
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They r the ones I sent you mate
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ohh sorry mate didnt realise that :)