Engraving/Color Fill on Green Dyed Curly Poplar

[FireproofInc]

Hey all,

Have a Jr. Gent Fountain in Gold with Green Dyed Curly Poplar that I have turned for a mock-up for a potential client. They want their 'slogan' on the pen in some way. The pen that they stock now is one readily available at online printers and looks like a Euro. The slogan is written on the upper barrel.

The Jr. Gent is obviously meant to be an upgrade from this pen that they sell for 6 bucks. I'm torn between putting their slogan in one or two lines on the barrel of the Jr. and putting a logo on the back of the cap and putting the slogan on a really nice box. What is 'classier' in your mind? Personally...I say nothing on the pen and a nice engraved box. Or engraved clip with a portion of their slogan and a nice engraved box....mmm?

If I went with the slogan on the barrel, I'd probably want to color fill...The $4 dollar question is what color. And if I went this way, I would want it to look classy still and be in line with the level of writing instrument. I chose Jr. Gent because it is a mid grade kit that I can afford to eat if they don't want to do business.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!

 

[Sylvanite]

When I color-fill an engraving, I usually choose to match the plating color. For a pen with gold accents, I fill in gold. For one with silver accents, I use silver. Both combinations compliment a green blank, look classy, and provide good contrast.

Regards,
Eric

 

[fiferb]

Have you discussed it with the customer? I'd present options and various prices and let them decide. You stated above that they want their slogan on the pen. Sounds like that's where they want it. I would go on the barrel rather than the clip, flaking could result down the road. As far as colorfill, how about gold to match the plating? Or, does the company have another color in their logo or sign?

 

[alphageek]

A couple thoughts.
-- I've NEVER seen anyone engrave the clip (one of the options you mentioned).
-- You've already turned the pen... Take a really picture of it and its pretty easy to photoshop to see how it will look with engraving on the barrel.

That way you can demo some options without messing with the actual pen. (And they can see how classy the pen is 'raw' )

 

[FireproofInc]

Thanks for the speedy replies, folks!

Alpha -- I was thinking of doing just that. I only have gimpshop and paint.net. I may have to reach out to my geeky friends to see if they can get it to work out right. I tried it with another Jr. Gent that I have laying around and can't seem to make it look 'natural', make sense? It looks like I typed it on a picture..which I did. ha!

They have pretty much given me creative reign, when I was talking about the slogan on the barrel, I guess I was speaking for myself. I guess I have in mind that I want the slogan on the barrel. The pen they have available now has it there, but I'm also guessing that was the only option.

Thanks again for the thoughts!

 

[NewLondon88]

Alpha -- I was thinking of doing just that. I only have gimpshop and paint.net. I may have to reach out to my geeky friends to see if they can get it to work out right. I tried it with another Jr. Gent that I have laying around and can't seem to make it look 'natural', make sense? It looks like I typed it on a picture..which I did. ha!

I haven't touched Gimp in many years (several versions ago) but it should
do what you want.

The Text function should allow you to choose a Type Mask, rather than
the text itself. (does that make sense?) When you type a word, you won't
see the black text (or whatever color) but you will see the 'marching ants'
in the shape of letters you just typed. You can fill that with color, or you
can fill it with a pattern .. or you could even take a photo and "Paste Into"
that area. Basically, it is a Selection, but it is in the shape of your text.
(In your toolbar, it might show as Text Outline or something similar)

So . .if you look online for some images or color swatches .. for instance
if you're going to fill the text in gold, search for a gold image online. Copy
that image and use the Paste Into function to put it in your text. The
nice thing is that even after you Paste Into, you can still use the Move
tool to move the image around .. still within the text.

Edit
I just did a "Quick and Dirty" version so you can see what it looks like

 

[FireproofInc]

NewLondon,

Makes perfect sense. Have to run to work now, but itching to try it out! I'd hate to ruin a good pen with something that they don't want! Thanks for the mini-tutorial!

Cheers!