| Although there are thousands of different race car | | | | there are three shapes familiar to everybody and |
| decals out there they all have certain things in | | | | they are often the building blocks to more complex |
| common. At least the better ones do. There are | | | | arrangements. A circle, square, and triangle can be |
| some basic guidelines to design that go into any | | | | manipulated to produce all kinds of different |
| graphic and decals are no exception. Those five | | | | compositions. |
| guidelines are: lines, shapes, mass, texture and color. | | | | Mass is the property that has to do with the size of |
| Once you get an understanding of how these work | | | | the different element. Like shape, mass comes in a |
| you can more critically examine your own work and | | | | multitude of variations. Mass can be manipulated to |
| that of others. | | | | create an overpowering effect or the opposite in |
| Lines are the first thing to look at. Lines are the | | | | which the mass can seem small. Texture has to do |
| starting point of almost any graphic and they offer | | | | with the way a surface looks. There are smooth and |
| enormous flexibility and opportunity. They can be the | | | | rough surfaces. Everybody is familiar with the decal |
| entire subject of a piece or they may be used in the | | | | that looks like the torn edges of paper. Graphics |
| background to create borders. The lines themselves | | | | have evolved to the point where the texture of a |
| can entirely straight or etirely curvy or a variation | | | | billiard ball can be reproduced as well as bullet holes in |
| between the two. When they are straight, this | | | | sheet metal. |
| straightness can produce a feeling of tradition and | | | | Color is a component that is exercised wildly on race |
| stability if the lines are at right angles to each other. | | | | cars. Each color has its own personality and this is |
| If they are at offbeat angles to each other they will | | | | used by race car owners to create their own effect. |
| immediately grab our attention, they are unsettling | | | | The more brash tend to go for the warm end of the |
| and can simulate movement. - One reason why | | | | color spectrum and have cars that are bright red and |
| diagonals pop up so often in race car graphic design. | | | | can be seen a mile away. The other end of the color |
| Shapes are the next level up. Shapes are made by | | | | spectrum has cool tones like blue. |
| lines and there are millions of them. That being said | | | | |