In parts 1 through 3 of this series, I have discussed artwork requirements for creating custom title plates for Fantasy Football Trophies. In these prior posts, I have talked about how artwork needs to be black and white and "camera ready" high resolution artwork.In the realm of laser engraved title plates, it is important to understand how the laser engraving machine works. The laser either cuts, or it doesn't. This is a process of material removal, not printing, so grey scale and half tones are not possible. Or are they?
In the above example, we see the typical black and white laser engraving. It is either black or gold, the laser cut, or it didn't.
Since a laser cannot engrave in "grey" how can we achieve a half tone effect? By assigning a shade of grey to an area on the artwork, the laser will create a pattern, and this pattern will read as lighter or darker halftones. A more dense pattern will be perceived as being lighter, and a sparse pattern will be perceived as darker. In the example to the left (which you can click on to see full size) we can see this half tone effect in the plumage of the hen.
If half tones are to be used, it is critical that the artwork be high resolution, as I discussed in earlier parts of this article, if you don't have quality art, you should bite the bullet and pay your engraver to do the artwork for you.
In this example on the left, we have a black and white image that might have used grey scale in order to further define the areas around the hawk's eyes, although this is a very nice looking plate!
This trophy featuring the Tazmanian Devil in grey scale is a great example of how the half tones can effectively work to help define an image. Here we have 2 shades of grey, the lighter shade on his chest, and the darker shade representing his limbs. The perimeter around Taz is completely removed, like the text. Anything shown in gold would be black in a black and white image.
Previously, I mentioned that when working with logo art, it is helpful to invert the art so that the page is black and the art is white. This is closer to what the actual plate will look like, and can help in determining what portions of the logo should be visually clarified for maximum impact.
If you would like to see all of our perpetual fantasy football trophies, loser trophies and football keeper trophies, visit us at Sculpture Alley!
