A blast from the past!
Vehicle graphics from before the computer age
By Bob Behounek
Posted on Tuesday, October 22nd, 2019
It’s been almost 30 years since I gathered photos of trucks I had done and with the help of SignCraft, put them together in a book format in 1991. The book was simply called Trucks! Since then, our industry has been through a grand transformation. I slid a copy of the book off the shelf today to scan through the pages and reminisce. Gosh—most of these examples look so simple compared to what is being done today! Back then, our industry was geared toward handmade craftsmanship, and the “time equals money” relationship.
Each of these signs started with a clientto-designer conversation. We worked out the needs and wants compared to what would work and look good. Life was really much simpler back then. Complicated design presentations were never required.
Sitting with clients doing simple pencil renderings of basic ideas always seemed to solidify the targeted overall look of the finished product. We all seemed to be able to visualize things using this black-and-white method.
Bob Behounek has spent over 40 years as a sign artist and pinstriper in the Chicago, Illinois, area.