Jeremy Crisp's Classic 900 Night & Day

Night & Day

This decoration of my car (current mileage 188k) is the product of an
idea followed through. This effect was achieved by drawing an arrow on
my computer approx 5cm in length and repeating this to fill an area
positioned as close together as possible to minimise wasting material.
This file was then supplied to BD&H printers in Norwich, who kindly
produced several metres of these arrows in a reflective blue adhesive
vinyl, cut by a computer-controlled cutting blade. This is similar
material to that used in commercial & emergency vehicle graphics.

Having obtained the materials, I set about sticking these on my own
vehicle, trying to achieve a random but evenly spaced texture to cover
the whole car - the sides, bonnet, boot, & roof. This process was done
in stages, and took a fair few hours in total. I've calculated there
are at least 750 arrows covering the whole surface area. The end result
as pictured here is that during the daytime, the car appears
unexceptional as the arrows are not visible from a distance of more
than 15-20 yards - it just looks like a blue Saab 900 turbo, and even
when the arrows are visible from close up, being blue on blue, the
contrast is quite restrained. However at night, I imagine (as I've not
yet seen the car being driven by anyone else) it must be a different
story, as any part of the car which is caught in headlights does light
up like a christmas tree as the reflective material does its stuff.

At the end of the day, this is purely an exercise in decoration and
artistry - I don't know why other drivers aren't more creative with
what they use to get around in - but on the other hand, something like
this might not be to everyone's taste, and many people like to bear in
mind the likelihood that they will be selling the vehicle again
somewhere down the line. Anyway - this is what I've done with my own
Saab; I was asked to write a few words about it and I hope visitors to
the site who view this image will enjoy seeing these pics!


Jeremy Crisp
28 November 2006
Norwich