Last week I was in Las Vegas all week for the SEMA Show (automotive convention) with 6 others as part of my Truckblog Crew.  Here’s the first video posted of the event:

You can also see all of the photos we took.

I just realized that I never showed my first major vehicle graphics project… probably because it took so long to do, and then I just got busy with a Ford trip to Michigan and the fires here in San Diego. Plus, I was scrambling last minute to get the plotter and the software to work so I could cut all of the vinyl for this monster truck.

Well, here it is, in all its glory. Took about 3 full days (over the period of a week) to apply the graphics. Thanks to Frozone and Brian for their help (and beer!) It goes to Las Vegas this weekend (Saturday, I believe) for the week-long SEMA Show event. The owner of the truck (a Ford Super Duty F-250 diesel) is Brian Olhausen, and he named it “Project Bank Shot” since his family is in the billiards business. On a related note, his house in Poway was spared from the fires, but the homes right next to him were destroyed.

I took these photos last Saturday. My goal was to grab some sunset shots near the coast, however the marine layer moved in too fast and spoiled that for us. The fires started the next day, ruining any possibility of getting more photos. I’ll take some more in Vegas or after we get back from the SEMA Show.

Hand-drawn sketch and measurements:

Computer mock-up:

Finished work:

There are a bunch more photos at Truckblog, and that gallery will be updated along the way.

With Brian’s huge SEMA vehicle decal project I have this weekend I couldn’t do the job with my 8 year old Roland Stika SX-12 10″ plotter. While it’s done a great job over the years, its time has come to be replaced by something bigger. Since Mike wasn’t using our 24″ plotter in Houston, he shipped it to me. It’s a behemoth 24″ GCC Bobcat plotter that’s basically brand new. Here’s a shot of it with my old Roland Stika cutter sitting on top for size comparison. There’s also a photo of it after the break (barely) sitting on my desk. The stand arrives tomorrow, which will replace the current (sweet) box stand.

Read the Rest of ‘New plotter arrives’

Last week I thought I was set to make this week Mac Week for me. Problem is I didn’t get caught up over the weekend and October is quickly turning into a super busy month as usual, mainly due to my automotive interests.

For starters, this weekend I’ll be doing the vehicle graphics for our Truckblog project truck that is going to the SEMA Show at the end of the month. The owner is Brian Olhausen, who is taking his Ford F-250 Super Duty diesel truck to the show again with a lot of changes from last year. The vehicle graphics I’m doing this year for his truck are the most I’ve ever done for any project, so it should be interesting. You can see my design here in this mockup which is mainly used for sizing and layout estimates.

Then, later this month I’m going to Dearborn, MI with Frozone for a Ford Motor Company media event, highlighting the new Ford Super Duty truck. That will eat up two days. The following week I’ll be in Las Vegas all week long for the SEMA Show, which is my annual trip to the desert to cover the show with the Truckblog Crew.

So needless to say, Mac Week has been post-poned, mainly because I can’t factor in any loss of productivity in my schedule. I may take a day here or there to mess with it some more, but for the immediate future there is no Mac Week!