Whether you’re applying pinstripe tape to your ride or having it done for you by a professional, most people want it to look stylish and cool. The overall design is the most important element in having a successful stripe job. Right behind the design are the colors you choose. Here are 7 tips to help you choose the correct striped tape colors.
- Choose the colors that you like best! Sounds obvious right? However, some people choose what their friends or a vinyl professional like, and don’t choose the colors they really want. Maybe the colors you choose don’t look as good as others, but if you like them, that’s all that matters.
- If the striped tape you are using is more than one color, choose a dominant color and a secondary color. Let one color have most of the impact and the other color or colors be the supporting cast. In this way the colors do not fight each other, they help to complement each other. For example, dark green and dark brown are nice colors, but they are both really strong colors and will fight for attention. A dark brown with a tan or beige would be a better option in most cases; or dark green with a medium green.
- Generally speaking, I have found that metallic colors and a dark car can look great, but metallics do not hold up over time in a dark vehicle. For whatever reason, the colors of the metallic stripes fade in two to three years. Try to avoid this scenario if you can.
- Complementary colors will generally look great together. Blue and orange are free, as are red and green, purple and yellow.
- Consider using a striped tape that is roughly the same color as your vehicle, but is lighter or darker. For example, dark blue stripes on a light or medium blue car look great. Dark green pinstripe on a light or medium green car looks sweet.
- If you are looking for colors that really stand out and make a statement, look for high contrast as well as bold lines and shapes. Contrast, in addition to color, is what makes some striped ribbons stand out and others appear much more subtle. How is the contrast achieved? Dark vs. light. Dark colors on light colors or light colors on dark colors.
- If possible, try to get a striped tape color chart and post it next to your vehicle outside in the sun. On the side of the sun, not on the side of the shadow. Take a few steps back from the vehicle and squint to see what appears to you. Sometimes using the elimination process is a better way to see your choice of colors. Rather than picking colors, you start cutting out what you don’t like to find the right color or colors for your trip.
I hope these seven tips help you pick colors the next time you want to add some stripes to your ride. The great thing about stripe tape is that you can remove it if you don’t like it and you can always add more if you think your car needs it.
