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MY PHILOSOPHY regarding GRAPHICS |
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Whenever possible, I will use the screen-accurate graphic, if it is available, especially for those bottles we have which are found items; but for those bottles which are not screen-accurate, I created new labels using the fonts and logos used elsewhere on screen.
My theory with respect to bar bottles is that because we are a space station they are all ‘imported’ and, as such, the writing on them would be in the language of the planet for which they were destined, just as a bottle of Budweiser sent to China would have Chinese characters on it somewhere. So, I feel free to use whatever font looks best on the label I am creating. If I know I am creating a label for something specific, like Ferengi Greeworm Brandy, I try and use a Ferengi logo on the label, but since it could be an export headed for Cardassia, I might also use Cardassian script. My explanation for how they ended up in our possession is, '. . .Ferengi business acumen coupled with rule number 110 . . . '. Since all our bottles will be used in a Ferengi-run establishment, I also made nutrition labels, bar code labels, and please-recycle labels using Ferengi characters. These are attached to each bottle in addition to the Ferengi tax stamp. What you will find here are instructions on how to make your own intergalactic-looking labels and links to places where you can get the canon ones if you don't want to design your own. |
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THE BOTTLE LABELS |
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As you can see, some of the labels are canon, others are fanon. Most of the fanon labels I made myself but I have a few created by John Harrington of Cedar Street Studio . John is a professional graphic artist who is also a Star Trek fan. He is a founding member of The Klingon Empire, the largest Klingon forum in north America, and Line Lord of the House Klag. He has a vast collection of fonts and images and experience working with the Star Trek universe. He helped me immensely with all the graphics we needed from bottles, to doors, to menus and he is willing to help you, too. Don't be fooled by his professional-looking website , he's a really nice, down to earth guy who is a lot of fun to work with so don't be afraid to contact him. He's also a very good graphic artist! Because he has professional software he can create shapes and effects that most of us can't. I'm amazed, every time I look at the labels he created for our sodas and beers. They are shown at the bottom of this page.
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To Make Your Own Labels |
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on permanent waterproof vinyl stock are available through John Harrington of Cedar Street Studio John has re-vectored all the canon labels we found and can produce your own designs as well. He is not associated with either of the websites shown above. gtjLCARS , owned and maintained by Jens Goettling, is a treasure trove of information but because of the way it is constructed, and because it is mostly in German, it is difficult to navigate and I cannot provide a direct link to anything. On the home page you will want to press the 'DOWNLOAD' button, fourth from the top on the far right-hand side, and then 'DL. DES MON' at the top of the left-hand side. This will take you to a page with links to a monthly download that Jens' friend, Dietrich Kerner, provides. You will have to look at each month's offering to find the specific label you are looking for. It is time-consuming but worth it. Dietrich's designs are very creative, high quality, and he provides a new one every month. WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO MAKE YOUR OWN LABELS: 1. A printer, preferably one which uses pigment based ink. Dye based inks will run if they get wet. Press here for an excellent analysis of inkjet printer inks on Wikipedia. 2. Opaque glossy white label stock (I bought mine from Online Labels. ) Although they offer hundreds of sizes I have found that the whole-sheet labels work best for me as I can cut them into whatever size and/or shape I need. For some of the beer and soda bottles I used standard 3x5 shapes, rather than cut out dozens of the identical thing, but for our bar bottles each label was different. Vibrant colors will show up best on opaque glossy white stock. If you have a pigment-ink printer you should get waterproof stock. Waterproof stock is not worth the extra cost if you have a dye-based printer as it will not be waterproof (yes, I tried it). 3. Star Trek fonts, which are available free from several sites. I am not going to post a link because there are many of them. Simply Google 'Star Trek Font' or 'Klingon Font' and take your pick. 4. Alien emblems, which are available from ex-astris-scientia.org. There are also some on Memory-Alpha 5. Photo processing software. I use Adobe Photoshop. THE METHOD I USE: Measure the area on your bottle where the label will go and start with a blank file of those measurements. Create a frame, and a background, fading two colors if your software gives you that option. Add artwork and alien characters. Print the label on plain white paper and make sure it will fit on your bottle. Make adjustments if necessary. Print on the label stock, cut it out and apply it to your bottle. You will find that bottles with smooth flat surfaces are the easiest to attach a label to. |
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on permanent waterproof vinyl stock are available through John Harrington of Cedar Street Studio John has re-vectored all the canon labels we found and can produce your own designs as well. I designed all our labels over a period of about 3 weeks so it is not a difficult process once you get the hang of it. Some of them I love, some are OK, and others I can't wait to get rid of! Once I decide which bottles I'm going to keep (I just found some new ones and will be getting rid of the ones where the labels don't adhere properly) I will ask John to design new labels to replace the ones I'm not thrilled with. They will be exactly the same size and shape as mine, which is dictated by the bottle. Once I have the designs locked down, I will be replacing all our bottle labels with vinyl ones. |
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Since John has given me permission to display some of the labels he created for us, I'm going to show you what fantastic work he does! Each of the labels below was created for a specific bottle using the dimensions I provided for the bottles we were using. Each of the low-res labels below will take you to John's website where you can ask for his help with YOUR labels. You can see that he really has a facility for this type of design. For the beer labels, John also designed coordinating neck labels but I have not shown them here. please DO NOT USE THESE LABELS without contacting John first. |
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In addition to the labels for the beverage bottles, John also cleaned up the label I had designed for the pump bottles we use to hold mixing ingredients - the syrups, extracts, juices, and other flavoring agents. I created the label using the original Quark's Bar art work and changing the colors of the 'birds' to match the décor we were using. Using those same colors, John designed the logo you see at the top and bottom of each page! AND, using that logo, he designed two large posters for our front door, one for the each side. Here are the final results: |
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