Putting Logo's or graphics on ur kite

OK here is a little bit of info for anyone else considering putting logos or even custom graphics on ur kite.
Do you want work to advertise on your kites and pay for them toooooo
Or do you just want to make your kites a bit different than the rest!

I did a bit of research and found a product called "Insignia" which is a is a light weight sticky back sailcloth with some sort of thin coating/film to assist in the digital printing process, not to say there aren't others though.
It is heavier than the canopy material but not has heavy as what the leading edge dacron is (don't worry about the weight, just do it you wont even notice a difference)

There is some other stuff I learned along the way which I have mentioned to save others from wasting time.

I bought two material samples from contender sailcloth and a guy on ebay selling sticky back sailcloth.

After test printing with a commercial digital printer (same as used for large company graphics on cars) the "ebay" Dimension/Polyant Sailcloths Stickyback material was not suitable as the ink bled though the fabric and blurred all over the place even when applying heat to speed up the drying. Not that it is not good material, it's just not suitable for digital printing. Infact I used this material to stick together a kite torn in half on a recent trip to Fiji and it worked a treat along with some tear aid
stores.ebay.com.au/The-Sail-Factory

The contender insignia sticky back sailcloth printed nicely and is the material I chose.
But my local printer found out the hard way it has a tendency to lift up off the paper liner when it flattens out through the print bed which causes the print head to strike the material.
Only buy the material from contender if you are going to use the material yourself, other wise hybrid signs can supply the same material and print the job (and can probly do some art work for u aswell)
www.contender.com.au/

In the words of my local print guy why the material may have stuffed up:
The hard part to tell with this is that it may be due to the fact the material perhaps was wound too tight before it got to me which definitely causes this phenomenon however it was on a 75mm cardboard core when I received it but who is to say what happened to it before it was put on the core. The other thing that can cause this issue is if the stock is old which looks perhaps to me what it is as the material has pulled back considerably on all edges of the liner showing shrinkage of 2-3mm which as you would understand comes with age.

So back to the drawing board, I rang contender who offered a printing service at $150 per L/m including the material (which is only about $20 Per L/M) but the rep told me where they get it printed, well hello, so I went straight to the company who does their printing but for $110 + gst per L/m including material

The guys at Hybrid signs said they sometimes pull off the roll a meter or two if the material starts to lift to avoid print head strike so this is why I chose to use them rather than second guess how much extra my local guy will need to get the job done.

So what r u waiting for, gets your graphics organised and make it happen.

The material comes in white (but may be available in other colours) and is 137cm wide.

Plan the size of your graphics, I chose not to big as I didn't want them going over to many seams or any struts which might cause them to lift and peel off as they age. I also didn't want a graphic that had "loose" or "dangly" bits that would start to fray and peel off as it ages.

Email your graphics to the guys at Hybrid signs in Sydney.
They supply the material and print your graphics for about $110 +gst per L/m
He can send the printed logos back to anywhere in Australia.
Unless you want to buy extra material for your local guy to learn on, don't even bother going down this road go straight to Hybrid for the whole job. (no they didn't pay me, I just reckon more people should/can/will do it )
hybridsigns.com.au/

Prepare your kites, clean the sailcloth, I waited till I bought new ones
wash in fresh water, dry then acetone or metho has been suggested, you don't want to leave any residue.

Do a "dry run" and place a few bits of masking tape roughly around the outside of the sticker to make sure when you peel the backing off you know where to stick it.

Grab some suckers lounging about the house and make them useful by holding the kite nice and tight over the dinning room table, keep onto them and don't let them get any wrinkles in the canopy.
This is best done 1 hour before you head off on your long weekend camping/kiting trip when the forcast is good just to make sure you get it done quickly and don't spend to much time stuffing about.

Peel of the backing and hold your tongue the right way, cross your finger and testicles and anything else you can and hope you don't stuff it up, but hey it was my first go and I got it right so anyone can

I then put in the sun and used a small wallpaper roller to go over the whole sticker to ensure it was stuck real good especially around the edges.

I also recommend using them as much as possible for a while afterwards just to make sure they don't get any wrinkles in them

Now go do some advertising for your new sponsors

I can just see a heap of kites running around with seabreeze logos on then
R u reading this Laurie

LIKE!!!

And you ride Slingshots......

Nice one Ric

Ii can attest they fly faster, turn better, and jump higher too. Oh wait, that might just be the rider

Get in touch with Terry whetton signs in Sydney. They do it with ink & have been doing yacht sails for years.

PLEASE tell me that is photoshopped. if u cant go a few hours without seeing a dick then maybe u should take up another sport. as if kiting isnt gay enough