Info sign with tear-offs
 

Hi all
This thread will be a way to bring together ideas about how to best present an argument for Efficiency and Hypermiling.
I am going to design by committee a sign that can be displayed that has tabs at the bottom to tear-off info about ecomodder.com.
This sign will have QRCodes to direct the reader to the main page of ecomodder plus two more. One will bring up the 65+ Efficiency Mods page the other the 100+ Hypermiling tips.
Hopefully this will at a minimum get people to think about their gas/diesel usage and how they can change it for their own benefit.

So hit me with your Ideas.
If you can draw and scan, COOL!
If you want to nitpick, COOL! (it shows that you care)
If you want to volunteer your car, bike, or truck as an image to include. WAY COOL!

I will post some rough work-ups as we progress.
I am not averse to the idea of making one for each vehicle type.

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Here is a little fuel for the fire.


http://i914.photobucket.com/albums/a...psa223209f.png

"Wasting fuel doesn't make you manly"

That line is bringing up so much in my mind right now I think I should condense it, A lot.

In short, I don't think that "It doesn't make you manly" Is quite the right thing to put there. I'm not necessarily saying it's a wrong statement, But I know some half-hearted attempts are going to come up from the "I'm a Hippie/Grunge kid/Metal head/Etc but in reality am not really such and am only wearing a mask" crowd, If you know the particular crowd I'm speaking of. I imagine it'll happen regardless whether that quote is there or not so we do need an emphasis on safety and we can't slow down too much in city driving, Some people will road rage over the tiniest things. Modding a vehicle cheaply and safely is the way to go to start out, I imagine.

Should you post the link to your other thread so people can see what you've come up with so far?

I think an "ecomodder.com" sticker and a QR code are plenty. If you don't have a smartphone (I don't) you can always write down or photograph the URL. To be honest though, the EM sticker is probably the last thing people notice on my car. :D

Anyway, if you're going to do this, something less confrontational would be nice. "Wrench Smart. Drive Smarter. Save Fuel," is good.

Feel free to use pics of my cars if you like. If you're having trouble downloading one, PM me.
The Anal Probe
Ren

I really liked the "price chart" idea:


With gas at $3.50 and driving 12,000 miles a year,
at 15 mpg you're spending $2800 a year on gas.
at 20 mpg you're spending $2100 a year on gas.
at 25 mpg you're spending $1680 a year on gas.
at 30 mpg you're spending $1400 a year on gas.
at 35 mpg you're spending $1200 a year on gas.
at 40 mpg you're spending $1050 a year on gas.

and then something along the lines of:
Paying attention to how you drive can really add up!

Yes, i like the idea of "doing the math" on how to save fuel. It should be almost like an informative article on the benefits of driving smart and ecomodding. Then showing how much you will save, and all the things that you can buy with that money like a better quality of life. Then the political and environmental benefits of using less fuel (oil is bad for environment, oil comes from middle east etc).

A 3 X 6 grid of a variety of ecomodded cars with the mpg they get could really draw attention so people read the flyer. Some testemonials at the bottom taken from metrompg's real world coaching, on how just changing driver behavior can save you fuel.

Here is a very rough sample.
I like the idea of showing cars with their achievable mpg sheepdog 44.
And as you can see I like Fat Charlie's idea of a breakdown chart of what gas might actually be costing you. I do think it should be in a graph though and will work one up when I get a chance.
Ok i edited this one right away.
http://i914.photobucket.com/albums/a...psafb2ec3b.png

Here it is:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...etc-26397.html

The price chart is looking swell, IMHO, On its way. Imagine what the 10 MPG crowd's getting - $4,200 or so. Wow.

Once again I just grabbed the car photos off of a Google search so if you want to volunteer you car with your average mpg I will add and correct it on the sign. It would be nice to have five modded and five unmodded so I can do two different versions.

Comments on the fuel usage Cost chart please.
I need to add a few more labels like MPG for the bottom.

http://i914.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps6e799448.png

Personally I think that's a good graph. There's just one bit incorrect about the card if I'm seeing this right and that's the "These guys on the right" quote; The photos of cars are on the left.

And perhaps the graph should be on the opposite side of the card; It doesn't seem to make sense on the front to me, But I'm only one guy here. Why does it not make sense? The graph, I think, Should be in an introduction to hypermiling page (But should not be the first thing a person sees) and "Page 2" Can have images of vehicles before and after they were modded with "Before average MPG" and "After average MPG" Figures plus the EPA figures.

I think I'm starting to think of this to be bigger than a tear-off sheet. And again, We still need an emphasis on safety here.

An "Obey the speed limit" tip would help a lot as would suggesting going 55 MPH on highways.

I'm thinking of possibly volunteering my own fuel logs, But they're a bit old and I'm not the only one who drove the van and we've had the spark plugs replaced since then. Still, Over 24 MPG for the driving we do in rural Pennsylvania is higher than the EPA HWY figure.

101Volts I see the mistake in left and right and will fix it along with writing some real copy.
This sign was intended to be something that you would hang up on a bulletin board.
I didn't mean for the graph to be just an example of hypermiling but to roughly show the cost of fuel over a range of efficiencies.
I really like the Idea of a before and after though and will put some thought into it.

Some notes... :)

-Green is a bit overwhelming- maybe have that be a thin header at the top and leave the rest for info.

-Center justify text is hard to read. Try left justify, maybe even in two columns.

-I think we should put the most professional looking builds on the left side, and only use one of each body style. Bondo's F150, 3-Wheeler's Insight, etc. The MX-3 looks to be a photoshop. The white Metro picture is good because it really shows off the mods, while the blue Metro's mods are hard to see/understand.

-Most people don't know what "modding" is. We should spell out "Modifying".

-The graph looks really good and I like how the bars are colored relative to fuel use. I think this can be basically carried over as-is to print.

-Good hierarchy and overall layout. Easy to read- title, graph, photos, copy, tear-offs.

-Tear-offs are short and simple. Good. Make sure the URL is big enough in print.

Is the copy going to cover just some anecdotal stories or will it be a little "Driver's Ed" type thing? Should we trust people to go on the website later, or cut right to the chase?

Looking good. Keep it up! :thumbup:

Ooh! Maybe we could put the graph on the bottom, move the car pictures above it and have little callout lines pointing from the cars to their places on the graph. A stock pickup would point to 20, a stock family sedan and aero pickup to 35, a modded civic or metro to 45, etc.

(Sorry about all the crit. I'm a picky designer)

where is this sign intended to be displayed? sorry if I missed this.

Actually this was something I should have mentioned. This sign is supposed to be hung on bulletin boards or displayed on a counter in a shop or at a booth at a convention, whatever.
We started talking about it in a different thread and moved the idea to here.

I copied the Cost per MPGs Graph, For anyone who wanted to just use it:

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...ps53d85e06.png

my l/100km version gas 1.40$/L 20000km
15/100km 4200$
14/100km 3920$
13/100km 3640$
12/100km 3360$
11/100km 3080$
10l/100km 2800$
9l/100km 2520$
8l/100km 2240$
7l/100km 1960$
6l/100km 1680$
5l/100km 1400$
4l/100km 1120$
3l/100km 840$
2l/100km 560$

Just replying to mention I found that topic which helped bring up the info card idea in the first place.

Here it is:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...html#post16605

It was referred to in this thread on page 1:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ness-1579.html

Does the flyer make you want to purchase a more efficient vehicle? :p

I think the cars on the flyer are too niche. Most people won't want a Mazda mx3 with aero skirts or two geo metro's. Put a picture of the 8th gen 4 door civic on there no boat tail and a picture of the guy who made a grille block on his impreza.

Lets not just target those random metro owners, but those who are knowledge enthusiasts no matter what vehicle they drive