My Make-Your-Own Firefox bumper sticker How-To

My Make-Your-Own Firefox bumper sticker How-To:
Firefox Bumpersticker

Show the world your browser preference by placing one of these colorful easy to make stickers on the behind of your car! The next time someone tailgates you, at least some good can come out of it as they will get a good close up view of which browser you think is best.

The goal of these bumper stickers is to raise the general awareness and comfort level of the Firefox brand with the general public.

WARNING: Driving through Redmond, Washington with one of these stickers may be hazardous to your car!

These graphics I compiled use a high-res Firefox logo from the web and the official FF MetaBold fonts. These are high resolution enough you can not see pixilation.

Things you need:

One of the graphics from above or templates (MS Word) to print.

A good color laser printer or inkjet printer.

Bumper sticker paper. They usually have this at Office Depot with the specialty paper or specialty stickers.

Clear contact paper. (AKA self adhesive vinyl decorative covering)

Scissors or a paper cutter.

A car with a bumper.

Directions:

First, grab one of the large PNG graphics and fit it in a drawing or document program to print on the upper and/or lower portion of a landscape page.

Alternatively grab one of the MS-Word templates I created. They are simple enough they should work in other word processors too.

I prefer the no-border graphics. I think this makes the text look larger and more readable. I also believe the "Rediscover the web" version is more appealing to the average person traveling on the road.

When printing:

Print some test pages using plain paper. You will likely need to tweak the margins and graphic sizes to maximize the printable area on the paper. (Most printers have mandatory margins at the top and/or or bottom of the page where they can not physically print)
Also verify with plain paper which side should be up.
Check the stickers before you put them in the laser printer. If using a manual feed, make sure the stickers go in straight.
You will likely need to use a "glossy" or "heavy" print setting on LaserJets, otherwise toner might "bubble" a little and flake off.
Once printed, separate the two halves of the bumper sticker paper. (A paper cutter might work better than scissors, but ideally you want to cut exactly where the stickers are perforated for separation). You will now have two stickers with the backing still on them.

The Office Depot bumper stickers are water proof, but your ink / toner probably isn't. I recommend adding a layer of clear contact paper to protect it.

Cut a section of clear contact paper that is larger than the bumper sticker.
Separate the contact paper from the contact paper's backing. (Avoid letting anything else stick to it)
Place the contact paper's backing flat on a flat surface with the smooth side up.
Place the Firefox bumper sticker face up and centered on the contact paper's backing.
The next part is kind of tricky: Place the clear contact paper over the bumper sticker and back on to its original backing, being VERY careful to avoid air pockets or wrinkles. One method is to start attaching at one side and "brush" the contact paper down across the bumper sticker.
Once the contact paper is flat on the bumper sticker, use a cloth to wipe the contact paper while pressing down hard. This will maximize the contact with the sticker and make the image look somewhat sharper.
With scissors or a paper cutter, trim the contact paper so you have somewhere around 1/4 of an inch on each side.

Now you should be ready to apply the bumper sticker to your bumper.

Clean the section of the bumper you want to put the sticker on.
Carefully remove the contact paper backing and the bumper sticker backing. Keep the sticker itself as flat as possible, otherwise toner can flake off.
Carefully align the sticker and apply, starting by attaching one side pressing down with your hand to prevent air bubbles or wrinkles.
Once the sticker is applied, press down on the contact paper around the edges to ensure it is fully applied. This will help prevent water leaking on to it.

You should now have a nice colorful Firefox bumper sticker that people can stare at while you all sit in rush hour traffic.

I have had mine on my car for quite a while now and it still looks very colorful and sharp with no noticeable fading despite being parked outside in the sun and rain.

If anyone has any comments or suggestions on other ways to do this, please let me know!

Also, here are a few graphics advertising Mozilla (TM) Technology!

Back to Mozilla Kicks Ass