Ok, its been bugging me for ages now, why do we see so many cars (both real and on Forza) with lettering reversed on one side?  At first i thought it was just people being lazy in the paint shop on Forza but have started to notice it on a fair amount of 1:1 cars.....

Whats the deal with this? Am i missing something or am i the only one who thinks its pointless?

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Yeah I don't get it either.  It looks silly to me.  I also thought people were just being lazy in the paint shop. 

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GT: CamelLips

Owner of CAP StarScream's Masterpiece Starscream Viper Comp. Coupe

Ahh good, not just me then. :-) It must be 'fashionable' to have your graphics etc mirrored on one side but how that came about or even stuck is beyond me?!

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well its really popular with drifters.

the only explanation i can conjure up is when a car drifts to the right, the left side (not mirrored) shows in the front, while the right side (mirrored) shows mirrored in the back.

Think of it as looking through a glass window with stickers on it.

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NurburgKings

SAVE:

well its really popular with drifters.

the only explanation i can conjure up is when a car drifts to the right, the left side (not mirrored) shows in the front, while the right side (mirrored) shows mirrored in the back.

Think of it as looking through a glass window with stickers on it.

Well that's in interesting theory. May well be the case.

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they do it because when they do car shows like SEMA, or before the race or whatever, one side of the car faces the crowd, and the other side usually faces a wall or backdrop or something, so they put mirrors on the backdrop so you can see the other side, and therefore have to mirror the decals

It's not laziness.  It's just what us drifters do.  Whenever I paint a car for someone on the drift team or another drifter, they want their vinyls mirrored.  I personally like it, myself.

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x Tora Tsume X:

I It's just what us drifters do.

But why is it just what you drifters do? Whats the purpose behind the reversed lettering? Does it look cool or something?

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Take a look at my livery portfolio GT= SAAB Boy

Teleph0nes:

they do it because when they do car shows like SEMA, or before the race or whatever, one side of the car faces the crowd, and the other side usually faces a wall or backdrop or something, so they put mirrors on the backdrop so you can see the other side, and therefore have to mirror the decals

Now that makes alot more sense. Just odd that its only done in the drifting community. I mean, there are plenty of other types of motorsports and there will always be shows for the cars but drifters are the only ones who do it.

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Well the real reason is that when you add more than 1 letter or number to a car and copy it to the other side, the letters and numbers transfer in a mirrored efferct. The Forza Vynals don't do this for some reason.

Try saving a name as a vynal group and put it on one side and then copy that side to the other. The letters will be reversed.

To get my name to appear in the correct order, I have to put a design on first and then add my name last.

 

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"Unofficial Senior Citizen of Forza Motorsport"

Teleph0nes:

they do it because when they do car shows like SEMA, or before the race or whatever, one side of the car faces the crowd, and the other side usually faces a wall or backdrop or something, so they put mirrors on the backdrop so you can see the other side, and therefore have to mirror the decals

While that does make sense....I've been to several car shows and seen very few (actually, I don't remember any) cars up against a wall. The walls are usually filled with manufaturer/sales booths, while the cars are in the middle where people can walk around on all sides.

Not saying it doesn't happen, but I don't recall seeing that myself. Not even at motorcycle shows.

And no matter what the reason is, I'm not too fond of it. To me it just looks stupid....but to each their own.

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Once upon a time, there was a scoreboard with integrity....

i guess it depends where you go, SEMA you're probly right, its all sales booths, but ive found pictures online where they have mirrors, it seems like a japanese thing (i've seen a JUN wrx, a couple evo's and silvia's and skyline's that are on display with mirrors) so maybe it started over there for show cars, and it got picked up by drifters because back in the day they didnt get paid enough by their sponsors to reverse the decals? i dunno

Teleph0nes:

i guess it depends where you go, SEMA you're probly right, its all sales booths, but ive found pictures online where they have mirrors, it seems like a japanese thing (i've seen a JUN wrx, a couple evo's and silvia's and skyline's that are on display with mirrors) so maybe it started over there for show cars, and it got picked up by drifters because back in the day they didnt get paid enough by their sponsors to reverse the decals? i dunno

non-sensical.

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NurburgKings

well if you have a very complicated design and you get custom made vinyls it may be hard to make both sides match up. what i'm saying is maybe they make 1 big vinyl group, and to reverse it would be too hard.... or maybe it has to do with the measuring so that each side is exactly the same, when you swith the ends around it probably makes it all funky and not exactly match....... just my take on it though. and another thing, it's not just drifters, it's just most commonly drifters who do it.

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OoSKYLINEoO

 

I believe it is for ever the person in front is a drifter is sideways so they read it in there mirror like ambulance

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ferrari

The reason is of artistic merit.  The logo on the one side is placed in a manner that befits the car's shape and flow of it's lines.  The graphic is mirrored on the other side to maintain this artistic integrity and flow with the lines and design of the car.  If the text was to remain the same (not mirrored), the graphic would need to be re-designed to flow with the car, thus making symmetry impossible.

The trend started in Japan, where the English text is used out of context for the most part and is as such aesthetic in nature.  So it's reversal isn't as awkward as it would be to a native English speaker.  Think of it as a picture or image and not as a word.  You'll notice from a closer inspection that not all the decals are mirrored, usually just the design focus; like the main sponsor.

 

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My Gallery
GT: g3TurboD

bobs430:

I believe it is for ever the person in front is a drifter is sideways so they read it in there mirror like ambulance

I don't understand the words that are coming out of your keyboard.

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NurburgKings

g3TurboD:

The reason is of artistic merit.  The logo on the one side is placed in a manner that befits the car's shape and flow of it's lines.  The graphic is mirrored on the other side to maintain this artistic integrity and flow with the lines and design of the car.  If the text was to remain the same (not mirrored), the graphic would need to be re-designed to flow with the car, thus making symmetry impossible.

The trend started in Japan, where the English text is used out of context for the most part and is as such aesthetic in nature.  So it's reversal isn't as awkward as it would be to a native English speaker.  Think of it as a picture or image and not as a word.  You'll notice from a closer inspection that not all the decals are mirrored, usually just the design focus; like the main sponsor.

 

Thats gotta be it, sounds the most logical explanation.

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g3TurboD:

The reason is of artistic merit.  The logo on the one side is placed in a manner that befits the car's shape and flow of it's lines.  The graphic is mirrored on the other side to maintain this artistic integrity and flow with the lines and design of the car.  If the text was to remain the same (not mirrored), the graphic would need to be re-designed to flow with the car, thus making symmetry impossible.

The trend started in Japan, where the English text is used out of context for the most part and is as such aesthetic in nature.  So it's reversal isn't as awkward as it would be to a native English speaker.  Think of it as a picture or image and not as a word.  You'll notice from a closer inspection that not all the decals are mirrored, usually just the design focus; like the main sponsor.

 

You hit the nail on the head there mate.

Pete20vTurbo:

g3TurboD:

The reason is of artistic merit.  The logo on the one side is placed in a manner that befits the car's shape and flow of it's lines.  The graphic is mirrored on the other side to maintain this artistic integrity and flow with the lines and design of the car.  If the text was to remain the same (not mirrored), the graphic would need to be re-designed to flow with the car, thus making symmetry impossible.

The trend started in Japan, where the English text is used out of context for the most part and is as such aesthetic in nature.  So it's reversal isn't as awkward as it would be to a native English speaker.  Think of it as a picture or image and not as a word.  You'll notice from a closer inspection that not all the decals are mirrored, usually just the design focus; like the main sponsor.

 

Thats gotta be it, sounds the most logical explanation.

Or the most long-winded explanation for being symetrical.