NASCAR Paint Scheme Designs

Along with being fast, NASCAR teams want their cars to look fast. That's why they spend big money each year on creating various paint schemes and car designs. Many teams will feature special paint designs for certain races to promote special events, sponsorship deals or charity work. For example, in October 2009 many cars incorporated pink into their paint schemes as a way to show support for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

  1. Need

    • Sit down with any team owners and primary sponsors and understand the needs for the car design, including any graphic design requirements for the sponsor logo. No one is happier when a paint scheme is done well than the team's primary sponsor. NASCAR designer Sam Bass said that a paint scheme that is unique and stands out eventually becomes recognizable, with fans easily being able to identify the car (and the driver) from a crowd on the track. One example is Jeff Gordon's No. 24, with its rainbow flames associated with his DuPont sponsor by any fan at the track.

    Choose Colors

    • Use a color wheel to find colors that are complimentary to each other--the online Colors on the Web Colors Wizard is a great resource. In color design, certain colors will "pop" or visually stand out when next to other colors. These are called having a strong color context. The same color might appear weaker against a different background. For example, compare how much stronger a red object looks against a black background versus a white background.

    Be Different

    • While sticking to design aesthetics are important, it's also a good idea to look at the other cars you will be racing against and try to design a scheme that stands out from them. If you race against 20 cars and half of them have black as the primary color, consider a color that stands out against black like red or orange. While staying within the bounds of good taste, if you want to attract sponsors, the most important thing you can do is stand out from the crowd.

    Stand Out

    • If you have a sponsor, he will want his logo to be displayed as prominently as possible. This might mean stretching or distorting the logo slightly to get it to fit onto a hood or roof. This is acceptable, but make sure you clear it with the sponsor before you do it. Using a tertiary color as a border or shading around the logo (a color that compliments the color of the logo and the background) can also make the logo pop.