Better looking vending machines

[Madsing]

I'm always trying to make better looking vending machines. This is how I made the last batch.

 

1. The front is printed high-gloss photo paper, with the windows cut off

2. The front glass is 0.5mm transparent polyester

3. The contents that will show through the window is also printed on high-gloss photo paper

4. Behind is another 0.5mm transparent polyester at the back of the window, above a 0402 white LED. It will transmit the light from the LED evenly

5. Then we have the back support layer made of 1.5mm white styrene

6. The whole construction, except the window, is covered with a thin layer of aluminum foil to prevent light leaks

7. The back is another layer made of 1.5mm white styrene, painted white or grey

 

 

The left side, right side and top are also printed on the same high-gloss photo paper. I have designed 9 types of vending machines. I don't think I am allowed to post the file publicly but I can send it to anyone interested.

 

 

 

Edited December 25, 2021 by Madsing
Clarifications

[gavino200]

Thanks for this amazing write-up, Marc. I'm definitely going to try this at some stage. Can you tell me a bit about how you designed the printed sheets? What software do you use? Do you copy directly from photographs?

 

I love how you have an ad for a Uniqlo sale at the tramstop.

Edited December 25, 2021 by gavino200

[Madsing]

Thanks Gavin.

 

The printed sheets are designed using photographs taken during past travels (I can still hear my wife or my son "why do you take a photo of that?") and images found on various web sites. In this case Google Search is clearly your best friend. Try googling "kirin logo" and you'll see. Even better "kirin logo vector" returns vector versions of the logo that can be resized at will.

 

Vending machine being so popular in Japan, I could find a lot of pages describing them. Like here: https://pokemon.itoen.co.jp/pikachuvd/

 

Then you need two applications that you know well and master, a photo processing and a vector drawing app. I use Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer (https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/), but there are many options, including free. They will be used to crop, resize, recolor, merge, ... the images.

 

In this case, the layout of the vending machine area was inspired by this photo: https://townphoto.net/chiba/goi.html

 

As I have a Uniqlo shop nearby, I looked for Uniqlo ads and found that one: https://kurashi-karu.com/uniqlo-yumetown/

I could probably have used it unmodified, but I chose to redraw it and adapt it (in Affinity Designer). The logo can also be found online. I input the text using a similar font and color, changing the shop's location from 山陰 to 新ユーカリ. 

 

Marc

[cteno4]

Nice Marc! Thanks for the instructions.
 

I did a similar one as a proof of concept pretty much like that except used U channel stock for the back/side. Very fun, I’ve not gotten to churning out a pile.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[JR 500系]

Marc is simply amazing with his little attention to details and LED lighting! Thanks for sharing this!