Be Subtle: Tips on adding color to General Illumination

Add touches of color to your playfield without overwhelming the player. Read on for great tips!

At shows, we've been told on several occassions "I don't have an artistic eye, so I wouldn't try to add color to the GI and other places, because I'd probably make it look bad". Although you may also feel this way, that doesn't mean that you can't learn how to add hints of color to your playfield here and there to brighten up the playfield in certain areas.

General Illumination

In our experience, adding too many colors can detract from game play and may also make the playfield dimmer than it was originally. It's important to remember to remember that you don't need to do ALL of the GI bulbs.

Tip 1: Adding a green LED here or a blue LED there may be all that you need in order to liven up a particular area of the playfield. Don't feel like you need to overpower that area of the playfield with a bunch of color. If there is a group of 3 GI lights under the same plastic, start with a couple white and one colored one. This will soften out the color but it'll still be noticeable.

Tip 2: Coordinate the GI LED color with the color of the game and the color in that particular area of the playfield. You probably wouldn't want to put red GI on a Fish Tales or green GI on a Tron.

Tip 3: Less is more. Keep the look subtle and you'll have people notice that there's something about your game that looks great but they can't really point it out. If you achieve this, you've done a great job at adding touches of color.

Tip 4: Remember that the "darker" colors like red and purple will bring the overall brightness of your playfield down, so seeing the game while playing in a dark room may be more difficult.

Tip 5: In newer Stern games, use the row of lights at the back panel of the playfield to their max. We like putting Flex LEDs in there and shine them down onto the playfield. This gives a lot of light and really illuminates the playfield. In the picture of the Metallica playfield, we added a couple of purples for just a hint of character and we spaced them a couple bulbs apart so that there wasn't a concentration of color.

Backbox

This can be done with great success, really making your game look great, but be careful here!

Tip 1: Don't make it look "forced". Just because there is a touch of purple in a particular area of the backbox, doesn't mean that you need to go all out and put a bunch of purple LEDs in that area. Try sprinkling in a few here and there as recommended in the GI section.

Tip 2: Use the flexes creatively. Often times, we'll put a flex bulb in the backbox but instead of pointing the light directly at the backglass/translite, we'll point the light towards the backboard. The reflection of light off the white backboard spreads the light more and makes for subtle color.

Tip 3: Use color sparingly because if you're trying to make something look green (for example), the red are right next to it might get some over-flow color and will look bad. Color flooding can lead to a backbox that looks too busy plastered with color.

Overall, the summary is to be subtle. Adding too much color can be done easily, so don't be afraid to buy fewer bulbs and just drop a color lightly around the playfield instead of going all-out with a particular color.

Need advice or have questions?? Send us an email, we're always happy to help!