Hey David -- welcome aboard!
Just out of curiosity, how'd you find us?
I am leading both of the classes, so I'll try to help out with your questions.
Vinyl cutter
- For your vinyl cutter, yes you can cut that out of with our equipment, although we don't have that maroon color. You can always order your own and bring it to our space and use the equipment for free. We use
US Cutter or
Sign Warehouse for our vinyl; for $20 or so you should be able to get a roll that will more accurately match your color choice.
- It is always easier to start with a vector file (usually referred to as an AI file (Adobe Illustrator) or some other file than a PNG, GIF or JPG/JPEG. We can convert your simple graphic over to a vector though and that will be covered as part of the class. We'll use an open source graphics software package called Inkscape, you can download it and install it if you want:
https://inkscape.org/en/ -- I'd suggest downloading it if you want to follow along with the hands on demo for the class.
- Other options -- it really depends on the use for the logo, if you wanted to have a large decal for a door, that will be easy and can be done up to 24" or 36" in width and length depends on the roll length (but you can always combine cuts and make one as large as the floor in a stadium), depending on which machine you use; we do have a large format printer too that may be able to accommodate adhesive paper like
this. We haven't tried it, so no promises. If you're looking for big production we've used Sticker Mule before and there's a local company called Meme-Tech that does custom printing of larger quantities of decals
- I did a quick test conversion & cut of the logo, it took 2 mins total to do both; I cut it out about 2" in width; the outer circle didn't do so well because it is so thin and the letters are pretty small. So for this, it really depends on the intended use, if you're looking to put it on a mug, that may not be the best case, you'd want to do screen printing (which isn't hard to do for small items like a mug). Now putting this on a door, you'd be able to do no problem.
As for the Arduino class
- You can bring your own device or use one in our library of equipment. You can always purchase one online via Amazon, EBay or other providers like Adafruit or SparkFun. Sometimes the clone Arduinos have difficulty connecting to various operating systems. Words like Genuine are what you'd want instead of a clone for your first one; you can buy a kit too if you want to work more on your own after the workshop. We don't sell them or keep any resaleable inventory.
- You'll need a USB (1.0, 2.0 or 3.0, not C without adapters) to connect to the Arduino.
- You can come with any level of knowledge or experience, we'll work through some examples, show you how you can find example projects and what to be aware of as you take a project someone has posted online and work with it.
Hope that helps & be sure to RSVP for the workshops as they usually sell out and invite a friend or two!
Daniel