A few days ago, I mentioned that I’ve been watching a Let’s Play of Deadly Premonition. Well, as the show went on, I became more and more enamored of York’s cigarette lighter. You probably can’t really make it out in that picture, and watching/playing the game, you might not even notice it unless you’re looking out for it, but it’s a matte black Zippo with a “No Smoking” logo on the lid.
I had to have one, and now you can too.
Well, more or less.
I wanted to get a professionally printed one, but the only place I could find that would print on a matte black zippo required a minimum run of 48. I’m too lazy to deal with selling off the extras to people, and didn’t want to pay $1200 for a lighter, no matter how awesome Special Agent Francis York Morgan is.
So, here’s the solution I came up with.
Step 1: Buy one of these.
Step 2: Download this. Print it out on a sheet of sticker paper, preferably on a color laser printer. Then give it two or three light coats of spray matte varnish, making sure to let it dry thoroughly between coats. You can get cans of this stuff at art stores or hobby/game shops that sell wargame painting supplies.
Step 3: Cut out two of the stickers with an xacto knife. It’s easier if you get one of the ones with a tiny swiveling blade. Your instinct may be to cut very lightly, so as to cut the sticker without cutting the backing, making it way easier to peel the backing off. I suggest you instead go ahead and cut all the way through; this makes it way easier to run a black sharpie around the edge of the sticker to get rid of the white edge.
Step 4: Put the stickers on the lighter. They go on the lid, one each side, about 1/8″ from the non-hinge edge.
Step 5: Put the rest of the stickers somewhere safe so you have replacements for when the old ones inevitably get scuffed up from being in your pocket.
Not perfect, but pretty good for the easiest possible solution to the problem.
If you’re a Deadly Premonition fan with too much entrepreneurial spirit and want to get a real run of these made — maybe as a Kickstarter project or something — let me know. I will totally buy two of them, and I can give you the vector art for the logo.
Minimum Safe Distance 
The cross-stitch thread makes a lovely background.
I made one of these in the last week as a birthday present for my friend; it looked so sick when I was done, almost made me want to keep it (but I don’t smoke, so.)! I even made a gift box out of a regular cigarette box made to look like the "Heavy" brand cigarettes from the game. :3A couple things I did differently, though:1. I cut around the red instead of including the black border around the symbol; I thought it looked cleaner that way, since the black of the icon and the black of the lighter didn’t match exactly. Just a suggestion, but it looks good the way you did it too!2. I sprayed the matte finish on the stickers first, and then after I stuck them on the lighter, I sprayed the finish over the whole lighter (covering the hinge with painter tape) with a couple of coats. Hopefully it helps the sticker hold longer, but even if it doesn’t, it didn”t change the finish of the lighter.While I was at it, I decided to make a couple of test sheets to see how the finish would look on different surfaces. One sheet was just the icons on regular printer paper, another sheet was the icons on regular printer paper covered with matte tape, and the third sheet was the icons on regular printer paper covered with packaging tape (clear, glossy tape). I sprayed a couple of coats of the matte finish over all of them to see how it would look. Here are my results:1. The icons on the regular printer paper sheet looked the same before and after– no change. Against the finish of the lighter, the icon was more brilliantly colored than the others. Hopefully the matte finish at least protected them a little from regular wear and tear, because this is what I ended up using for the final product.2. The icons covered in matte tape pretty much stayed the same. Maybe they got a slightly more weathered look, so if that’s what you’re going for, you can try this.3. The icons covered in packaging tape with a matte finish became.. less glossy, more matte. The finish matched the finish of the lighter better, but the colors of the icon itself became duller as a result. Additionally (and somewhat surprisingly), the matte finish also made the icon have a glare in the sun.. or maybe the finish wasn’t enough to reduce the original glare of the tape.I can post pics of anything I mentioned above if anyone is interested in seeing them!Great job on this, dude! All the credit goes to you– York would be proud.
Sweet! Glad to know I helped someone out. :DI considered cutting on the red circle instead of the black, but didn’t trust myself to be able to cut a steady enough line. Maybe I’ll try that when I get around to replacing my current stickers, they’re starting to get pretty worn.
Just wanted to let you know that my friend loved the lighter and everytime he whips it out, all our friends think it’s so cool (even though most of them don’t get the reference; it’s still a funny and unique on its own). Hehe.. thanks again for the awesome idea! :D
I know this is old, but I thought I would let anyone who stumbles across this know. You can order custom lighter form Zippo, now. I just used the customization tools to make a replica lighter. It cost $20 for the light and $15 to upload a picture. After shipping and some lighter fluid the total came to $50. For anyone who is not good at arts and crafts, it is a good alterative.