Jim Merz wrote: "Tubing stickers are just branding, pure and simple...."
Ideally, branding is not a bad thing, because there are often very real differences in products. You prefer a certain brand because you have tried others and found the one to be superior. There are always people cutting corners to produce a product they can represent as being "just as good as the name brand", when in reality they are skipping some of the steps that make the name brand product better and more expensive.
Of course there are cases where reputable brands have been acquired by new owners who cut quality and try to profit from the brand name alone. And there are cases where the marketplace catches up with the leader and actually offers products that are equal or better, but the leader continues to think he deserves a premium for his product, just because of the name.
So, again ideally, tubing decals serve a useful function, not only in telling what kind of tubing was used, but also as an indication of pride of workmanship, that the builder took a little extra time and money to buy and use a superior tubeset, and to apply the decals.
Jim also wrote "The main reason I put them on was I like the way they look."
This to me is key: aesthetics, and when a pleasing symbol is linked with genuine quality, it's a one-two punch. A Reynolds decal is a bit of functional artwork that adds beauty and interest to a frame. When custom frames use a mix of tubing, as Emmanuel Lowi already pointed out in his post, this creates a decal problem. The aesthetics just don't work if each tube sports a different decal. The frame would look like a steamer trunk with a bunch of labels stuck all over it.
To some people, their badge of honor is that they care nothing for appearances and prefer to appreciate things for what they really are beneath the surface. This is fine, but to me a narrower view. I'd rather have the cake with the icing, if it costs the same. It probably wouldn't be worth the trouble, but perhaps a builder could create his own decals that say "Seamless Tubing Hand Selected by (Builder)".
John Hurley
Austin, Texas, USA