Vehicle wraps are an up and coming way to advertise your business and establish your brand identity. Though vinyl wraps for cars have been around for a while, until recently they’ve been seen as more of a gimmick than a valid way of customizing your company automobiles. It’s still generally cheaper to have a simple sign painted on the side of your truck or car door, but a vinyl wrap graphic offers many advantages in the areas of durability, style and impact.
It’s that third one that makes the biggest difference in branding – impact. The impact of a well-designed vehicle graphic can’t be overstated. Vehicle wraps are still rare enough that they make an impression when they’re done well. Unfortunately, they make even more of an impression when they’re poorly designed – and the impression is probably not going to be a positive one. If you’ve decided that it’s time to add vehicle wrapping to your business’ branding efforts, take a few tips from a professional large-scale graphic designer.
Choosing a Company for Your Fleet Graphics
1. Don’t choose your graphics company purely on the basis of price. Cheap graphics often come without support and maintenance or any type of warranty. Choose a professional with long-term experience designing and applying vehicle graphics to a wide range of vehicles.
2. Choose a company that has certification in applying vehicle graphics. This could be very important if you run into issues with the wrap itself. Manufacturers may be unwilling to honor a warranty if the vinyl graphic was installed by someone who is not certified.
3. If the graphics designer doesn’t spend time discussing basics like the type of vehicle, the amount of time you expect the graphic to last, your expectations of your advertising campaign – or the role of your fleet in branding your company – find another designer.
Graphic Design Advice for Fleet Owners
Whether your fleet is one car or a few hundred, there are things you should consider when designing the graphic wraps for your vehicles.
1. Choose a professional designer who understands the limitations – and the advantages – of dynamic vehicle design. A graphic wrapping around a vehicle will look far different than it does on a flat piece of paper.
2. Trust your designer. You know your business, he knows his. When he tells you that less is more in the design world, he’s citing sound principles of advertising and design. Be willing to give on your ideas if there’s a conflict.
3. Avoid information clutter. One striking image, a slogan and contact info make more of an impression than a full list of all your services. In other words, keep it simple.
4. Choose one branding image that will work across all of your vehicles rather than diluting your message with multiple variations of your graphics wrap.
5. Go for bright colors that pop, especially on dark vehicles. Dark colors blend into the background. Vivid colors attract and hold attention.
Most importantly, if you’re just getting ready to test fleet graphics for the first time, don’t just jump right in. Take the time to research costs, materials, applications and DOT requirements before going ahead with your project. It’s better – and a whole lot cheaper – to do it right the first time.