Design

Best Transit Vehicles of 2012

As the 2013 Vehicle Graphcis Contest judging approaches, we look back at last year’s Best of Show

Published

12 years ago

September 19, 2012

Steve Aust Signs of the Times October 2012 Issue

FIRST PLACE/BEST OF SHOW

Fabricator
Bluemedia
Tempe, AZ
(480) 317-1333
www.bluemedia.com
Designer
CBS Outdoor Contractor
Installers
JC Burrola
Brad Cole
Abraham Koory
Nick Mazurek
Adrian Muñoz
Steve Soliz
Client
CBS Outdoor

In Fall 2011, officials who managed Phoenix’s Valley Metro light-rail system amended the system’s advertising policy to permit alcohol-related advertisements on its trains. Coors Brewing Co. and its media partner, CBS Outdoor, quickly capitalized and negotiated a two-year contract to wrap five Metro trains that promote Coors Light (fitting, given its recent TV-ad campaign featuring a Coors-branded locomotive and the O-Jay’s “Love Train” as the ad’s jingle).

CBS Outdoor and its partner agency submitted the team’s artwork as CMYK TIF files, which bluemedia’s design team manipulated with Adobe Photoshop. Bluemedia’s design used its proprietary Photoshop clipping matrix to create a multi-page, PDF print file from its G7-compliant process through Onyx’s Thrive workflow software to Onyx ProductionHouse RIP.

Installers prepped the surface with denatured alcohol and Rapid Prep mild degreaser. Because of its three-year relationship with Metro, the shop had previously created custom templates. Bluemedia wrapped the trains with 3M’s Scotchcal™ IJ 46, a 4-mil, matte-finish media designed specifically for bus and transit graphics, and decorated Scotchcal IJ 66 perforated window film on the shop’s HP TurboJet 8300 solvent-ink printer. Bluemedia president Jared Smith said, “Because train-car surfaces are smooth and flat, they’re actually easier to wrap than regular vehicles. Because their needs were shorter then the average wrap lifespan – three to 18 months – the transit-graphic media was a solid choice.”

Installers completed the wrap, which spans approximately 2,000 sq. ft., with felt-tipped 3M Gold nylon squeegees and Olfa knives – minimal torch heat was required, Smith said. To make sure no blades were left at the jobsite, a member of the team swept a magnetic roller across the pavement.

The campaign will remain in place through summer 2013.

SECOND PLACE

Fabricator
Ferrari Color
Salt Lake City
(801) 355-4124
www.ferraricolor.com
Designers
Sara Molina
Mike Villarreal
Installer
Ferrari Color
Sacramento
(800) 533-6333
Client
Sacramento River Cats

Lacking the mega-dollar advertising and sponsorship contracts that Major League Baseball fran-
chises have, minor-league baseball owners seek cost-effective means – i.e., wraps – to advertise. Susan Savage, the principal owner of the Sacramento River Cats (Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland A’s), and her marketing team invested in this “Fan Van” to create buzz. On average, nearly 8,000 fans attend a River Cats home game, among the top draws in the Pacific Coast League, and the team was in first place in its division (as of late August). Coincidence? We think not.

Ferrari Color’s design team finessed the graphics using Adobe’s Creative Suite, and produced the wrap with 3M’s Controltac IJ180-10C with Comply v3 air-release media, which it decorated on the shop’s Durst Rho 160 roll-to-roll, UV-cure-ink printer. Clear Focus Imaging’s ClassicVue® 50%-perforated film conveys the message onto the windows. 3M’s Scotchcal 8519 luster overlaminate helps the wrap keep its claws. 3M Gold squeegees, propane torches and X-Acto knives were the installers’ tools of choice.

THIRD PLACE

Fabricator
Wrap This!
Longwood, FL
(407) 331-6161
www.media1signs.com
Designer
Jason Wissig
Client
Self

Technically, this could have been considered a shop vehicle. However, comparing a bus wrap to a truck or car is somewhat apples to oranges, and this wasn’t a purely shop-branded design, so I opted to place it here (such are the gray-area decisions that occupy much of a contest coordinator’s time). Wrap This! developed this as a joint venture with What a Fan!, an Orlando-based, sports-event production company. After having prepped the surface with 3M’s Primer 94, the shop wrapped the 43-ft.-long van with Controltac with Comply film for the body and Scotchcal IJ66 for the windows. The shop printed the job on its HP L25500 latex-ink printer; 3M’s 8518 glossy-finish laminate, applied with a GBC Arctic Titan laminator, protects the graphics.

HONORABLE MENTION

Fabricator
MetroMedia Technologies
NYC
(800) 999-4668
www.mmt.com
Designer
Client Agency (confidential)
Installer
Heineken USA
Client
Heineken USA

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