FIRST PLACE
Fabricator
All About Signs
Phoenix
(602) 278-7446
www.allaboutsignsaz.com
Designer
Tim Compise
Installers
Tim and Amy Compise
Client
Jason Thompson
Thompson isn’t just your casual weekend bass fisherman; he’s a bassaholic! Thompson approached the Compises, the husband-and-wife team that owns All About Signs/Liquidwraps, about wrapping a boat with a fighter-plane theme (who knew aviation nose art would make a comeback?). Tim printed the wrap with a Roland SolJet Pro II SC-540 printer with Solaris inks on 3M Controltac with Comply media. 3M’s Scotchcal 8520 matte-finish overlaminate – a matte finish seemingly makes more sense for a time-worn, weather-beaten design – was applied with the shop’s Royal Sovereign 1650C laminator.
SECOND PLACE
Fabricator
Wrap Works
North Charleston, SC
(843) 860-9311
www.wrapworksonline.com
Designer
Chris Fredricks
Installers
Chris Fredricks
Jamar Legree
Client
Travis Westervelt
Selling Price
$2,400
Westerfelt, a friend of Fredricks’, came into Wrap Works dissatisfied with his new boat’s color and eager for a wrap. Fredricks said, “He had no idea about what he wanted, except that he wanted a new color. We worked on an abstract design, and decided a seafaring boat needed a sea-monster wrap. The octopus head brought the whole theme together.”
After Fredricks crafted the design with Photoshop, the shop produced the wrap on a Mutoh ValueJet 1614 solvent-ink printer with 3M Controltac with Comply film. 3M’s 8580 3D-conformable film, which was applied with a Royal Sovereign RSC-1650C pressure laminator, will help this devil of the deep lurk for years. Fredricks and Legree installed the wrap with Rolle Pro applicators, Geek Wraps felt squeegees, application tape and torches.
THIRD PLACE
Fabricator
Slusher Signs
Cincinnati
(513) 460-9345
www.slushersigns.com
Designers
Steve Slusher
Allison Lay
Installers
Steve and Matthew Slusher
Allison Lay
Client
Mad Manz Custom Rods & Tackle
According to Slusher, this client gave him every signmakers’ dream: complete creative freedom. He said, “We had a lot of fun giving him an identity he never had before.”
After having developed the design using Adobe Photoshop and Aries Graphics Sign Wizard 7 software, the shop fabricated the wrap on its Roland SolJet Pro III XC-540 wrap with solvent inks with Arlon Series 6000 XRP air-release media, which is protected by Arlon’s Series 3220 cast overlaminate that’s applied with a Seal Ultra 62 laminator.
HONORABLE MENTION
Fabricator
All About Signs
Designer
Tim Compise
Client
Robert Garrigus