Scottsdale (AZ) Healthcare took its healing mission to the streets with a 37-ft.-long bus as part of its Neighborhood Outreach Action for Health (NOAH) initiative. Using either an electrical plug-in or auxiliary power, the NOAH bus provides enough electricity to function as a mobile exam room, lab, refrigerated-storage facility and education center.
To provide a welcoming face to calm visitors preparing for a potentially uncomfortable visit, Scottsdale Healthcare officials branded the bus with a vividly colored wrap. Image Craft (Phoenix) fabricated the wrap, and Big Fish Creative Group, a Scottsdale-based advertising agency, provided the wrap’s graphics. Using Image Craft’s template of the vehicle, Big Fish created the visual elements – native wildlife, tall saguaros and a multicultural array of smiling faces – and a color palette of Southwestern folk art. Joe Pizzimenti, Big Fish’s founder, said signage-related, graphic applications represent approximately 3% of their business.
Image Craft has been producing wraps since it purchased its first large-format printer 12 years ago. The wrap comprises 26 panels, which span approximately 600 sq. ft. Image Craft printed the wrap with 3M’s Controltac IJ180-10C with Comply v3 air-release technology on an HP L65500 latex-ink printer. Doug Olson, Image Craft’s president, said, “In addition to being environmentally friendly, latex inks offer good color gamut, saturation and longevity that’s ideal for vehicle graphics, and an array of other applications.”
Ken Apel, the account manager in charge of the project, said, “The most challenging aspect of the job was working around the bus parts that can’t be removed, and navigating around the curves on the front and rear of the vehicle.”
He continued, “We also made sure key information that covers bus hardware would remain consistently readable. For instance, when the doors open, it’s important to make sure the gap doesn’t hurt the overall design.”
“Although it’s not the primary focus of our business, we’ll produce approximately 1,500 wraps this year, some installed by other contractors across the country,” Olson said. “For more complex wraps, such as this, we use our own staff. Healthcare customers are a solid, and growing, market for us.”