To promote both divisions of Benchmark Graphics’ (Coeur d’Alene, ID) business – Benchmark Inc., a traditional signage and graphics provider, and iMgX Kreativ, the more cutting-edge division that produces vehicle wraps and collateral illust-ration and branding solutions – Jeremy Deming, who runs the iMgX Kreativ division, created a wrap that conveyed both iMgX’s creativity and a more buttoned-up image for Benchmark.
Using Adobe® Illustrator®, he created a wild iMgX illustration that demonstrated plenty of brainpower – literally.
In the foreground, underneath the iMgX Kreativ logo, an anthropomorphic cerebrum hangs tenaciously onto a wheel and a four-barrel engine. In the background, a shark with a gaping, sharp-toothed maw emerges from splashing water. Translation: vehicle wraps are an intelligent investment for your business that keeps you ahead of the competition.
“I wanted to create a hand-drawn feel mixed with the computer-generated imagery,” Deming said. “Early on after the iMgX-Benchmark merger, I used a brain as a symbol for our slogan, ‘The creativity of [iMgX] and the production horsepower of Benchmark.’ The eyeballs, tentacles and other doodles in the design create depth and movement.”
He continued, “I wanted to play on the wrap’s possibilities, with page peels and elements that wrapped around the van’s corners,” Deming said. “In this case, the large peels, emblems and illustrations were printed again, plotted to shape and then installed atop the print. In some cases, this hides parts that were misaligned during the wrapping process.”
To prep the surface, installer Sam Parmley washed the car, wiped it down with denatured alcohol, and prepped all edges and body contours on the aging Ford van with 3M’s Primer 94 body filler. The 280-sq.-ft. wrap was installed with multiple panels. Deming said iMgX tiles out panels for wraps larger than 54 in., with vertical seams every 53 in.
IMgX fabricated the wrap with 3M Controltac IJ180C-10 with Comply air-release technology on a Seiko I Infotech ColorPainter 64 with a bulk-ink system. Deming said the company operates three printers, and a wrap’s design may influence which machine is used for the job’s production. He noted that applications with large swaths of solid color were better suited for slower printing on higher-resolution printers, whereas those with textured designs and numerous different hues are usually printed on the faster machines.
“Depending on a job’s particular color, we may choose a printer that generates a certain color spectrum more effectively than another,” Deming said. “It ultimately depends on the design and the client’s expectations.”
To protect the “Jekyll-and-Hyde” wrap, iMgX laminated the print on its Seal 62 Pro wide-format lam-
inator with Avery Graphics’ DOL 1000 glossy overlaminate.
“Being outside a large, urban area, we have to go to greater lengths to gain business,” Deming said. “Decorations on my truck and this van have helped build our reputation as the go-to wrap shop in the area.”