The Colorful Southwest

Mesa, AZ-based Southwest Ambulance provides more than 300 ambulances for 25 Arizona communities. In additional to providing this essential, often life-saving, service, Southwest also undertakes various charitable endeavors. To promote these pursuits and create onsite buzz, the company hired Mousegraphics (Tempe, AZ) to wrap four ambulances – two featured a breast-cancer-awareness theme, and the others sported “support the troops” and water-safety concepts.

Brian Perkinson, Mouse’s general manager, said the company secured the job through a sales rep’s cold call. Steve Clark, owner of Splinter Creative (Tempe) and a former employee of a company that Mousegraphics acquired, designed the project. He said vehicle wraps, which comprise approximately 15% of his business, provide a particular challenge because the designer must be mindful of the installation process because limitations exist because of the vehicle hardware and curvature, as well as the vinyl’s characteristics.

“Because the ambulance had been painted previously, Southwest sanded them to provide a smooth surface and prevent layers of old paint from being visible through the vinyl,” Perkinson said. “We removed lights, door handles and miscellaneous hardware to make installation easier and cleaner.”

Mouse Graphics produced the wrap on its Mutoh Toucan LT inkjet printer with OEM inks using 3M’s Controltac with Comply film – and a few feet of 8171 perforated film and 8914 laminate– and 8519 luster-finish overlaminate. To install the approximately 350 sq. ft. of graphics, the shop approached it as two installation objects – the shop printed three panels for each side and two for the back. Then, fabricators created two sections per side to wrap the cab, another for the hood and another with various patch pieces and logos. He said, “On most box-truck projects – basically, that’s what an ambulance is – the cab won’t get much more treatment than logos on the doors. But, this job required a single, flowing design.”