Vehicle Graphics Project of the Day: Dial It Up

Creative Sign Resources (Ft. Wayne, IN) produced this wrap for an Internet-based, Christian radio station that targets teenagers and young adults. Rick Stemmler, the shop’s art director, said, “The station had a very limited marketing budget, so a vehicle wrap became their most cost-effective advertising avenue. And, to target a younger audience, they gave us license to create edgy, but inoffensive, graphics. This was also our first Hummer wrap; learning to master application over deep door handles and body recesses took considerable practice.”

After having designed the program with Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and Digital Designware templates, the shop proofed the graphics with FlexiSign pro before producing them with MACtac 5529 air-egress media protected by the company’s RAYzor gloss-finish overlaminate. For the windows, fabricators implemented Clear Focus Imaging Inc.'s 50% perforated window film. Creative Sign Resources output the program on its Mutoh America Inc. Toucan LT solvent-ink printer and Neschen Americas – Seal & Neschen Brand Products 62 Pro D laminator. The company produced a similar wrap for the station’s matching trailer. Stemmler said G Force Products’ RollePro application tool, which promotes pressure-sensitive vinyl adhesion, facilitated application over the trailer’s rivets.

“For vehicle graphics, we prefer using a film that’s thin and maneuverable,” Stemmler said. “We prefer media with an adhesive that’s initially less aggressive – this forgiveness makes our job easier. And, an optically clear laminate makes our job easier; switching laminate rolls in the middle of a job is an inconvenience.”

He said a successful vehicle-graphics project requires following manufacturer recommendations for media ink saturation, solvent-ink drying and outgassing time, and avoiding too much heat and pressure, which can overstretch the vinyl, during installation.

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