Effective Vehicle Wrap Design For You

There is no doubt anymore that vehicle wraps, whether car wraps, van wraps or truck wraps, are the most cost effective mobile advertising available in the market today.  Small to large companies can all benefit from wrapping their fleet vehicles.  Whether that is applying a car wrap, van wrap, or truck wrap to one vehicle or several, vehicle graphics should be designed with care.
Transforming your fleet or company vehicle into a moving billboard is much more than applying just vehicle graphics film or vehicle graphics vinyl.  After all, it is not the vehicle wrap material that is selling your business, but the marketing message on your mobile billboard that is going to pay dividends.  If the vehicle wrap, i.e. car wrap, van wrap, or truck wrap, design is ineffective, your marketing dollars are not being spent wisely.
Houston Custom Wraps offers the following four points to consider when designing your vehicle wrap.  These are not the end all be all of design, but are some important points to consider as we have experienced these often in the vehicle wrap design process.

Three Messages that Must Be Conveyed

At Houston Custom Wraps we stress that for any vehicle wrap, whether it is a car wrap, van wrap, or truck wrap, there are three messages that should be conveyed.  When utilizing vehicle graphics to make an impression on a customer, the customer needs to know who you are, or your logo, what you do, or the type of product or service you offer, and most importantly, how to contact you.  A customer has 3 to 6 seconds at times to read your message.  Send a clear message.  An effective car wrap design, van wrap design, or truck wrap design draws the customers eye to this key information first.

Avoid Personal Taste

Vehicle graphics for your car wrap, van wrap, or truck wrap should not be about your personal tastes or preferences.  Your company’s vehicle wrap design, at a minimum, should include the three messages above.  The vehicle graphics that surround this underlying information should present the company’s attributes, not yours.  A car wrap, van wrap, or truck wrap should take on the persona of the company.  This is what your customer’s are expecting.  Always keep your clientele’s perception of the company in mind.

Garner Objective Opinions and Criticism

Small business owners and graphics designers of large firms will solicit opinions and feedback from individuals about the car wrap, van wrap, or truck wrap design that has been submitted by Houston Custom Wraps.  When garnering these opinions, they should be from objective sources.  Individuals who will offer constructive criticisms about the overall vehicle wrap design.  A vehicle wrap design for a car wrap, van wrap, or truck wrap is about effective vehicle marketing.  You want individuals critiquing the vehicle wrap design with an eye to brand identity, marketing and strategy.

Match the Wrap to the Vehicle

Unless you are wrapping your work truck for Mary Kay Cosmetics it should not be wrapped in pink.  Car wrap designs, van wrap designs, and truck wrap designs should incorporate matching tones and colors that coincide with your company’s logo.  Images used in vehicle wraps should not distract consumers from your marketing message.  The vehicle wrap design should incorporate the vehicle’s body style to make effective use of mobile billboard impressions.  For example a tailgate of a truck wrap or the back doors of a van wrap should have the company’s logo, the product or service, and contact info as readable as possible.  Why potentially lose this priceless advertising space to artful design elements or imagery that does not get your company’s message across.
Here at Houston Custom Wraps, we take pride that our vehicle wrap designers, our staff, and installers are all marketing professionals.  Houston Custom Wraps is one of the few vehicle wrap companies that offers design consultation for your car wrap, van wrap, or truck wrap prior to beginning the vehicle wrap design process.  Our experienced staff has degrees in marketing and strategy.  Our designers have years of experience in creating effective marketing designs for vehicle wraps, wall wraps, floor wraps, and custom wraps.  If you have any questions about effective mobile advertising or vehicle wrap design, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Maintaining your Vehicle Wrap

Our customers are always pleased with the vehicle wraps  Houston Custom Wraps produce for them.  We take great pride in the wraps we produce and explain to our customers how to maintain their vehicle wraps so that they last longer and stay looking good.
Here are some tips to maintaining a wrap.  These tips apply to car wraps, truck wraps, trailer wraps, SUV wraps, van wraps and even window wraps.

The Car Wash
Hundreds if not thousands of dollars have been spent on a vehicle wrap.  The first question that comes up is, “Can we take the wrapped vehicle through the car wash?”  Usually, the answer to this question is ‘yes’, but with exceptions.  The car wash that you choose should not use power scrubbers or high pressure water jets.  These can severely damage a car wrap, van wrap, SUV wrap, trailer wrap, or truck wrap.  The jets can cause water to enter to the underside of the vehicle wrap which will inevitably cause lifting of the vehicle graphics.  Hand washing your vehicle wrap is still the best solution.
Houston Custom Wraps reviews the vehicle graphics instruction bulletins for the major manufacturers of vehicle wrap vinyl.  The instructions for hand washing were generally the same from all three.

• Customers should wash their vehicle using a non-abrasive cleaner without strong solvents, washing from top down with lots of water.
• Do not use brushes—whether an automatic car wash or by hand.  Brushes will either dull the laminate or scratch the graphics.  Lifting is also a major concern.  A soft sponge or rag should be used instead while avoiding excessive scrubbing.
• Rinse with clean water and allow the vehicle to air dry or use a microfiber cloth.

Power Washing
With fleet graphics, hand washing each vehicle is not always an option.  Your fleet can include a combination of car wraps, truck wraps, van wraps, trailer wraps and box truck wraps.  Power washing can be used if you follow these recommendations.  It should be noted that over time the vehicle graphics will start to dull.

• Avoid excessive pressure.  This can cause damage to the graphics. Also, water can get underneath the graphic causing lifting and curling.
• Avoid a direct spray at sharp angles to the graphics.
• Avoid spraying directly on the seams.
• Replace the section of lifted vehicle graphics if necessary.

Here are some numbers to use when pressure washing.

• Set water pressure to a maximum 800 psi to 2000 psi
• Set water temperature to a maximum 72 to 180 degrees
• Ensure the spray nozzle has a spray pattern of 40 degrees
• Keep a minimum distance of the nozzle to the vehicle graphic of 12 to 18 inches
• Maintain a spray angle of at least 45 degrees in a sweeping pattern
• Do not use a Turbo pressure nozzle

Waxing and Polishing
Avoid waxes whose base is Carnauba.  Polishes that contain silicone or Teflon or are designed for vehicle graphics are fine.

• Carnauba-based waxes need to be buffed.  The buffing process requires rigorous pressure and can damage or dull vehicle graphics.
• Waxes can melt in the sun.  This results in a greasy residue which causes dirt to stick and can cause black streaks.
• If using a polish it should be specifically designed for use on vehicle wraps.  Contact Houston Custom Wraps about a polish designed for your car wrap, van wrap, truck wrap, trailer wrap or box truck wrap.  The polish we offer is designed to protect vehicle graphics against harsh elements and pollution.
• Regardless of the type of used; be sure it is tested in an inconspicuous place first.
• Gas spills should be washed off as soon as possible with soapy water.
• Oil, tar or asphalt that may build up on the vehicle graphics can be removed with an isopropyl alcohol wipe down followed by a cleaning with a citrus-based cleaner.

Initial Maintenance
Keep an eye on your car wrap, van wrap, truck wrap, SUV wrap, trailer wrap or box truck wrap.  This is the best time to catch small problems.  If any issues are discovered, bring the vehicle back to Houston Custom Wraps for evaluation and correction.