Signs of the Times - October 2012 - (Page 68)

CATEGORY 1: Service Vehicles Compiled by Steve Aust (Editor’s Note: Unless otherwise noted, the fabricating shop also designed and installed the project.) FIRST PLACE Fabricator Wicked Wraps Lynwood, WA (425) 238-6563 www.wickedwraps.net Designer/Installer Wade Becher Client BiteMe Cupcakes Looking to capitalize on a growing trend, the customer brought an aging schooltransport van to Wicked Wraps’ shop to be transformed into a mobile cupcake vendor. Becher photographed and measured the vehicle to prepare for a custom design template from The Bad Wrap. He also hired a window company to create a service window and fold-out counter for the point of sale. “The customer wanted a wrap that was a combination of cute and edgy to grab attention,” Becher said. “Blending pink and black captures that combination pretty well. I took high-resolution photos of some of her cupcakes to incorporate them into the design.” Using the Bad Wrap template, he refined the design with Adobe Photoshop. Then, he created the wrap with Avery Graphics’ MPI 1005 Supercast EZ Apply RS 2.1-mil, air-release media, which Wicked Wraps printed with a Mutoh ValueJet 1304 eco-solvent-ink printer and Eco-Ultra inks. The shop decorated the windows with Avery’s Supercast 3528 calendered, 50%-perforated window film and 2.1-mil cast, window-vinyl overlaminate. To preserve the plaid-pink logo, chocolate brown and coconut white, Becher coated the wrap with Avery’s DOL 1360-54 1.3-mil, cast, gloss overlaminate with a ProLam 1600ii 63-in. laminator. They completed the wrap with Geek Wraps squeegees and magnets, and a propane torch. For continuity across the entire vehicle, he fabricated custom wheel covers with images of pink frosting (a cupcake’s best part, Becher said) from 3A Composites’ Dibond® aluminum-composite material, which was wrapped with the MPI 1005 material. SECOND PLACE Fabricator/Installer Creative Color Inc. Burnsville, MN (952) 746-4164 www.creativecolorstudio.com Designer Brent Luther Client Motley Crews Heavy Metal Grill Who says 1980s big-hair metal is dead? The preponderance of aging rockers now appearing on reality-TV suggests a renaissance, but this food truck is a much more fitting tribute to their glory days (daze?). Luther designed the food truck’s wrap, which appears at various Minneapolis venues around lunchtime, with Adobe’s Creative Suite 5 (perhaps with inspiration from old cassettes and a VH1 Classic viewing binge); Luther proudly stated that the shop eschews stock photos and other, non-custom imagery. After having provided a thorough denatured-alcohol bath to clean the vehicle, the shop produced the 425-sq.-ft. wrap with 3M’s IJ180-10Cv3 air-release media, which it printed on the shop’s Mimaki JV-33 solventink printer. Using 3M Gold nylon squeegees, Creative Color installed the wrap over 16 panels with a 1-in. overlap – six apiece on both sides, two on the front and two on the back. 3M’s 8518 gloss laminate will provide many encores for the truck. They applied the wrap as two panels seamed over the roof with 3M Gold nylon squeegees, propane torches and X-Acto® removable-blade knives. 68 SIGNS OF THE TIMES / OCTOBER 2012 / www.signweb.com http://www.wickedwraps.net http://www.creativecolorstudio.com http://www.signweb.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Signs of the Times - October 2012

Sign of theTimes - October 2012
ST Update
Technology Update
Vinyl Apps
Strictly Electric
LED Update
Software Update
Technology Review
Technology Review
Sign Museum News
New Products
2012 Vehicle Graphics Contest
Entry-level Electronic Digital Signage
The Proposed ISA Reorganization Plan
Enter ST's 2013 Intl. Sign Contest
SGIA Expo 2012
The Value of Signs
Advertising Index
Editorially Speaking

Signs of the Times - October 2012