Welcome to the tips and information page. The objective of this section is to provide you, the reader, with suggestions and ideas to help make your potential project easier and possibly cheaper. This page will always be "under construction" and new sections will be added as they are made available.

Thanks,
the Management

Vehicle Graphics:

Vehicle Choices:

Sometimes a less expensive or dramatic choice of vehicle is the better one. When looking at vehicles, keep in mind that you're using this vehicle as an advertising tool. Your logo and any other images or information need to be placed where they can be read effectively with minimal distortion. Vehicles such as Vans and SUVs work well as most have flat open sides that provide good room for a logo. Trailers are a natural.

In the past couple years we have applied a number vehicle wraps to the PT Cruiser, a Chrysler product. It's a very distinctively shaped car and is cost effective to boot. The problem is that it has very few places to lay down large logos. The fenders take up so much of the car's sides that a door logo either needs to be made small to fit or must be run over seems and curves. If the car's shape is taken into account it can be dealt with to create very impressive results. But all parties involved need to be aware of its limitations. This is true of any vehicle with complex curves or angles. Some of today's newer designs are actually easier to wrap. The Ford Focus and the Toyota Matrix both have relatively flat sides and simple curves making installation far simpler. Both are available for well under $20K. I've never personally seen one wrapped but the new Cadillac CTS falls into this same category with flat large sides and clean wrap lines.

Additionally, some trim options can make or break vehicle graphics. This is of particular note for SUVs and many models of Minivans. Many "Sport" packages today include additional plastic trim along the base of the vehicle for added protection from debris. When looking at these options pay careful attention to the material used. Any plastic with a flat gray, rough, or pebbled surface will not hold to the adhesive on the back of the graphics being applied. The fact is they're designed to do this. Mud, tar, and dirt will not stay on these surfaces and neither will your graphics. Even the smoother "satin" finishes of many plastics are designed to do this. One particular vehicle I can use for an example is the Jeep Grand Cherokee. It's a popular SUV but one of their protective trim options on the sides covers half of the door. This leaves only a 10 inch high band of viable logo space along the sides of the vehicle without using the windows. You can avoid this problem in a couple of ways. First, if possible, order the vehicle without the trim. Secondly, you can check to see if the vehicle is available with painted trim or glossy plastic trim, color matched to the rest of the vehicle. Either option should allow the adhesive vinyl of the graphics to stick and give you more room for logos and the overall design. In the end we always recommend giving us a call about vehicle choices. We can design for just about anything and something you may never have considered might just be your perfect vehicle.

Vehicle Wrap Installation Notes:

Established Studios uses installation crews that apply vehicle wraps on-site, we have found certain environmental conditions/situations that contribute to a successful and effective installation. Most important among these is a covered application area. A roof allows us to wrap while avoiding most of nature's more uncooperative elements, i.e. rain, hail, leaves, direct sunlight, etc. Walls are an additional help as they contribute to the reduction of dust, dirt, and other debris that wind often attempts to place between adhesive vinyl and the vehicle. Additionally, excessive wind often results in premature and unacceptable application to the vehicle's surface. A working space of 4-6 feet around the vehicle is necessary for ladders, other equipment, and "eye-balling" panel alignment. The vinyl itself has a preferred operating temperature between 45-50 and 85-90 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures outside that range make the material brittle and/or sag under its own weight respectively. Finally, good lighting allows us to set and align each graphic panel more effectively than other methods such as the now discarded Braille technique. We often work on projects which extend outside normal daylight hours so some form of artificial lighting is helpful. Facility lighting, work lamps, and/or large neighboring structure fires have all been used with success in the past. While we have, and will work on projects where many of these conditions are not present we have found the results to be less than desirable.