Vinyl car graphics are one of the top eye catching sights to motorists when out on the road. Along with television advertising, vinyl car graphics and vinyl wraps for trucks are said to be the ads that are the easiest to remember over time. Colorful lettering and pictures moving down the road easily grab the attention of passersby, whether on foot or in other vehicles. Among people surveyed 48% feel that vinyl car wrapping is the most unusual type of advertising a business can use.
Car wrap design has become a popular way of advertising. Most business owners find it to be the best way to plant their business in the public eye and keep it there. Their cars or trucks are moving billboards, carrying their message from one location to another in bold, graphic design and lettering. Vinyl car graphics can be placed on a vehicle in a partial or complete covering. It can be done by painting but more and more people have turned to large vinyl sheets as decals to cover their business car, van, or truck. The process costs between $1500 and $3000, all inclusive.
Vinyl wraps for vehicles are a vinyl with adhesive backing that are pressure-activated. Basically, they are decals that are printed onto vinyl and are then covered, or laminated, with clear film that serves to protect the vinyl and the advertising art against the elements. If the vinyl wrap is well cared for in spite of its time exposed to outside weather conditions, it can well serve its purpose for up to seven years.
There are typically three phases to applying vinyl car graphics. The first involves measuring the vehicle and designing the actual graphics intended for the sign. The next phase is printing the graphic and laminating it with the clear, protective film. The last phase is application of the vinyl graphics to the vehicle.
Business owners who are considering vinyl car graphics will often wonder if, at some point down the road, this vinyl can safely be removed with no damage to the vehicle. Experts say that it can absolutely be removed, and, if the vinyl is of good quality, it will leave nothing behind on the paint that says it was ever there. In order to remove vinyl car or truck wrapping, the use of a heat gun is required. This is a time consuming process, but fairly easy.
A full wrap is when the vinyl car graphics cover the whole vehicle, front to back, and side to side. The only exception in this case is the roof. If a customer wants graphics on the roof of the vehicle as well, there is an extra charge. A half partial wrap will generally just go halfway up the car and will include the entire rear as well. This also includes the company logo on the hood. By the same token, a three quarters partial wrap will cover most of the vehicle, including the entire rear, and a hood logo.
Before any vehicle is fitted with its vinyl car graphics, it must be washed and free of all dust and dirt. This will insure that the vinyl will adhere properly. There must be no wax, mud, or oil on the vehicle. The adhesive backing does not usually damage a factory paint job. Nonetheless, the car or truck should have no rust anywhere on its body when the vinyl is applied because the adhesive will not stick to rust. Any chipping paint on the car when the vinyl is applied could be pulled off when the vinyl is removed.
Vinyl graphics applied to car windows will not interfere with driver’s or passenger’s line of vision to the outside. In order to place the graphic over windows, perforated window film is used. Perforated refers to tiny holes in the film that allow the view from inside the vehicle to only resemble tinting. However, the graphic is what is visible on the outside of the window.
It is common for there to be a few small wrinkles in the vinyl after it is applied to the vehicle. Keeping all imperfections out of the material is almost impossible on a surface that is rounded. Flat surfaces, however, are usually smooth.
