Category Archives: Custom-Car-Wraps

Is this the new 2015 Ford Mustang

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Is this the 2015 Ford Mustang? Close to it, at least that’s what a Ford insider told us recently. Set to be released about two years from now on its 50th anniversary, the 2015 Mustang will be much closer to a “world car” than any Mustang before it.

Ford Mustang Future

The new 2015 Ford Mustang; custom wraps will make this a first class looker

For one, it will be smaller in many ways. Most other markets prefer sports cars with a little less metal and a few more curves. That means a sleeker, less bulky Mustang that should weigh less and cheat the wind better. The Evos concept was a hint of that look, but we were assured that the current Mustang’s long hood/short deck proportions will remain along with several signature Mustang design cues like rear-quarter windows and triple-lens taillamps. A little bit of Ferrari on the side panels, a little bit of Aston Martin in the front, yes, we like it!

Rear end view on the Mustang, watch for the Mustang 3 part tail lights

This, along with other great American sports cars, is a great target for personalization through vehicle wrap. Non permanent, you can have that carbon fiber roof or those racing stripes for a fraction of the cost of a paint job.  Expect to see the official unveil of the 50th Anniversary Ford Mustang at the 2014 New York Auto Show.

 

Vehicle Wrap Care Instructions

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To maintain the appearance and increase the longevity of your wrap, the following is recommended:

Regular hand washing, avoiding abrasive chemicals with strong solvents

  • Avoid brushes, as they can dull the finish of the laminate and can cause scratching
  • Rinse off any residue thoroughly with clean water
  • Allow vehicle to air dry or use a microfiber cloth to dry

Pressure washing can be used when hand washing is not an option

  • Avoid excessive pressure that can cause damage to the graphics
  • Do not direct the spray at a sharp angle to the graphics
  • Avoid spraying directly at wrap seams
  • Trim back all lifted edges, and seal with an edge sealer or replace the section of the graphics if necessary
  • Water pressure – maximum 800psi to 2,000 psi
  • Water temperature – maximum 72 to 180 degrees
  • Spray nozzle spray pattern of 40 degrees
  • Minimum distance of nozzle to the graphics – 12 to 18 inches
  • Spray angle – 45 degrees, sweeping spray
  • Never use a Turbo pressure nozzle

Avoid Carmauba-based waxes, which are popular for vehicles without graphics because they can be buffed to a high shine. The buffing process needs to be rigorous and can cause damage to the graphics. Teflon or silicone-based polish used should be specifically designed for use on vehicle wraps. Most vinyl manufacturers recommend not using any waxes or polishes on matte, textured or other unique finishes and it is important to remove any residue (gunk) as soon as possible to avoid staining and other damage. Any cleaner used should be tested in an inconspicuous place first

For a gas spill be sure to wash off the residue quickly with soapy water; an isopropyl alcohol wipe down followed by a cleaning with a citrus-based cleaner will help remove oil, tar or asphalt that may build up to the graphics. Follow any chemical cleanings with a regular washing with water and a mild cleaner. Rinse with clean water and dry with a lint-free or microfiber cloth.  In short; KEEP IT CLEAN!

 

 

Custom Wrap for the Car Enthusiast!

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A custom car wrap just for fun?

Well, yes, that is possible but there are definitely some other advantages to consider as well. First of all, it’s a hell of a lot cheaper than a custom paint job. The cost of a full wrap of the entire vehicle including bumpers is between $3,000 and $5,000, depending on the complexity and size of the vehicle and much less for a partial wrap if you don’t need to change the car’s color. Now, you can probably re-paint your car for that amount of money; but can you get a design or some special effects; most likely not. At Sema a few years ago, the guys from Wrap Experts, Dallas TX, applied a custom wrap each day on a Ford Mustang GT during the introduction of Wraptivo® by Meguiar’s®,this picture is a sample of their work. It was a great exercise in how you can change the look of your car completely through a custom wrap.

So, what are the other advantages?

There are more advantages for a wrap versus a custom paint job. First of all, a vinyl wrap will actually protect your factory paint job and if you get tired of it, you just remove it and your paint will still look like new. You can choose for a high gloss laminate for your wrap and it will look as shiny as a fresh paint job. Other advantages are that you can change the color of your car, get those racing stripes or flames you always wanted and of course draw a lot of attention; whether it is during enthusiast gatherings, car shows or simply at the parking lot of your local mall.

   

 

A Few Tips for Great Vehicle Advertising

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Good Design is Key!

This ad for AST (Advanced Security Technologies) on a windowed van can be easily seen from a distance and it looks classy and interesting from the street.  A great combination of good design and creative positioning. Another example from is from the UK, this wrap for a printing company is loud enough to get a lot of attention but understated and elegant enough to convert viewers into customers. This design is stark contrast to the huge-text, in-you-face, explosion-and-fire designs of most commercial wraps on the road. No one has ever been annoyed into becoming a customer.

Good design in vehicle wraps is surprisingly hard to find. A clever, well-designed vehicle wrap is an easy and immediate way to set your ad campaign miles ahead of everything else out there.

Be entertaining!

All advertising must be either entertaining or informative. Anything else will be immediately forgotten at best, and at worse will hurt your brand. With mobile and outdoor media like vehicle wraps, there’s usually not enough time to inform so you have to entertain. If you can get drivers laughing and pointing, they’ll talk about it for days and become evangelists for your brand as well as new customers. An easy way to be entertaining is to put advertising unexpected places. In this economy, almost everyone is ready to cut a deal. If you have an idea to put an ad in an unusual spot, don’t be afraid to so some digging and find someone who can say yes. You may even end up saving a lot of money. Here are a couple more examples:

 

Think outside of cars and buses

Everyone’s seen mobile ads on the side of a bus, but trains are a relatively untapped medium for ad placement.  They also offer some interesting creative opportunities that buses so not offer.  Imagine the entire army of Verizon’s support engineers as a part of their “we never stop working for you” campaign or a giant shark eating up the track for a zoo promotion. .  Here are a few more creative ideas, some of these from Japan.

        

 

 

Most Relevant Vehicle Wrap Answers!

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Get This:

Consider these statistics compiled by the Outdoor Advertising Association of America:

    • More than 95% of Americans are reached by media targeting vehicle drivers and passengers.
    • One vehicle wrap can generate between 30,000 – 70,000 impressions daily.
    • Fleet vehicle advertising boosts name recognition 15 times greater than any other form of advertising.
    • 30% of mobile outdoor viewers indicate they would base a buying decision on the ad they see.

What is a vehicle wrap?

Car wraps can take many shapes, colors and sizes. A full wrap covers the entire surface of the car or vehicle. A partial wrap covers only a specific portion of the vehicle and uses the vehicle’s paint scheme as the backdrop for the full design. Vehicle wraps are done with vinyl materials (think of it as a large decal) that conform to the shape of your vehicle. They can be done in solid colors as “paint replacement” or can have digitally printed designs on the vinyl to really make your vehicle stand out.

How effective are vehicle wraps as advertising

A quick comparison in typical advertising mediums suggests the following:

    • Radio attracts 900,000 listeners in six weeks with 10 to 12 30-second spots.
    • Value Pak mailings offers a reach of 600,000 with 100,000 addresses per drop and your client is just one of many advertisers included in the packet.
    • Direct mail reaches 20,000 names with one post card mailer.
    • Seven city buses get 600,000 impressions in two months.
    • Billboards receive 700,000 impressions in one month.
    • An ad in the yellow pages can cost up to $15,000 per year—with your competitors listed right there next to your ad.
    • The same is true for pay-per-click advertising—at an even higher cost per month.
    • Car or vehicle wraps have the potential to garner thousands of impressions each day, they last up to three years and cost, on average, between $2,500 and $4,500 for a standard vehicle.

Does it affect the paint on my car?

Car wraps material vinyls are formulated with removable adhesive that does not harm your car’s paint. In fact, many people find that by wrapping their vehicle, it can possibly assist in keeping a higher resale value for the vehicle due to the protective benefits of the wrap.

How long does a vehicle wrap last?

Car Wraps installed with vinyls from major manufacturers such as 3M, Oracal, Avery, etc. are guaranteed not to fade, crack, or peel for up to 3-5 years in most locations. Your Custom Car Wrap selected specialist will be happy to explain the warranty program prior to purchasing your wrap.

Does it matter what color my car is?

No, a car wrap is not translucent; you cannot see through it.

It looks like there are graphics on the windows, will I still be able to see through the windows?

Yes the window graphics are printed on a perforated vinyl that allows you to see through the rear and side rear windows.

Can you wrap the front side windows?

No, state laws prohibit the use of wraps on driver and passenger side windows, as well as the windshield.

Can you wrap the roof?

On most automobiles the roof is included. Generally roofs are not wrapped (vans, trucks or SUVs), unless it is requested by the customer.

Can you wrap a fiberglass or chrome bumper?

A painted plastic bumper can be wrapped without any problems. In the case of fiber-glass or chrome bumpers, application of vinyl on these areas are not recommended or guaranteed to adhere for the duration of the life of the wrap.

Can you wrap my hubcaps or rims?

No, wheels are in general not wrapped, although newer wrap materials such as 3M Dinoc in such patterns as carbon fiber or matte silver are sometimes used to wrap specialty rims.

Can you wrap trailers, trucks, vans & SUVs or even boats?

Absolutely! If it rolls or floats, you can wrap it!

What if I plan to change my company logo or phone number in the future

Not a problem. Most wrap providers can print and install graphic overlays, so that information may be removed or replaced if you need to change or update your car wrap.

Some Facts About Vehicle Wraps

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Car wraps market your business 24/7. According to a recent national transportation association report, a car wrap can easily be seen by as many as 50,000 people each and every day. Over the life of the car wrap, the cost per impression in relation to the original cost of the wrap simply cannot be bested by any other form of advertising media.

Does the wrap damage the paint job?

No, the vinyl used these days will come off just fine, even after a couple of years and will actually protect your factory paint job. UV rays will fade your paint but your vinyl wrap will protect your paint from fading. Take caution, however, if you’ve had a custom paint job or a back-yard, brother-in-law touch-up because the adhesive that holds the vinyl will tend to grab that paint and pull it off in spots. Factory paint will actualy benefit from the wrap vinyl in that your vehicle’s resale value will be higher since your paint will remain bright and sharp!

What about my design?

Many industry leading wrap shops use templated artwork, making simple modifications in order to move the production process out of the design phase as quickly as possible. You can have any design you want as long as it’s one of those templates with only very minor modifications allowed. Doing so helps them keep their costs down and make more money. All businesses should have an eye, both eyes, on maximizing their bottom line, just recognize that it may come at the expense of creative options when it comes to getting what you want. That’s what makes it so effective to use Custom Car Wraps, you decide what you want the wrap to look like and the shop(s) you choose from the list in your area will have to work out the details with you and be competitive in price.

Before you sign anything, look at what some competitors have to offer. A designer’s overal portfolio will give you a really good preview of how good these guys are. One of the “bad wraps” the designer world has working against it is the fact that they are known to promise what you’ve asked for, but design what they really like. Most wrap shops are reputable but if you talk to a few of the shop’s past clientele, that’ll go a long way towards helping you make a right decision. Your vision of what it should be, you provided them with the overall design you want, it is their job to make it work on your vehicle.

Is the vinyl really that good?

Yes, it is. A wide variety of everyday vinyls have been developed for car wraps, in the past twenty years. There is variety of specialty vinyls available for different types of vehicles, applications and surfaces. There was a time when “3M” was King because of their quality and they deserved it. Vinyl competitors such as Oracal, Avery and some others have managed to match or beat 3M quality in many instances. Now they’re King because of 15 years of good marketing and branding. Car wrap prospects know the 3M name from years of good marketing and assume that it must be good. The market is now offering equivalent or even better quality vinyls than 3M and, the icing on the cake, better warranties and lower overall costs. There’s more than one brand of vinyl and we suggest you find a shop that can help you select the right vinyl as opposed to selecting just a brand. Check the about warp materials page on Custom Car Wraps for more information about the various vinyls and manufacturers.

 

Your Company and Your Vehicle Wrap!

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Design your wrap like a huge ad!

Come up with a creative idea, and keep it simple yet eye catching. The whole point of a vehicle wrap is to catch the viewer’s attention while they are in motion. Regardless of the overall messaging, be sure that your company brand or logo is easily visible against the background imagery. After all, the entire point of a car or truck wrap is to advertise your brand or product. Make sure people know what it is! Don’t place logos between panels or half on a window and a quarter panel, because the different materials will often print irregularly, and your logo will end up looking incorrect.

What we can learn from the big guys

Around the year 2000 I was working for a large internet agency and we got involved with FEDEX, they were creating the first on-line tracking system for international logistics of shipping packages based on bar code readers, revolutionary for those days since it was all EDI or in other words a nightmare. Along with it they changed their brand from Fedaral Express to simply Fedex, it was already a household name to “Fedex it” if you wanted to make sure it got there. New logo and and brand image and it went on anything that moves packages around the world.


What we can learn from this is don’t be afraid to change and get your message across on your vehicle, be it you have just your van or truck or an entire fleet of vehicles to advertise on.  There are no secrets and while you design a wrap for your vehicle or your fleet, keep in mind what you do and how you want to be perceived by your potential customers. If you deliver bread around, say so, illustrate it with a picture of bread and plug in your logo, web site name and phone number. For most of us, the kiss method works the best, people look at your wrap and understand what you do in a second, that’s all you get when you drive by. Use background images for more detailed look of what you do, plumber put a big picture of a drain or a faucet in your background and splash your name in front of it.

Take advantage of that moving billboard!

Most of us will have a van, truck or trailer with a flat surface to advertise on. This can make the design and application of the wrap fairly easy, you can create that awesome background and get your message across quite large with plenty of room to work with. But, if you do not need a van or truck for your business, think about the (fairly) unique vehicles out there on the road that stand out by themselves already and can create a unique messaging opportunity. Mini Coopers, VW Bugs, Smart cars and Hummers are very popular for their shapes: the more unusual the better. Hybrids are wonderful for conveying that your brand is concerned with the environment.

Here is an example of a well executed message from our friends at Loring Studios, a great background and large message, environment anybody?


If you are a local business keep your website and your telephone number visible and big. Beware of having any essential information, including logos and text, wrap around corners and edges. Instead, keep messaging in easily readable areas and be sure to put logos and taglines on all sides of the vehicle.

Custom Car Wraps Blog is Here!

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The Custom Car Wraps facebook page is here, hurray!  You can find it at:  http://www.custom-car-wraps.com/blog

We’ll post our blog entries and other news and updates here, and also sync content with our Facebook page to make it easier to stay current on CCW and industry news in both places.

Show some love and give us a “like” on our facebook page!!  Find us on facebook here:  http://www.facebook.com/Custom-Car-Wrap (note: no s on the end)

(Feedback and Discussions welcome)

 

Alpha is On the Way!

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We’re quickly approaching our ALPHA release of Custom-Car-Wraps.com.

Invitations are being made to join a small group of Wrap Shops in the Southern California and San Francisco areas.  Customers will be able to design their own car wraps, send the mockups to wrap shops (CCW affiliates) for quotes, access their profile to reload or share designs.  CCW Affiliate wrap shops will receive notification emails for any designs being sent to their shop(s), and be able to log in to their affiliate account inboxes and retrieve any designs that customers have sent.

We hope to get feedback from both sides, from customers and affiliates, over the next month or so before releasing our BETA site to the rest of the world.  So, feel free to contact us with any comments, questions, suggestions, or requests during this exciting test period!

We’re excited to start connecting people’s designs with wrap shops in a whole new way this summer!

Stay tuned 😀