I would like to address the importance of knowing your vehicle wrap’s designer. In the last year, we have had the misfortune twice of being supplied with designs that were done by incompetent designers. In both cases, our clients paid dearly for a design that was very special to them in one way or another, and couldn't use it.
In both cases, the designs were not capable of fitting on the vehicles in question. in fact, the design for the first one was done in China, on a template that was for the wrong vehicle! In the second case, the design was done on a photograph of a vehicle. It looked beautiful until you realized that it’s perspective was completely different than the template we had supplied them. They had actually used the photograph as a template, which made the finished product almost a foot short of covering the length of the van. Just photoshopping a picture gives no usable dimensions.
In the first case, the client hired a designer, who then hired a person in China to do her job. Each time we sent the design back to the designer to be altered, it was sent back to China. Do to the language, the template, and the fact that there were no vehicles to compare in person, the job took weeks, and eventually was not finished in China - but here - by me. The job was executed in Adobe Illustrator (, and when it came to me to sort out, there were hundreds of layers; none of which were “labelled or grouped”. I spent about a week getting it to a usable file.
In the second case, even though the designer was in the United States, he came from a country where men do not consider women as equal or even consider speaking to them in a civil manner. He also lives in New Jersey, and we are in California. There was more than a distance to consider. I know there are many nice people in New Jersey, however, he had one of the personalities that have given the state a bad name. (Need I say more?) As a result, my husband and our production manager had to work with the man, and soon he was extremely rude to them, too. . . Every time he was asked to increase the length of the file, he stretched the file so that the pattern didn’t match up with the adjacent section of the van or fit where the windows, etc should fit. Eventually, after spending large amounts of vinyl on a design that wouldn’t work, the client agreed that he didn’t want to work with the designer either, and asked us to spend time redesigning the wrap to make it workable. Too bad the client had already paid for the design. In the long run, our client was able to obtain the files that he had designed, and we were able to salvage some of the basic files. . . It was nice to at least have a reference point.
As much as I would like to show you the pictures of the completed projects, I feel it is important not to name names or embarrass our clients. Know that they turned out great because we took the time to fix them. We have a good relationship with the clients, and are making safeguards, both to protect our clients, and ourselves. In the last year, the designs that were done in-house have come through with only a few small adjustments, and the clients have had a quick turn around time and a successful wrap. Check our vehicle wrap page to see some of our completed projects. One of them might have been mentioned in this blog. I won’t tell. . .
I would suggest that future clients and those considering wrapping a vehicle should work closely with a designer who is either on staff of the sign company, or who works closely with them. The relationship of the two is extremely important in the outcome of the wrap. . . If the designer doesn’t have references from the wrap company, be sure to check his references (former clients), and any company he has used for printing and installing (pictures, too). By the way, installers are good people to ask for references, too. They will let you know if the project was laid out correctly, easy to apply, etc.
I’m including two examples of truck graphics that I did before I ever knew we would own a sign company. Home Wizard.com is no longer in business, but Enviropro.com is thriving. I would suggest, you check Joe’s web site for ideas on clean fuel. . . . www.enviroproenergyllc.com>
You can also check out our showroom at and come by for a visit if you are ever in town. We are located between Home Depot and Trader Joes . . .
Lynn Koellermeier
Business Development and Design
Signature d'Sign, Inc
925 446 6477
www.signaturedsign.com
