When our friends at Applied Industrial Technologies decided to have their van customized with racks and shelves, they decided to look at having graphics applied. Their corporate HQ had a preapproved package that was very well designed. A very good use of color and reflective film. Unfortunately, that’s where the fun ended.
When Optimum Signs starts on a vehicle, we always ask our customers to make sure that the vehicle is clean. Otherwise we have to stop and wash the truck and let it dry before we can begin working on the vehicle. A quick bath with alcohol to ensure that there isn’t any wax or any type of contaminant that would lessen the time that the decals will hold, and we were ready to begin. The graphics package was designed for a van that was probably a good foot shorter in length. Our installer realized that the van was longer than the template. We were fortunate that the reflective strip that was provided was barely long enough. We had to shorten the overlays from .5″ to a little under .25″ to make sure that the seams never separated. The vehicle template also didn’t take into consideration badging on the van (Chevy logos), placement of the windows, and the placement of the track for the sliding doors. None of this is a big deal for our installers. We measured the van and determined what had to change to keep the design intact. By moving the reflective strip up .5″ on both sides we were able to avoid the track that the door slides on and keep the strips at the same height on both sides. We also noticed that on the back door, the graphics ran over the top of the badging. But by shifting the top graphics to the right, we missed the Chevy logo and were able to apply the graphics as they were designed. Also the seams of the van landed in the middle of several letters which required a little extra care. We rolled the decals into the seam before heating them. This guarantees that the letters will not lift up. Others will apply the decal, then heat the vinyl and press it into the seam. This increases the stress on the vinyl and almost ensures that the decal will fail. A little heat on the edges and we completed another fleet vehicle.
If you have a custom fleet vehicle that needs to decaled, or if you just want to update your look, call us at Optimum Signs. We specialize in corporate vehicles and fleet graphics. We can be contacted at 262.289.9481 or emailed at info@optimumsignswi.com.
