So what’s 18′ long, bright red and weights more than a small house? One of our recent jobs for Lakeside International had us designing, printing and installing over 150′ of cut vinyl over a few really wicked curves. All in a days work at Optimum Signs.
When Eric Rosenquist, Sales Manager with Lakeside International, approached us to design a package for two new demo trucks that they had received we were a bit excited. It isn’t every day that we get to work on a $250,000 truck, let alone two of them. Our designers focused on the color palette of the trucks, a high gloss red. We decided on matching the red and accenting it with a metallic silver and a bright white. Custom cutting to allow for a other than usual cut pattern just to make the install a little challenging and presto! You have the design characteristics of an Optimum Signs truck graphics package. Going to print we were interested to see how the HP 360 Latex printer would handle the grey as gradiant grey is a very difficult color to hit. But once again, the HP printer conquered the colors we threw at it. After about an hour of printing, we moved the design to the Graphtec plotter/cutter. I can tell you this, there were times that the cutter was screaming back and forth at a rate that surprised us. Then off to the production tables for weeding (removing the extra vinyl). After about 3 hours on the tables, we were ready to install the design. As with most of our work, we needed an indoor facility to house the two monster trucks. Lakeside International was kind enough to allow us to use one of their bays to complete the work. This was a job that tested the abilities of our installer with the contours, the aggressive design lines and the 12″ drop in the overall width of the truck as you moved forward. With a torch in one hand, and a roll of knifeless tape in the other, we went to work. When you have a cut line that runs from the front of the truck all the way back to the front of the doors, there is only one way to make the cut, DON’T! Some installers will freehand a cut along the surface of the vehicle. We found that by using knifeless tape we never have to put a knife anywhere near the surface of the truck.
This job took over three days and a number of assistants to help hold, position, and place the vinyl. This was truly a job that we are quite proud of. A complex design, difficult cut lines, and a color scheme that makes sure when you see this truck, you know where it came from. So if you have a truck, semi, or just a van that needs to make a professional impact, call us at Optimum Signs. We can be reached at 262.289.9481 or email at info@optimumsignswi.com.
