What Should I Look Out For When Designing My Wrap? 

Helpful tips, tricks, and red flags for vehicle wrap design. 

As a business owner, many of us are familiar with designing advertisments for our business that are meant to be viewed on a flat surface (bilboards, flyers, business cards, signs for example.) What we aren't so familiar with, is designing for something that is 3-dimensional. 

The good news is- we are VERY familiar with the hassle that is dealing with bodylines, door handles, mirrors, and so on. 

The big question- what do I need to avoid?

• Avoid placing text over items that stick out from the main surface of the body. This means do not place websites, phone numbers, or important parts that you want to stand out directly over top of an area that may not even get covered. 
• Watch out for areas like recess that have the potential to distort text
• Avoid anything that requires perfect alignment from one side to the other (passenger side to rear of vehicle for example.)  No matter how good your installer or your template is, there will be very slight differences from paper to 3D. 

How Much Text should I Include In My Wrap Design?

A good vehicle wrap designer will tell you- the more simple you keep the design, the more conversions you will see.  If you want a really high ROI, you will want to stick to 1-2 points of contact (phone number and website.) The current attention span of the average adult American is currently 8 seconds and declining- goldfish have an average attention span of 9 seconds. Let that sink in. 

You also will want to avoid using too many product pictures. The goal of your vehicle wrap is to make it a "vehicle" to get customers to your website, landing page, or social media accounts- where they can see endless amounts of product pictures. 

For your wrap- you SHOULD include:

• Your amazing VECTOR logo
• A way to find you (phone number, website, social media icons/ handles) 
• A killer design and color scheme that will attract ALL of the attention. 

How Will I Know If My Logo Is In The Correct Format For My Vehicle Wrap? 

Having a vectorized version of your logo is extremely important for large format printing. Vector graphics are made up of 2D points, curves and lines based on mathematical equations. This means that they can be resized without effecting the quality of the image.  You do not want your logo- or any imagery you use on your vehicle to be blurry or to look like an 8-bit video game image. 

Below are some common Vector file types that work well- if you don't currently have one of these formats, ask the logo designer to provide one.  If the original designer can't provide you with one- ask your wrap designer how much it would cost to recreate your logo in a vector format. 

Vector Format File Types:

• AI
• EPS
• Occasionally PDF (if it isn't a jpeg converted to pdf)   

What Colors Will Look Best On My Wrap?

The answer to this is very simple- think back to what we all learned when we were in elementary school. The basics of color theory states that colors that are opposite of eachother on the color wheel- look best together.  A good example of that is blues and oranges.  Think of how many professional sports teams use a version of blue and orange as their main colors (Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins, New York Knicks, New York Mets, and the Edmonton Oilers just to name a few.) 

In Conclusion

There is alot to think about when you're considering a vehicle wrap- especially when it comes to the design.  Make sure whoever you're working with has worked with a design for a 3D surface before. Make sure that you spend time perusing social media accounts of the wrap shops you are wanting to work with.  Make sure you like the style of the designs.  Make sure the designs are legible and clear from a distance. And also- make sure you have fun with it!