Vehicle graphic design is an art and a science and vehicle graphic designers are artists as well as scientist. Vehicle graphic design is the art of sharing a singular message and making it stand out from thousands of others. And it’s the science of sculpting a three-dimensional image to the exact specifications of a vehicle without losing the message.  The designer is only part of the equation for creating an artistic and scientific vehicle graphic. The customer has a lot to do with it as well.

What Vehicle Graphic Designers Think You Should Know

  1. Don’t let your design get lost in a cycle of revisions

The more a graphic is redesigned, the more opportunity for the message to be lost and the higher chance of mistakes. For example, if you copy the same sentence over and over there’s a greater chance that a letter will be left out, a word omitted, or the sentence changed. And revisions drive up the cost. How to avoid this – Get your entire team on board from the beginning.

Learn what they’re expectations are and share them with the vehicle graphic designers. Waiting for the design to be completed and then discussing expectations with sales, the CEO, or any department is a formula for redesign. Be proactive. Jamie Burch, TKO Graphix senior designer added, “Concerning design, it might benefit those reading this to understand less is more in a lot of cases.”

2. Don’t break the rules

Vehicle graphic designers know the rules, believe them when they tell you that dark blue letters on your black truck will not be visible for more than a few feet. Trust them when they explain the italicized font you use on your business card will not be readable at 55 MPH. And if they explain your images are too pixelated, or your color palette is too varied—trust them.

How to avoid this. Go into the design with an open mind. The design team wants to help you create the best design possible. They take pride in their work. They proudly point out their work to friends and family when they see it on the road. They don’t want their name attached to subpar work. Like I said, give them your trust.

3. Don’t lose your message

Have you ever seen a vehicle wrap that shared so many images and messages that it was confusing? For example, a vehicle graphic listing the top ten products they offer. How many of the ten do you think you’d remember? Keep in mind two ways vehicle graphics are different from other graphics.

  • They’re three-dimensional
  • They need to be understood by drivers…in cars…on highways.

How to avoid this. Know your primary message before you approach the design team. Consider your USP (Unique sales position) what problems you solve, and who your targeted audience is before you begin the design. Boil this down to a single message.

4. Don’t guess about your vehicle

Vehicle Graphic designers need the facts about your vehicle. If it’s a pickup truck, they need to know the style. Is it a short bed or crew cab? Has it been modified? Has add-on equipment been installed? Given the exact information, it becomes possible to design a graphic that fits your vehicle like a glove. Without the correct information—not so much. How to avoid this. Give the design team the exact information including modifications. Share the VIN, and take straight on photos of every side of the vehicle, weird angles don’t help. If possible bring the vehicle to the graphics shop.

5. Don’t rubber stamp the final layout

This is especially bothersome when the designers haven’t been given the most accurate information to begin with. If they’ve had to guess at your wishes on any part of the design from colors to fonts to images to size then it becomes a higher probability they’ll not meet your expectations. How to avoid this. First, share your expectations with the designers and give them the correct information from the beginning. Next, take the time to go over the final with a fine tooth comb and share it with every department involved with the expectations that they don’t rubber stamp it. It’s critical to thoroughly review the final layout before approval.

How Does This Make Your Life Easier

It makes your life easier because you don’t have to explain to your CFO the cost overruns caused by multiple redesigns. You don’t have to tell your CEO that although she’s not happy with the design—it’s too late to change. You don’t have to explain why Sign is spelled Sing or angle became angel. And you don’t have to apologize to anyone for the mistakes because you avoided them, and that will make your life easier. Much easier. Trust me on this. If you’d like to learn more about vehicle graphic design Contact us. We know the right questions to ask you.

TKO Graphix has been a national fleet and vehicle graphics company helping customers since 1985. We provide full-service graphic design, digital printing, screen printing, graphics installation, and removal of large format graphics.

We’ve been helping businesses, large and small, brand their fleet of tractor-trailers, service trucks, and company vehicles for more than 35 years.

Whether you have a fleet of thousands or a few vehicles, we are here to lead you through the vehicle branding process. We’ve been helping businesses, large and small, brand their fleet of tractor-trailers, work trucks, and company vehicles for more than 35 years.

TKO Graphix is a Certified 3M™ MCS™ Warranty graphics manufacturer. Our installation crews are 3M Certified and are employees of TKO Graphix, not sub-contractors.