Don’t drive ugly! We see it all the time, ugly fleet vehicles traveling the highways and byways of America, or parked in front of an office, or worse, parked at a customer’s home or business. If you don’t want to drive ugly follow these steps.

Using the Wrong Material for the Job

We’ve lost bids because a competitor underbid us only to learn later customers experienced problems. For example, a competitor low-balled our estimate by using a vinyl material that was not rated to be heated, stretched, or bent around curves. The material they used was only compliant for flat surfaces. When they tried to install it, the material stretched oddly. It was like looking in a fun house mirror. The customer didn’t think it was funny.

Another example was a boat a customer wanted us to wrap. He already had the printed vinyl, the problem was there are special materials for boats, you know they’re partially under water, right? The customer didn’t use boat material. It didn’t turn out so well. If you’d like to learn more read this, FAQ: Are There Different Grades of Vinyl Graphics Material?

Improper Installation

If you don’t know what you’re doing, there are a lot of ways to mess up an installation.

Preparation How to Prep a Vehicle for Graphics Video

Unqualified Installers How to Find the Best Vehicle Graphic Installers

Climate Control FAQ: Can I Install Vinyl Graphics in the Cold?

Attention to Detail Video Testimonial: Knott’s wholesale Foods Trailer Wrap.

Poor Design

Everybody and his brother think they can design vehicle graphics. They can’t. Just because someone is a designer doesn’t mean they know how to design a three-dimensional wrap viewed at 55 MPH. An auto racing sponsor came to us to produce and install a wrap for their race car. An advertising agency had created the design. The wrap was a large image of a bottle, one of the sponsor’s products. Although the design looked great on a flat screen, it would’ve been unrecognizable on the race car, especially at speed. 5 Keys to Vehicle Graphic Design

Leaving Your Fleet Vehicles Blank

There are a lot of reasons to avoid wrapping your fleet. However, few of them are good reasons. If you think you know a good reason not to wrap your vehicles, please read this. Why Haven’t You Wrapped Your Company Vehicles?

There are other ways to drive ugly such as attempting to use small magnetic decals that your staff slaps on the door of their trucks at a crooked angle or upside down. Ugly, very ugly. Not properly maintaining your graphics is ugly. Don’t drive ugly. Leaving vinyl graphics on too long is unattractive, a quality vinyl can last five to seven years or more, but probably not ten or fifteen. Lack of cleaning can get ugly.