Über cool creations

It is very rare nowadays that you can go outdoors without catching a glimpse of some sort of vehicle advertising. Whether it is huge lorries journeying up and down the country’s motorways, or learner driver cars carefully making their way around local estates, vehicle livery has become an established part of not just out industry, but modern life as well.

This will come as no surprise to those in the sign-making sector, with many companies have already opted to add some sort of vehicle wrapping arm to their business. However, while expanding into this market is one thing, actually making a success of it, given the massive amount of competition, is another thought altogether.

With this in mind, what sort of approach do some of the market’s more successful companies take to ensure they can overtake the competition to capture work and complete projects in a way that leaves the customer feeling on top of the podium?

Moving on up

Bridgend-based Elite Signs and Graphics is one company that has been enjoying the benefits of the expanding vehicle wraps market. Founded in 1996 by brothers Clive and Barrie James, the firm has established itself as one of the front-runners in the sector and has taken on a whole host of interesting projects in the process.

Simon James, director design and marketing at the company, says vehicle wrapping forms a very important part of the business and the firm is committed to its customers in this sector, having recently upsized to a larger premises to help cope with demand.



“We believe it is growing and capturing the imagination of business owners,” James comments, adding: “For commercial vehicle wraps, it’s seen an investment and is a high impact means of creating interest in their business product or services. The domestic market, with colour-change wraps seems to be growing, with the need for personalisation of private vehicles becoming more and more affordable.


“Our move to larger premises is based on how we have seen the vehicle wrapping and vehicle graphics sector growing, and we realise that with client demands increasing, we need to invest in ourselves to give the client more.”

The company has taken on a whole host of interesting and quirky jobs from a range of different companies. James explains this includes projects that include the wrapping of a Chevrolet Trax for the Swim Kidz UK—the first of seven vehicle wrap orders from the franchise—as well as various lorry wraps for the likes of South Wales Wood Recycling and Smiths Mechanical/Smiths Heavy Haulage, as well as a Volkswagen Beetle that was wrapped to mimic the car from the ‘Herbie’ film franchise.



In terms of how Elite Signs stays ahead of the competition, James stresses that the quality of the vehicle wrap projects it completes must be of a certain standard. He explains that the firm only uses the best products and employs the right staff to ensure that this level of quality is achieved every time.

“We simply will not compromise on quality,” James stresses, adding: “We value our clients, and we believe that by giving them that peace of mind that their products will last and stand the test of time, it will keep them coming back.

“All too often do we see vehicle wraps that are failing, or poorly applied by other companies and that’s down to materials used and untrained personnel.

“We invest in our team, to ensure there are no weak links in the process. We know we use the best products, and we know we have a great team from designers to wrappers, coupled with our commitment to Quality Standard ISO 9001, so we believe this helps set us apart from the competition.”

Fast-moving sector

Elsewhere, appropriately named It’s A Wrap UK specialises in vehicle branding, graphics, livery, colour changes, and digital wraps, as well as offering various other design, sign, print, and business branding solutions. Spencer Adams, creative director at the firm, says that when it comes to vehicle wraps, the company is experiencing demand from a range of sectors.


Adams comments: “Vehicle wrapping is a fast-moving expanding market, a sector that has changed and developed our current business for the better. It’s a service that is now in high demand from small and medium businesses as well as the corporate sector and commercial fleets. It has now become our most profitable and most sought-after service.”



With It’s A Wrap UK clearly focused on the vehicle wraps market, Adams explains that it is vital that the firm can stand out amongst the competition—something it does using a range of different techniques.

Adams explains: “We approach all projects with a fresh view and an intention to impress with individual innovative design, good customer service and an extremely high quality of application, print, and finish. We also have the latest in Latex print machinery and quality materials, while our 3M status and very experienced staff set us way above the competition.”

With this in mind, Adams was keen to draw attention to the types of projects It’s A Wrap UK has been involved in within this competitive sector. These include an innovative link-up with the London College of Fashion and internationally-known car brand Hyundai.



Admas expands: “We fully wrapped ten Hyundai ix35 models for a collaboration between London College of Fashion (LCF) and Hyundai to drive brand awareness for its zero-emission Fuel Cell model. The students designed the graphics and we had ten days to adjust the artwork, digitally print the graphics on 3M material, and apply them to all ten cars. The project included five designs—two cars of each chauffeured VIPs during the LCF Undergraduate show.”

Leading the way

West Yorkshire sign-maker Leading Edge Creative is another company currently enjoying the buoyancy of the vehicle wraps market. Managing director Matthew Evans has cited the quality of the work the firm offers as well as the materials it uses as the main reasons behind its increasing success in this sector.

Staff at Leading Edge utilise technology from 3M to complete many of its vehicle wraps. Evans believes that having already established itself in the design and signage markets by using such technology, using such materials will only further enhance its presence in the vehicle wrapping sector.

Evans comments: “Rather than providing a prescriptive service, we offer our customers the best possible option in terms of creativity, whilst working within any budgetary constraints they may have.

“For example, for vehicle wraps, we find that 3M 1080 colour change wrapping film and 3M 50 Series frequently offers a particularly effective combination that gives us a flexible range of options. And all our fitters are 3M Authorised Vehicle Wrappers.”

As used by Leading Edge, 3M 1080 series is a long-term removable dual cast film that 3M says has been designed with sufficient rigidity to allow easy handling without the need for application tape. The product also features 3M’s Controltac Comply pres-sure-activated adhesive—which allows for repositioning—and boasts up to six years durability.

The 3M 50 series is a polymeric opaque film that offers a solution for a range of internal and external applications, including vehicle graphics. The manufacturer says it is suitable for application to flat and simple curves on painted, aluminium, acrylic, glass, and painted steel surfaces and comes with up to seven years durability.

One recent project that Leading Edge opted to use 3M material in was applying a colour change effect and graphics to a Mercedes Sprinter for a company supplying electrical services to the exhibition industry. The vehicle was wrapped in 3M 1080 gloss anthracite with text created in 3M 50 Series orange and white gloss, using a vector-based design.

In addition, Leading Edge used 3M 1080 and 3M 50 to create a partial wrap for ten vehicles that were wrapped for a fire company.

Evans continues: “Within the 3M range we find 1080 Series and 50 Series most suitable for vehicle wraps and the best products for purpose. They are easy to handle and give a superior finish.



“We use a range of 3M materials across all of our work, for their quality, reliability and durability. And we have developed a good reciprocal relationship with William Smith as our supplier. From the very beginning, when we started up, their service, advice and assistance has always been extremely helpful.”

It seems there are a range of different approaches you can take in order to make a success of yourself in the vehicle wraps industry. Whether it is the quality of the final product or the actual materials you use during the application process, there a number of ways in which you can stand out from and race ahead of the competition.

Wrapping in the Blood

A land known for supercars, exquisite food, beautiful scenery, and the world’s leading fashion brands, it is no surprise that Italy has also fully embraced the cult of wrapping.

The company’s stand at FESPA 2014 in Munich was a case in point. As dance music thumped out across its floor space, APA’s smartly dressed team of in-house wrappers tweaked and stretched the very latest in exotic vinyl colours, finishes, and special effects around a Nissan Nismo GT-R 500 super-car.

Despite its country’s economic woes, APA has been a shining financial success story—setting up a profitable UK wing which has managed to increase its overall market share year-on-year. It has also been pushing the envelope of material development by making sure its materials make the sign-maker’s and specialist wrapper’s life as easy as possible.

“There are a few main streams of development we are pursuing,” says Francesco Deruvo, area sales manager for the company. He continues: “Perhaps the most important one is to ensure we are making our customer’s lives as easy as possible by making the experience of wrapping easier, less time-consuming, and more professional in terms of the finished product. We are doing this by getting a lot of feedback from our user-base and then focusing on the technology and features of our films that really improve application performance.”

O Factoid: The fastest time on record for a team to wrap a full saloon car body is 1 hour, 15 minutes, and 43 seconds. This was achieved by German team folien+zubehör at the Messe Düsseldorf in October 2011. O

Deruvo adds: “Vital to this effort is a new adhesive system we have been developing which allows for perfect repositioning and very low-levels of initial tack. But when you smooth the vinyl down it sticks perfectly and provides an incredibly durable solution that can still be removed very cleanly when a new wrap is undertaken or temporary graphics need to be removed. This builds on our air-channel adhesive technology, which is the other very important aspect, as it helps in the process of air expulsion during the wrap.”

Currently available on selected products, APA’s mission across 2015 is to extend this new adhesive system to its entire range, while also working to further increase its range of speciality, exotic, and niche finishes that it has earned an enviable reputation for.

Your text here...