2010 Auto Art Contest
Check out the winners in our five categories
Publication Name:
Sign & Digital Graphics
Publication Date:
06/01/2010
It’s that time of year again to sit back and admire some of the best vehicle advertising in the industry. This year’s Auto Art Contest featured more than 500 entries of some of the most creative and interesting designs on the road. As in years past, this year’s contest was divided into five categories: Commercial Vehicles, Shop Vehicles, Trailers and Buses, Pro Racing and Street Art.
For this year’s contest, we brought in some of the nation’s top vehicle graphics installers and experts, who are listed below. The judges had a difficult time choosing their favorites, but the results speak for themselves. And now, without further adieu, Sign & Digital Graphics presents it 2010 Auto Art Contest winners and honorable mentions.
Our Judges...
Justin Pate
Justin Pate has been a professional graphics installer for more than 13 years. He offers instructional material at www.carwraps.net and also teaches hands-on workshops in conjunction with Mutoh and Avery. Learn more at http://www.mutoh
Jim McClure
Jim McClure is president of Arizona Color Vehicle Wraps & Graphics in Phoenix. Jim, along with his award-winning team at Arizona Color Promotions, has distinguished himself as an expert and leader in the vehicle graphics design industry. Learn more at www.arizonacolor.com.
Matt Richart
Matt Richart is one of the co-founders of Digital EFX Wraps in Louisville, Ky., and is an expert installer and Roland University instructor. He and partner Dallas Fowler have more than 20 years of experience in the graphics industry. For more information on Matt and Dallas’ training, visit www.digitalefxwraps.com.
Ryan Fugler
Ryan N. Fugler has several years of experience in the graphics industry and is former editor of Wraps magazine. He cani be reached at rnfugler@yahoo.com with any questions or comments.
Commercial Vehicles - Winner
Jeff Ciavardini
Ontario, Calif.
Smashed fenders, cracked glass, crushed doors—it may not sound like your typical award-winning vehicle, but it’s the exact kind of creativity that landed GatorWraps.com with the No. 1 spot in our Commercial Vehicle category.
The Carriage Shoppe, an automotive collision repair facility in Fort Collins, Colo., wasn’t well-known in the area and hoped to boost its presence with a wrap on a Honda Element. But Jeff Ciavardini, senior graphic designer of GatorWraps.com, would not be satisfied with just any wrap. He wanted a design that made a statement while providing an effective branding message for the Carriage Shoppe.
“Why not go for a wrecked look?” Ciavardini recalls. “If you see this car driving down the street, you’re going to say, ‘Woah, what the heck happened there?’ Then, all of a sudden, you look up, and there’s the Carriage Shoppe’s logo, plain as day.”
To create the damaged look, Ciavardini created his own templatei using photographs of wrecked vehicles as well as stock images. The photos were colorized, layered and shadowed in Adobe Photoshop for a realistic appearance.
“The template included everything from a little dented corner to a full-on side shot of a car in a junk yard,” Ciavardini says. “There were a lot of elements put together to make those certain dents and scrape effects come alive in the artwork.”
Once the template was ready for production, the wrap was printed using a Mutoh ValueJet printer, Avery vinyli and Clear Focus perforated window film. The wrap was then carefully installed, as the media needed to line up at just the right places to look convincing.
After all the hard work, the Carriage Shoppe and Ciavardini are elated with the result. Within the first week, the Carriage Shoppe reports its wrap garnered more attention than expected, and Ciavardini is confident the creative design will help business.
Commercial Vehicles - Honorable Mentions
Andrew Flanagan
Spring, Texas
A small fleet wrap was designed to add uniformity to three completely different company trucks and drawi attention to their brand. All elements were designed from scratch using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop CS4. They were printed with a Roland VP540 printer, 3M Controltac 180C-V3 vinyl and laminated with 3M 8519 using a Seal Base 54.
Rick Rocket
Torrance, Calif.
This jobi for Disney was for a project called “Tink My Ride,” which came from the MTV series “Pimp My Ride.” This project was to advertise the animated movie “Tinker Bell,” as well as to promote awareness to youth about going green. The car was on display at Disneyland and Disneyworld. One lucky winner of a drawing would take home the car. The interior and exterior were wrapped using 3M Controltac IJ380-10 and IJ680CR-10 vinyl with 3M 8580 laminate. The printer was a Seiko ColorPainter 64S with OEM inks.
Jim Wheat
Eldon, Miss.
This 1942 Chevrolet, for client Dwayne Basham, was done on a Mimaki JV3 printer using 3M-IJ180CV3 vinyl and 3M 8518 Gloss Overlaminate.
Street Art - Winner
Jeni Crawford
Phoenix
You may have seen British-inspired sports cars before, but this winning wrap is different from the typical designs, notes Jeni Crawford, creative director of The Wrap Shoppe. Instead of a standard British flag image, Crawford’s client wanted the graphic to look as if it was loosely draped over his classic Morgan 8 roadster.
But creating this wrap presented challenges. The vehicle body was curvy, which required different production and installation approaches.
“The design wasn’t extremely difficult to do; however, it still had to be designed, printed and installed in sections, so it would match up,” Crawford says.
Sometimes it took a couple of adjustments to correctly position the wrap panels over the curves, even though they were installed in approximately 15 pieces. However, once the vinyl was fitted, the wrap’s design was congruent in all directions.
“It wasn’t your standard wrap, where you could just print all your panels and have them line up,” Crawford explains. “We had to go back, redesign a little bit and make sure it all matched.”
In the end, Crawford is thrilled with the final product, as it is exactly what the client had in mind.
“Everything flows perfectly,” Crawford says. “There were areas where it looked like the flag was billowing, so the customer was extremely excited about that and has even brought his other Morgan 8 to wrap, as well.”
Street Art - Honorable Mentions
Brady Stumpf
Windsor, Colo.
This project was printed on a Mimaki JV3-160 printer and used a CG-130FX Mimaki plotteri, Royal Sovereign heated laminator and 3M Controltac IJ180cv3 vinyl and 3M 8519 laminate. The graphics were altered from Aurora Graphics Wrapture Half Wraps.
John M. Hall Jr.
Chesapeake, Va.
This street rod project was printed on 3M Controltac IJ180CV3-10 vinyl with matching 8518 overlaminate using a Roland SP540-V. Racing graphics always reflect the personal tastes of the driveri. This car was designed to owner Jesse Lockhart’s specifications, incorporating all the things that he wanted. It was installed without any complications and was featured at AG Wraps’ open house for its new 3,000 sq.ft. facility last year.
Brett Swartz
Athens, Ga.
This bike honoring the Georgia Bulldogs was printed on a Roland SC-545EX printer, using 3M Controltac vinyl and 3M overlaminate.
Buses and Trailers - Winner
Andy Salcido
Tempe, Ariz.
As the new Stargate video game neared release, the franchise partnered with U.S. Racetronics to promote its brand with a sizeable trailer wrap at nationwide races. Stargate and U.S. Racetronics turned to Andy Salcido, corporate sales representative of bluemedia, who has nearly 20 years of graphics experience.
Stargate supplied the images and allowed bluemedia to take an early look at the website, Salcido says. Once bluemedia had a feel for Stargate’s design, he integrated those elements to create a consistent brand message.
“We incorporated the images and concepts from the website and basically created a huge branding campaign,” Salcido explains. “The whole idea was to establish brand recognition and get people excited about the video game.”
With only a two-week deadline, there was little time to work on such a large project, but Salcido was up for the challenge.
“We do a lot of wrap work and have a strong design team that is familiar with racing,” Salcido asserts. “We know what a hauler does, and we also know what message should be across and where to place a logo.”
Additionally, bluemedia has a full design, production and installation staff under one roof, which helped Salcido meet this tight deadline, he says. To produce this project, the wrap was printed using an HP TurboJet printer and 3M Controltac IJ180Cv3 gloss vinyl, and output in only an hour and a half. With a first-class team and high-performing equipment, Salcido finished the wrap on time and received rave reviews.
“It actually exceeded my expectations as well as the client’s,” Salcido says. “The team owner has called from around the country with lots of compliments, and we are expecting calls from new clients because of this wrap.”
Buses and Trailers - Honorable Mentions
Shawn Graham
Del City, Okla.
This project was done for the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History in Norman, Okla. They used 3M IJ180C-10 with 3M 8518 overlaminate, Nazdar Lyson ink and a Mimaki JV-160 SP printer.
Andy Salcido
Tempe, Ariz.
This mobile gaming trailer was printed on and HP Turbojet 8300. They used 3M Controltac IJ180C v3 film and a gloss laminate.
Greg Shall
Wayne’s Signs & Engravingi, Inc.
Mechanicsville, Md.
Wayne’s Signs took their own photos of these Clydesdales with a Sony Alpha DSLR camera. The logo and wrap designs were then created using both Corel Draw X3 and Photoshop CS2. The job was printed with a Roland SJ-745EX onto Avery’s MPI1005 EZ RS media and laminated with Avery’s DOL 1060 Gloss laminate.
Shop Vehicle - Winner
Dana Zierler
Wheat Ridge, Colo.
Sometimes wrapping your own vehicle can be even tougher than working with clients. But Dana Zierler, art director of DI Graphics, has the right idea.
“When you wrap your own vehicle, there are so many directions you can take,” Zierler explains. “Clients tend to be very specific. They offer a certain service, like communications or plumbing, but illustrating that you do vehicle graphics is more of a challenge.”
Though vehicle graphics are a popular marketing medium, Zierler finds many clients do not fully understand wraps. Often Zierler’s clients think vehicles are covered in paint, instead of vinyl, and she decided to change that perception.
The basic idea of the design was to show a peeled vehicle graphic, revealing the natural surface. The wrap was printed using a VUTEk 150 printer and 3M Controltac IJ180 vinyl.
“The design is simple, but the message is clear,” Zierler states. “I also made sure to use bright colors, so the graphic would really pop and turn heads as it drives by.”
DI Graphics CEO Scott McLean says he is happy with the simple yet impactful design. When a wrapped vehicle drives down a street, there are only a few seconds to capture attention, and Zierler’s design does just that.
“If you make it too busy, there’s no way the viewer can take in all the information,” McLean says. “That’s a challenge, but, at the same time, if you do that right, it can deliver a powerful marketing message.”
Shop Vehicle - Honorable Mentions
Don Marcum
Lexington, Ky.
This 2009 Smart Car wrap was designed using Adobe CS4, printed on a Mimaki JV-3 60" printer on 3M Controltac IJ180C, laminated with 3M 8518 Gloss laminate using a GBC Arctic Titan 60" laminator. The FASTSIGNS logo is Avery reflectivei cut vinyl. Installation time took about 10 hours. Don says the vehicle garners more comments than any other type of advertising they do.
Jennifer Crawford
Phoenix, Ariz.
The Wrap Shoppe dressed up its 2007 Dodge Caliber with 3M Controltac IJ180cv3 film with 3M 8518 Overlaminate. They output the wrap using an Epson GS6000 printer.
Keith Vu
San Jose, Calif.
The body claddingi on this Honda Element had to be wet-sanded prior to installation. Die cut letters were used to enhance the logo. They used a Mutoh 1304 for the prints and Arlon DPF 6000xrp vinyl with Arlon 3220 overlaminate. “The design took over 50 hours with many revisions and saving, plus installation was roughly 35 hours,” says Vu. He did the installation on his own.
Pro-Racing - Winner
Jeff Ciavardini
Ontario, Calif.
Sure, a powerful hot rod engine gets you noticed at the finish line, but a set of eye-catching graphics commands attention anywhere on the racetrack. GatorWraps.com’s latest hot rod wrap is no exception.
Crainco, a mobile crane service in Santa Fe Springs, Calif., sponsored a top-fuel funny car in February 2010 during the National Hot Rod Association’s Winter Nationals competition. To show off the funny car, Crainco wanted vibrant, striking hues covering the body, Ciavardini says. Combining elements of ’70s whimsical art with a dragon image, Ciavardini used an explosion of colors to achieve an illustrated look.
“There’s pretty much the whole spectrum of the rainbow in that wrap,” Ciavardini says. “If you look at it in detail, there’s about 10 shades of violet and 20 shades of red.”
Building the wrap template was difficult because of the funny car’s peculiar shape, Ciavardini notes. The funny car had a wide front end but tapered through the body. To accommodate this, the wrap was fabricated by 54-inch-wide art tiles, which were installed in two parts, to seamlessly fit the vehicle.
“The end result looked like it was all one piece, but it really had to be thought out,” Ciavardini cites. “I had to go back to talk with the operations manager and a couple of the installers to see what was the best way to install the wrap. We had to make sure we built it right the first time, so after it was printed, they could install it just as we planned.”
After Ciavardini designed the template, the wrap was imaged using a Mutoh ValueJet printer and 3M vinyl.
Now that this funny car is complete, GatorWraps.com has another professional racing wrap scheduled with Crainco and continues to build a strong presence in the vehicle graphics market.
Pro-Racing - Honorable Mention
John M. Hall Jr.
Chesapeake, Va.
This project was printed on 3M Controltac IJ180CV3-10 vinyl with matching 3M 8518 overlaminate on a Roland SP540-V printer. The car is named the White Witch as owner Jim Williams wanted. This eye-catching design is sure to intimidate the competition.
Stephen Sinek
Phoenix, Ariz.
This flaming skull creation was designed for Cassie Gannis, who is an 18-year-old racecar driver. She is also a motivational speaker to young kids because she suffered from a near-fatal case of spinal scoliosis. For more information about her, visit www.cassiegannis.com.
John M. Hall Jr.
Chesapeake, Va.
This dragster project was printed on 3M Controltac IJ180CV3-10 vinyl with matching 8518 overlaminate and Clear Focus Window Film using a Roland SP540-V for drag racer Ken Bell Jr. “This junior drag car is Ken’s son’s car, which he races in a local circuit,” says Hall. “Ken wanted to give him some custom graphics that would intimidate his opponents. I think we accomplished the task and Ken was so pleased he wanted us to include our logos.”
Poll
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