23 Aug Considering Fleet Vehicle Wraps for Your Vancouver Area Business? Learn Why Less is More
If you are considering fleet vehicle wraps for your company in Vancouver, BC or the Lower Mainland, this guide will help you understand the benefits and challenges associated with vehicle wraps.
You believe in the value of fleet vehicle wraps and graphics for company advertising and branding, you’ve read about the statistics, and now you’re ready to brainstorm with your team about what the wrap graphics and messaging should look like. While more space may seem like the solution, fewer ideas — more basic ideas — are what’s needed.
A Fleet Vehicle Wrap is a Billboard on Wheels
If you look at billboards, you’ll notice that, generally, there is an eye-catching background graphic, branding (usually a logo), a prominent tagline, and perhaps a website address and a phone number. Your Vancouver company’s fleet vehicle wrap is a moving billboard. Motorists behind you and beside you, moving at your speed, may be able to take in more of your vehicle’s messaging than they would the messaging on a billboard, but, because they are driving, the information you present must be understood at a glance.
Don’t Let Your Fleet Vehicle Wrap Design Die of TMI
Too much information (TMI) or too much emphasis in any form of communication, including fleet vehicle wraps, usually results in the conveying of no information and no emphasis. We’ve all heard the term “less is more” from artists, writers and directors, but what do they mean? While the expression seems trite, it is the truth. In art, several focal points distract the viewer; in writing, overuse of bold and italics makes it difficult for the reader to determine what is important because over-emphasis has made everything appear to be important. In movies, special effects, spectacular settings, and complicated plots can get in the way of telling a story.
What the arts have in common in with fleet vehicle graphic design is the main goal: communication. Take it from those other disciplines — saying less, doing less and showing less makes it easier for the consumer to see the intended message clearly.
Keep the Must-haves.
Beware the Nice-to-haves
When you are brainstorming, list must-haves and nice-to-haves and be wary of the latter. The nice-to-haves are often where the proverbial wheels come of the fleet vehicle.
Must-haves for your Vancouver business’s vehicle wraps might include:
- Company name
- Company logo
- A catchy (read “extremely brief”) slogan or tagline that says what you do
- Phone number
- Website address
- An eye-catching graphic.
Remember that although vehicles are usually a 3-sided canvas (two sides and the back, and occasionally the front), the must-haves — branding, what you do, phone number and website address — are usually present on each. That doesn’t leave a lot of room for much else. Nice-to-haves like bulleted lists of all of your products, services, and benefits to the consumer, are tempting, but the everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach will detract from the main messaging. Motorists and pedestrians need to be able to know who you are, what you do, and how to contact you in just a second or two. Too much information means they’ll have difficulty finding what’s important.
Background Images and Messaging
Must Work Together
The background image you choose for your fleet vehicle wrap must work with the messaging. Generally, the busier a background image is, the simpler the messaging must become. A busy or complicated background image means that the messaging will need emphasis to stand out. As mentioned earlier, you can’t emphasize everything, so, if the background image is very detailed or busy, less is more becomes even more important.
The Proof is in the Proof
With vehicle wraps the “proof is in the proof”. Clients are often surprised at just how crowded the vehicle wrap looks when they view the proof. The “more is more” ideas and messaging that they insisted upon in the planning stages clutter the canvas and overload the senses. The removal of all those nice-to-haves, leaving just the basics, makes all the difference in achieving a strong final design.
As the saying goes, time is money. Understanding that less is more can save you the cost of replanning and printing numerous revisions.
A Time-Saving Reality Check
When planning, try creating your own mock-up as a reality check. Google a side-view and back view of the type of vehicle(s) you have and copy and paste them into a simple graphics or publishing program. In Windows, Paint or Word will do.
Using the shape tool and text tool try to position branding and messages. Start with the basics: logo, tagline/slogan, phone number, and website address. You’ll quickly see just how little room there is on your “canvas” for much else.
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In the example above, we’ve added the logo, main message and phone number to our mockup. Once these are taken care of, there’s a little space left for a brief list of products or services. The point of the exercise is not to create the final product, but to show you why sticking to the basics is necessary. Remember that if you incorporate a background image in your fleet vehicle wrap, it’s even more challenging to arrange your branding and messaging upon the canvas as the following Sandbox Signs vehicle wrap demonstrates:
Washworld vehicle wrap: with logos, partner logos, and website addresses in place against a very active background, more text would make the overall effect busy and difficult to read. Instead of bullet points, Washworld included their “100% Clean Guarantee” – an important service differentiator that the client wanted featured in the wrap.
Summary
When considering fleet vehicle graphics and wraps, remember that less is more:
- Address the basics first (company name/logo, phone number, website address)
- Keep services or products lists brief
- The basics will usually be on both sides and the back of the vehicle
- If the background image is complex, you may have to simplify your messaging
Receive a Free Estimate
for Your Vancouver Fleet Vehicle Wrap
If you are considering fleet vehicle wraps for your Vancouver, BC area company, contact Sandbox Signs + Graphics for a free consultation and estimate. We’ll guide you to appropriate choices for your vehicle(s).