This is actually a pretty common question – just what is a vehicle wrap? Some people might think that it’s a special paint job done on a vehicle because the wrap results in a really clean, shiny finish.  It’s actually large vinyl sheets that are applied to a vehicle, usually covering the entire outer surface. The vinyl is specially made so that they don’t really stick to the surface of the vehicle until you apply some force, such as with a squeegee. The wrap commonly covers the side and rear windows of vans and trucks, reducing the driver’s visibility.  Sometimes perforations are cut into these areas to allow some degree of visibility.  Care must be taken when applying the wrap so that there are no air bubbles trapped underneath.  A professionally installed vinyl wrap will have a smooth surface with no visible breaks in the covering (you don’t want the paint underneath to show through).

The main purpose of wrapping a vehicle this way is advertising. A company that owns a fleet of vehicles may want to get them all done in a wrap that displays the company logo in a brilliant color along with a phone number, advertising slogan or some other info. Because the wrap covers the entire vehicle, the advertisement can be quite large and can be seen by other drivers and pedestrians walking on the sidewalks.

These vinyl sheets don’t attach permanently to the vehicle so they can be removed easily. This is useful in the case of vehicles that display advertisements only for a limited time period.  Once the advertising contract is over the wrap can be removed and another, different advertisement can be applied to the vehicle.

These vinyl vehicle wraps have become so popular that many different businesses have sprung up to provide this service to the world. The wrap process is much like any other print advertisement. It requires a graphic designer to produce the vehicle wraps graphics and layout. There are also many services that offer custom vehicle wraps. This allows the customer to specify a specific design (perhaps featuring their logo, slogan and phone number) and the design company will produce the full layout.

Another business involved in this industry is the company that makes the vehicle wraps templates. These are the huge vinyl sheets which get expertly measured and cut to just the right dimensions to fit each type of vehicle. So the graphic designer would go ahead and order a template for the exact model of vehicle that the customer wants to wrap.

This type of advertising has proven to be very effective, with some studies claiming that 91% of people notice the advertising on large trucks. Because these ads are so big and so close to people they tend to be much more recognizable and memorable.  Especially if you are stuck in traffic next to a van that is completely wrapped!