Where to place information on a vehicle wrap.

When it comes to vehicle wrap design,  a lot of designers and business owners make the mistake of poorly organizing and structuring the relevant information on their vehicle wraps.  Do not repeat these mistakes!

The most serious mistake that can be made in vehicle wrap design is to not focus on the brand first.  What does this mean?  The logo?  The graphic?  That’s part of it.  But not all of it.  The brand is what people think, or more importantly, feel about your company.  By not focusing on what you want people to think or feel on first impression,  you won’t know what is relevant and irrelevant.  Most of the time the messaging and overall look will turn out to look like a hodge podge of after thoughts and random images.

So now that we know we must focus on the brand first, what about the design? What should go on the wrap?  Here’s a handy hierarchy of information that should never be reorganized:

1. Logo
2. tagline
3. contact

This vehicle wrap design follows the hierarchy of design and layout. Focus is on logo, logo is placed in the top half. Tagline is directly below logo. Point of contacts below tagline. Also, there are no bullet points and other confusing information.

Your logo should be as large as possible.  You want people to be able to read it from a distance while the vehicle is moving. If you have a van, the logo should on the top half center to rear.  You’ll want to make it as big as possible on the passenger side first, that way you’l see how it is broken up by the doors (slider or barn).  If you’re wrapping a pick up truck then the area below the cab windows and between the wheel wells is the sweet spot for your logo, same goes for cars.

Next your tagline should be directly below your logo.  You want people to remember the tagline and associate it with your company, not have it floating off by the front wheel well, randomly.  To build a successful brand, to have people remember it, and to have it mean something it’s imperative that the tagline be an extension of the logo.  Think of McDonald’s:  For many years “billions served”  or “You deserve a break today” would be the next thing you think of when you think of that brand.  Nowadays it’s “I’m loving it!”  but if this tagline was hidden away from the logo you’d never have put the two together.  This may go without saying for many of you, but it’s worth mentioning.  There should be only one tagline.

Lastly, you should have a point of contact.  Website or phone number.  You should not have more than one phone number on your vehicle.  A vehicle wrap is not a phone book.  It’s also not a website.  Which leads to the next point.

You should refrain from bullet points, from listing all of your services etc.  You should not have anything in your vehicle wrap design that does not support your brand.  The logo is the star of the show, the tagline and contact are supporting actors.  You absolutely do not need a whole bunch of extra’s running around on the set taking precious time away from the star.

If you follow these simple guidelines you should have a much more effective vehicle wrap design.