Caring for Canines

The “other forgotten soldiers” of police forces and the military are the working animals, such as canines, that cannot be placed for adoption because of their training or injuries suffered in the line of duty. Danny Scheurer, who served in the US Marine Corps and Army, founded the Save-A-Vet foundation to rescue former service animals after becoming attached to military dogs used in Iraq during his deployment. Save-A-Vet builds boarding and recreation facilities for disabled, injured, and retired military and police animals.

Scheurer contacted print provider Road Rage Designs (roadragedesigns.com) in Spring Grove, Illinois, about helping to promote the organization and Road Rage emphatically joined the cause as a sponsor. The company first wrapped a small trailer, lettered a Jeep, and donated banners. Then, when Save-A-Vet received a donated box truck, Road Rage partnered with Avery Dennison to donate the material and installation labor to produce the wrap graphics.

Road Rage designed the truck graphics with Adobe CS4 Illustrator and Photoshop. “It took a couple of hours to design the wrap, but there was quite a bit of time between the completion of the artwork and the actual installation because the truck needed some mechanical work and Danny had the cab painted black,” explains Road Rage
co-owner Kris Harris.

When the truck was ready, Road Rage used its Mimaki JV5 130 printer with Mimaki SS2 inks and Onyx

ProductionHouse RIP to image onto Avery Dennison’s MPI 1005 Easy Apply self-adhesive vinyl. The graphics were tiled, with printing consisting of 10 side panels, two back panels, and one for the front; each panel measured 52-inches wide x 92-inches high.

Road Rage then used its GBC Arctic Titan laminator to apply Avery’s DOL Gloss Laminate to the graphics. The print provider also produced individual lettering and logos for the cab, which were cut out of Avery’s HP700 White Opaque using its Mimaki CG-160 FX plotter. A total of five employees worked on this project, including two graphic installers.

“The wrap on the Save-A-Vet truck will help us raise awareness about our organization and hopefully rescue more service animals,” says Scheurer. “I plan to take it to local and national expositions and drive it around the Chicago area.”

ROAD RAGE DESIGNS
roadragedesigns.com