If the Wrap Fits, Drive It

The Client: Lakewood High School, Lakewood, California

The Player: GatorWraps, Las Vegas

Tools & Supplies: Mutoh ValueJet 1614, Mutoh inks, SAi Flexi RIP, Avery MPI 1005 Supercast film, Neschen Seal 62 Pro S laminator, Avery DOL 1000 overlam

The Job: Last November, GatorWraps was contacted by Lakewood High School about a job for a class project: wrapping a Sparrow Personal Transit Module, a single-passenger, all-electric vehicle. GatorWraps agreed to wrap the vehicle free of charge and also brought on-board Avery Graphics, which donated the vinyl and overlaminate.

Production: The concept for the wrap was a no-brainer from the start, says GatorWraps president Rod Voegele. “From the day it was brought to the shop, it was referred to as the ‘shoe car’ because of its shape. So when we were trying to decide on a design, it was obvious what it would become.” GatorWraps designer Jeff Ciavardini got the job rolling, using an actual Converse shoe as the inspiration for the piece. Ciavardini created the virtual shoe in Adobe Photoshop, then morphed the design into a template for the wrap.

For output, GatorWraps turned to its Mutoh ValueJet 1614 with SAi Flexi RIP and Mutoh inks, printing onto Avery MPI 1005 Supercast film. The shop then used a Neschen Seal 62 Pro S laminator with Avery DOL 1000 overlam for finishing. Total production time took about two hours.

While output was fairly straightforward, the same couldn’t be said for installation. “The design of the car itself created some installation challenges,” Voegele says. “The sole of the shoe was a challenge to get it to lay out perfectly on the bottom. But, the vinyl allowed us to wrap the curves and deep contours without splicing or the need for relief cuts.”

It also was paramount, Voegele says, to make the wrap as realistic as possible. “We wanted to make sure it looked like an actual shoe, so we spent a lot of time with the design, as well as the installation, to get the good end result for the school.”
The wrap was installed at GatorWrap’s Ontario, California, location and took one installer about 5 hours to complete. The car remains on display at the school.

GATORWRAPS
www.gatorwraps.com