The Job For many, the act of pre-game tailgating encompasses a laundry list of favorite to-dos: talking sports, eating great foods, drinking cold beer, and enjoying fun friends. Most fans find satisfaction by tailgating the old-fashioned way: lifting up their tailgates and turning their trunks into kitchens, mini-bars, and dining rooms. For one crew of Philadelphia fanatics, however, not just any vehicle would do. These fans purchased a 2011 RV in order to tailgate in style and to showcase their love for their favorite sports teams – the Philadelphia Eagles and Flyers. New Jersey’s Designer Wraps was chosen to deck out the 30-foot RV with sport-themed graphics.
Production Using Adobe Photoshop, K.I.S. Designs created the wrap’s graphics with concepts and images provided by the customer. “The file sizes for the RV were very large, layered Photoshop files and required a lot of computer horsepower to pull it off in a timely manner. Each side of the wrap was more than 1.6 GB,” says Sean Tomlin, Designer Wraps’ owner. Once the design had been approved, Designer Wraps conducted prepress work using SA International’s FlexiSign Pro software and prepared the graphic for print.
To output the RV wrap, the print shop chose its Mutoh ValueJet 1324, printing onto Avery MPI 1005 EZ RS media. “We printed the wrap in 52-inch panels on our 64-inch printer. We typically use this panel size to more easily handle each piece of the install,” explains Tomlin. Avery DOL 1360 laminate was added using the shop’s Seal laminator.
Three Designer Wraps’ in-house installers wrapped the RV. But, says Tomlin, “The vehicle barely squeezed through our 10 x 14-foot shop door – we had to move the mirrors to fit it inside.” Another challenge, he says, came in determining the best way to panel print the rear in order to work around the RV’s ladder. “We did this in three vertical pieces for the upper portion and a fourth piece for the bumper area.”
It was just the graphics that would make this motorhome stand out. The RV was customized by Distinctive Car Toyz in Pleasantville, New Jersey. For the exterior, an opening was cut to allow for the addition of a 60-inch LED TV that could be viewed while tailgating. Flat-screen TVs were also added to the RV’s interior.
“It was a fun job for us. Production went well and the installation was smooth with no major issues,” says Tomlin. The job was fully printed and wrapped in 3-1/2 days and, more importantly, was completed in time for the beginning of 2011 football season.
The Client Private customer
The Players Designer Wraps, K.I.S. Designs, Distinctive Car Toyz
Tools and Supplies Mutoh ValueJet 1324, SAi FlexiSign Pro, Avery MPI 1005 EZ RS, Avery DOL 1360 laminate, Seal laminator
DESIGNER WRAPS
www.designerwraps.com