Politics on the Move

While advertising for political campaigns often takes the form of expensive television commercials or large-scale fundraising events, politicians will also utilize more grassroots tactics to get their message out. In the same way, out-of-home advertising can also be carried out on a scale much smaller than massive wallscapes or enormous billboards and still have a powerful impact.

This past summer, Richard Cash, a candidate for the US House of Representatives, used smaller-scale, out-of-home advertising tactics to promote his campaign for the seat in South Carolina’s third district. His political campaign contacted Vision Screenprinting & Graphics to wrap an ice cream truck that would accompany Cash at various appearances in the area.

The Greenville, South Carolina-based print provider received the graphics from a third-party design firm. After uploading the graphics from an FTP site, the print shop performed the necessary manipulations on the PDF files. Working in Roland VersaWorks, the shop scaled the vector files to meet the required measurements and then added extra color around the files to allow for bleed area in Photoshop. The shop sent digital PDF and JPEG proofs to the campaign to ensure that the design was transferred correctly. Vision also printed small samples of the entire side and back panels to ensure that the color was correct and that no part of the graphic dropped out or was distorted. The shop used its Roland SC-545EX with Roland Eco-Sol inks to output the proofs onto 3M  IJ-180 Controltac 2-mil cast semi-gloss vinyl.

Once the proofs were approved, the shop printed the graphics with the same printer and media. Final output took approximately four hours. Nine separate panels were printed for three sides of the ice cream truck. The area of the final graphics totaled 149 square feet. The graphics were finished with 3M Scotchcal 2-mil clear cast gloss laminate using a Seal Image 600. Finishing took two hours. Two Vision installers wrapped the ice cream truck in approximately eight hours.

The most challenging part of the job, says Vision’s Rachel DePue, was the quick, two-day turnaround time. “We received notification that we would be doing the job on Wednesday. We transferred the large files (20 MB each), prepped the files, printed and finished the graphics, prepped the vehicle, and installed the graphics by the end of the day on Friday.” Other than a tight timeline, the rest of the job was smooth sailing and rewarding. “It was a fun and unique project,” says DePue. “It’s always rewarding to see the transformation of a vehicle. Plus, we were able to complete the project in the time that [the client] wanted.”

In business since 2006, Vision specializes in large-format printing and screenprinting. With 10 employees, it operates out of a 14,000-square-foot facility and offers applications including vehicle wraps, banners, floor decals, and window signage.
 
Vision
visionscreenprinting.com