Wrapping your car or truck is an easy and cost-effective way to advertise your business. Just one vehicle wrap can generate between 30,000 – 70,000 impressions every single day, so the potential to reach new customers with vehicle advertising is undeniably massive!
With so many opportunities to make an impression, you need to be sure that the impression you do make with your vehicle wrap is a good one– one that will reflect positively on your business. This is why the design and color palette of car wraps is so important.
Introduction to Designing a Vehicle Wrap
Once installed, a well-designed, professional vehicle wrap will promote your business and bring in new leads while you sit in traffic or are parked in front of other job sites. However, designing a graphic for a car or truck is not as simple as other forms of graphic design. While you can pretty easily throw together a flyer to promote your business with an online template, a car wrap takes a bit more expertise and thought to get right.
With all of this in mind, most businesses find that it’s well worth it to hire a professional to handle their vehicle wrap design. Fortunately, car wrap costs are generally low compared to other forms of advertising and offer an impressive return on your investment in the long run.
Important Design Considerations When Wrapping a Car or Truck
Before we get into more specific design tips, here are some important things to consider prior to wrapping your vehicle:
- Do you have enough experience and expertise to design the vehicle wrap on your own? Do you have the necessary design tools at hand? The same question applies to the installation process later down the road.
- Is a vehicle wrap the best choice or should you paint your vehicle instead? Vehicle wraps are usually best for advertising because they can easily be customized with graphics, logos, etc. Check out our blog post on vehicle graphics vs paint to explore your options more thoroughly.
- What is the main message you want to convey with your vehicle wrap design? It’s usually best to keep text to a minimum, as viewers might only have a few seconds to read it.
- What is the most important contact information to include? It’s usually best to give potential customers just one or two ways to get ahold of you, rather than overwhelm them with too many options.
- What colors should you use? This is a very important question for any kind of branding, but especially vehicle wrap design. Because you don’t have much time to make an impression while you’re on the road, color can help you attract attention and convey your message.
Choosing the Best Vehicle Wrap Colors
Are you debating over which colors to choose for your vehicle wrap?
No matter what line of business you are in, color selection is an important decision. This is because colors play an important role in determining what type of customers you will attract.
Psychologists have long since known that color weighs heavily on our perception. In fact, according to a study conducted by the Academy of Marketing Science, color largely affects purchasing intent. This is because colors have a tremendous impact on how a business is perceived.
Therefore, the colors you choose for your vehicle wrap logo should be a reflection of your business’ personality. Customers who relate to your personality will be more inclined to interact with your business.
So, how do you know which colors are best?
#1. Know What Different Colors Mean
There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to color selection.
However, knowing what different colors mean can help you narrow down your options. Let’s take a look at what each popular color means:
- Black: Black is the number one color for luxury. Just think of black tie events and the little black dress. If you want to appear classic, sophisticated, and in control, black is the color for you.
- White: White works for those wanting to appear young, fresh, and economical. It is a neutral color, so also works well as a secondary accent.
- Gray: Gray is the perfect middle ground between black and white. It projects maturity, dignity, and tradition.
- Green: Green has strong cultural associations. People associate the color green with finance or with the environment.
- Red: Red exudes passion, anger, and excitement. If you want to appear youthful and modern, go red.
- Blue: Blue is the most popular color in the world. It will make you appear trustworthy and serious.
- Yellow: Yellow exudes friendliness, cheer, and accessibility. It also gives off an affordable, youthful energy.
- Brown: Brown is the color for those wanting to appear rugged, serious, and masculine.
- Purple: For those looking to appear cutting-edge and wise with a touch of femininity, purple is the way to go.
- Orange: Orange is invigorating, playful, and energetic. Great for those looking to pack a punch.
#2. Keep Your Goals in Mind
Remember, you shouldn’t pick colors based on personal preferences. Before you make a final decision about your colors, ask yourself these four questions:
- Do these colors fit my brand/business personality?
- Do these colors appeal to my target audience?
- Are these colors different than my competitor’s?
- Do these colors make sense for my product or service?
#3. Follow the 60-30-10 RuIe
If you select more than one color, make sure you pick ones that work well together. The 60-30-10 rule is used in interior design but can be applied in any business setting.
Following along with this rule, 60 percent of the color for your vehicle graphics should be your primary color. 30 percent of the graphics should be composed of your secondary color. And 10 percent of the graphics should be composed of your accent color to add a final touch.
Other Important Elements of Vehicle Wrap Design
When it comes to graphic design, color is highly important, but there are other elements to consider as well. The 7 basic elements of visual design are shape, color, space, form, line, value, and texture. You should think about all of these elements when designing your vehicle wrap — or better yet, rely on the expertise of a professional vehicle wrap designer to ensure high-quality results.
We’ll Help You Design & Install the Perfect Vehicle Wrap!
As you can see, there’s a lot that goes into vehicle wrap design. A poorly designed or improperly installed vehicle wrap will do more harm than good for your business. If you’re going to invest in a vehicle wrap, you need to make sure that you’re making a great impression on your current and potential customers.
Our Vehicle Graphics Department here at Pacific Truck Colors will guide you through the entire vehicle wrap process, from choosing a color palette that aligns with your brand to installing the finished product on your car, truck, or fleet of vehicles.
If you have any lingering questions about vehicle wrap design, please don’t hesitate to reach out!
