Shop Vehicle Critique

[kustomkoncepts]

I am going for a new look with my shop, getting away from the Green and black as a lot of shops are trying that around here.

Here is my new look I am thinking of. I am trying to look like a more established shop. (8years)

Let me know what you think. good or bad.

Thanks

Jeremy

 

[kustomkoncepts]

a close up view of the door.

trying to not over do with effects and bevels. just used a little carbon fiber and did some distressing to it. Orange shape I drew free hand on my WACOM

 

[auto accents sc]

I like it. What kind of colors are you thinking about?

 

[Letterbox Mike]

What is your target clientèle?

 

[kustomkoncepts]

going for more of a yellowish burn orange, White and black with carbon fibre and grey's

thought of doing a Flat lam wrap but I did that on my IceRacecar and it gets so dusty looking so fast. so 180 CV3 and 8518 Gloss

Would consider a flat white on the top half though.

 

[kustomkoncepts]

INSIGNIA

North Dakota is not a big wrap meca. the only vehicles wrapped up here are radio stations and that is because they get them free from shops in excange for radio ads.

I do mostly race cars Dirt Oval's and Drag Cars. I also do semi companies and was trying to get a little more professional looking. not sure if I acomplished that or if I still look like just a race car shop.

 

[kustomkoncepts]

here was a in-progress picture of my old wrap. It was way too busy and ineffective. I took this one off now and am trying a different direction.

 

[Letterbox Mike]

To me it doesn't really scream "corporate", if you're trying to move in that direction. The first thing I thought when I saw it was that you do race cars, trucking companies, etc.. I guess to really see if you're moving in the direction you're trying to we'd need to see where you're coming from.

That said, it definitely doesn't look unprofessional, it just looks like it would be very appealing to the race car crowd and less so to the more main stream business crowd. To me it also has a "car audio" look to me, not sure why, I think the "K"s give me that impression.

Is that your current logo or is it just what you came up with for this particular wrap?

 

[kustomkoncepts]

Auto Accents. You Know Jim McGrew. McGrew Woodworks. Columbia SC?

I know him through the CNC router fourum. we got machines a the same time. Great Guy.

 

[Letterbox Mike]

Well, you beat me to it.

Now that I see where you're coming from, to be completely honest I think it's a lateral move. I don't see a shift in the direction you say you want to go in, just a change in design.

I would step back from the wrap and look at your branding in general. To the business folks, consistency goes a long way. Consider where your brand is now, or if you really even have a brand, and then try to fine tune or evolve that brand in the direction you want to go. Without a clear, concise and consistent brand identity for your company you'll probably find yourself spinning you wheels trying to design a wrap. I think in the end, you'll just go around in circles but never really get from point A to point B.

Can you elaborate on what you mean by "more professional looking"?

 

[kustomkoncepts]

No actually that has been my logo for 8 years. I actually have another way I do the logo that you see in my old wrap with the back to back K's and Engine Pistons on it and a web site. only problem I don't keep the web updated so I am dropping that.

I do agree that I don't look too corporate or real professional yet but I am trying to get more in the middle of the racer crowd and Lawyers crowd. There are no professional businesses (lawers, realtors, ect) that do wraps around here so that is why I gravitated toward the racecars and they come back every year as there wraps and cars are wrecked.

I just got comments on my old wrap after having it for 2 years that people thought I was some High School kid trying to be all FAST AND FERIOUS. I did not like that as I am Getting older I want a look that matches my age (30)

 

[Letterbox Mike]

Haha, the middle of the racer crowd and the lawyer crowd is a fine line to walk!

To me, it still says Fast & Furious. I think you're going to turn off the lawyer crowd. The downside is if you migrate in the corporate direction you're going to alienate the racer crowd which I assume is your core client base now.

If I were in your shoes (and I have been, sort of) I would start with the logo. The logo is the foundation of any wrap design. If you have a racerish logo, it's not going to look good on an ultra conservative corporate wrap. And vice versa. Try redesigning the logo so it has appeal to the business folks but doesn't necessarily lose appeal to the racers. It may be a bit tricky but it's doable.

I'm not knocking your current logo when I say this, but I don't really see a way to design a wrap around it that is appealing to the business masses. The racer crowd is simple (no offense intended), if they see a wrap that is even remotely well done and colorful, they will be excited. If you do good work and can wrap something, they will seek you out and they won't be overly turned off if your image leans slightly to the corporate side of things. BUT, the opposite typically holds true for the corporate crowd. They are easily turned off by the aggressive, racer, F&F type look, it's just really really hard to brand yourself like that and still look professional (to them).

Look up GraphixEmporium on here. I've always thought he did a great job on his brand. It walks the line between custom and corporate really well and I think it would be extremely appealing to both ends of the market. Study a few companies like that that are successful and figure out what subtle things they've done in their image to make themselves appealing in both directions. It's all a compromise, you just have to figure out where to give and where to take.

 

[Sticky Signs]

KK, please don't take offense to what I'm about to say. You either need to get a new car OR at least wrap the entire car so it doesn't look like such a P.O.S. There, I said it. I'm sorry. But I do feel that if you want to appeal to a different crowd should think about it. A full wrap would help, maybe some rims.
I agree that your look is a little too "race" inspired (if you're trying to target a different market). I would maybe try a different logo in b&w first and than add some "race" inspired colors.

 

[kustomkoncepts]

thanks Sticky Signs. Yes yes I know it is a 92 Honda Accord 4 banger automatic 2 door LX....awsome right. but it is all I have and I can't afford a cool car. I would love to drive a new Challenger SRT8, Test Drove one and got loan approval but $800Mo with insurance no thanks. I just can't afford it it is not in the cards for me. I did add rims since that before pic. I wrap 80 Dirt Oval cars a year and some of these guys have to come back 2 or 3 times a year for replacement sides. I don't want more racecars but want to retain most of them. I was just wanting to clean up my image a little and maybe get other work.

I also do work for other stuff. I am busy year round so I am not just a race letter shop. those are mostly feb-march and periodically over the sommer months.

 

[Sticky Signs]

I totally understand if new wheels are outta the question. Trust me, I'd love to drive a vehicle that isn't 12 years old. So that settles it, you need to at least do a full wrap on that car. Whether or not you change the look is up to you. Best of luck, and again, I'm not trying to offend.

 

[signmeup]

I agree with sticky.... you need a shop vehicle. If you want to look professional it ain't gonna happen with that car. Trade it for a cheap van.

 

[signmeup]

Or something like this. This is wierd little guy that will get a lot more attention than an old Accord. They're getting old so you should be able to pick up one for cheap.

 

[kustomkoncepts]

Sticky I guess I don't understand what you mean by full wrap? the car Base paint color is Puter Metalic. I will be wrapping the whole car but the top is just white.

Again my first wrap was all textures and I just thought I overdid the Photoshop effects and textures. I wrapped my enclosed trailer and did my signs Interior and exterior all with this design so everything looked the same. I thought It was pretty good but again just wanted to clean up the look. I wanted the top to be just white for the reason to keep it cleaner looking. I also saw a car like that with these colors so that is there I am working from.

I have a Astro Van and a 5x8 enclosed trailer for installs. I want to wrap all three the same so they look like a fleet.

Any other vehicle new or used is not a option right now.

Before I said I wanted to appeal to a broad range of Clients. I am understanding what you are all saying and can see that that is kinda impossible.

I am not a wrap only shop again you will never find anyone in North Dakota who could be. it is just not popular here and people wont pay for it.

I watched a trend when I got my printer 5 years ago 90% of race cars wanted wraps. this year only about 20% wanted wraps.

WHY you ask? They liked wraps but have changes to wanting the old cut vinyl because they like Flourecent colors and sequins and chromes. the wraps I do for racecars now almost always have to have Flourecent overlays to be accepted by these guys. I use FL colors for the outlines or main part of the numbers and sponsors. I print the graphic and black outlines and overlay the FL before I laminate so there are not edges.

There are 60 sign shops in Fargo a town of 90,000. All but 3 shops have Printers. yet you don't see hardly any wraps around here so I am not going for a wrap shop formate. I am just a one man operation doing smaller signs and graphics. Just wanted to try to clean up my look.


In the #4 race car the orange is FLourecent RED and the Star on the roof is the SEQUINS vinyl the rest is printed but a good example as to what is expected of a wrap around here. BRITE AND SPARKLY

 

[routierracing]

I know the sport of dirt racing pretty well being that I have drove since i was 17. In the beginning my entire decal business was based on racing due to all of the contacts I already had in racing. However, the racers (in this area at least) always needed a price cut over the market price which was way too low to start with. I made enough to cover materials and take some profit but it just wasn't worth how time consuming it is. Not too mention I got tired of having friends saying if you dont sponsor my graphics to me ill go pay to have them done somewhere else. Today about the only racecar I do is my own. However if you are doing that many wraps I definately wouldn't tell you to run that business off, but I would tell you to target the plumbers and electritians. They are the ones who really appreciate what advertising can do. And if wraps aren't big there you can be sure that they will be in the future. You just have to be on the cutting edge. On you sales calls really sell the idea of how many people see a wrap in a given year or 3 years etc. If you get a wrap on one companies vehicle, their competition will quickly follow and you'll see the snowball effect.

 

[JR's]

signmeup what kine of car is that?

JR