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Window Graphics FAQs

window graphics FAQS
Window graphic applications are an exciting way to get your business noticed. Typically, rear window vehicle graphics are made from standard, cut vinyl or perforated vinyl. Both draw attention to your vehicle and are fully customizable.

Can you see through window graphics?

Cut vinyl and perforated vinyl offer much visibility. Cut vinyl is generally text or a logo that has no background and can easily be seen around from the driver’s seat. While perforated vinyl has numerous holes cut into the surface, for visibility from the inside out, without effecting the overall design elements of the graphic. Perforated vinyl is best for full coverage options.

Can they be removed?

Like most quality adhesive vinyl, window graphics can easily be removed without damaging your vehicle. And, they will last for their warranted amount of time.

Will UV exposure fade them?

Depending on the method of manufacture, there are processes that can help prevent premature fading of your branding. A clear over-laminate can be applied to the side of the graphic that the design is printed on. This protects your investment from UV rays and protects the ink from scratches.

Can I clean them?

Graphics should be cleaned whenever they look dirty. Use mild soap and water to gently remove debris and rinse with clean water. Once rinsed, you can use a micro fiber cloth to dry. If you live in a region that receives snowfall, use a brush and not a scraper to remove the snow.

Can I roll down my windows?

We recommend avoiding rolling down windows that have graphics applied to them. If you are planning on applying graphics to a window that will be rolled up and down frequently, let your vendor know so they can make durability recommendations.

If you have more questions on window graphics or are considering branding your corporate vehicles, feel free to reach out to us. Signature Graphics can help you leverage your corporate brand by identifying your vehicles with distinctive designs.

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How Do I Know My Graphics Will Look Good?

How Do I Know My Graphics Will Look Good?
If you are in the market for vehicle or environmental graphics, it can be difficult to envision what your concept might look like to scale. Prior to the production of your new graphics, there are items you can request from your branding vendor to make sure your expectations are met. These elements can be placed on the actual vehicle or equipment to evaluate size, proportions, color, etc.

Full-Size Line Art:

Full-size line art is printed to scale and can be held up to your equipment to see how the design will flow over curves and crevices. It is printed on a pliable paper material that can be taped the surface of your vehicle so you can step back and view it from a distance. Full-size line art gives you a far more accurate representation, of what the final product will look like, than just a small vehicle layout can.

Color Matches:

For accurate and consistent branding, the colors in your graphic need to identically match those that you’ve established in your brand identity. Color matches are printed on the equipment that will be used to manufacture your vinyl graphic. They’ll give you an accurate depiction of what to expect from the processes used to make your branding.

Proofs:

Proofing your design involves a series of steps that include small vehicle layouts, sent digitally, to full-scale renderings (such as full-size line art). This ensures that any potential issues or design flaws are easily spotted and resolved prior to production and installation.

Signature Graphics’ proofing processes are designed to ensure that you know exactly what to expect and that your large-format graphics look exactly as you envisioned they would. Proofing is one of the most important factors in manufacturing brilliant graphics because it resolves problems before they become issues that could impact your budget or timeline. For seamless management of your next brand activation campaign, reach out to Signature Graphics.

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Choosing the Right Vendor

choosing the right vendor
Your brand identity is the most valuable asset of your business. When looking for creative exposure of your brand, take time to research potential partnerships. It is vital to your success to find a brand activation company that feels as passionately about your brand’s advocacy as you do. We recommend addressing the below topics with your potential vendors to find the right solution provider for your next branding project.

References & Portfolio

A reputable provider should be able to provide you with references and a portfolio of projects they have completed with similar scope to yours.

Certifications

Installing branding to vehicles, properly, requires specialized training and tools. Ask your vendor what certification processes they have in place.

Product Warranties

Warranted materials, such as high-quality vinyl, have been put through a barrage of tests to ensure their performance throughout their warranted period.

High-Quality Processes

Materials and processes effect the durability of vinyl graphics. Ask your provider what investments they have made in relevant production technology to ensure they can deliver brilliant, large-format graphics.

Supportive Services

Value-added services play a significant role in the management of your project. What processes does your provider have in place to ensure success? For example, will they create and provide detailed installation diagrams so that each installation is consistent?

Resources

Mistakes can and do occur. A vendor with financial stability will have the means to correct them in a timely manner.

Footprint

If you have a large multi-regional or national project, a vendor with coast-to-coast service would be ideal for the proper servicing of your project.

Tools

Tools and technology often go together in today’s marketplace. If you want transparency and visibility regarding the progression of your project, inquire about the technological assets your potential vendor would employ to share this data.

For further tips, reach out to us. As the country’s largest and most sophisticated graphics provider, Signature Graphics is known for our ability to simplify what is an otherwise complex job of economically creating, producing, storing, distributing and installing large-format branding.

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The Factor that will Make or Break Your Fleet Graphics Campaign

the value of project management
What is at the core of every successfully managed project? We’ll give you a hint; teams use it to collectively navigate challenges, it is vital to cooperation, and promotes collaboration. It is communication. And, it is the one factor that could make or break your fleet branding initiative, especially if you are instituting a national or multi-regional project.

With all the tasks that are associated with a fleet branding project (especially a large one), you’ll need a partner that utilizes project management processes to set and manage expectations while keeping your project on track. To guide your project towards success, your brand activation vendor should communicate project goals, formulate a strategy, navigate obstacles, resolve issues, and offer supportive services and tools.

Communicate Project Goals

Teams are guided to success only when clear scope and priorities are communicated and rigorously managed. The client and the project team should have mutual understanding of how the branding project will be managed and define how the client can monitor key objectives.

Formulate a Strategy

Strategies should realistically set expectations. With organized systems and processes, teams can keep planning ahead effortless and identify potential pain points before they become an obstacle.

Navigate Obstacles & Resolve Issues

To be truly effective in project management, teams must be responsive and not reactive. With open communication, and issue escalation strategies in place, any obstacles that are met can be swiftly navigated and resolved.

Offer Supportive Services & Tools

The easiest way to communicate project progression is with tools that allow continuous monitoring of the work plan, schedule and budget. Your branding provider should have processes and tools in place that make it easy for them to relay the progression of your project.

As experts in project management, Signature Graphics understands the importance of communication. Our processes and tools empower our partners by giving them access to all the critical information they need to understand the progression of their project.

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Building a Winning Brand Reputation

Building a Winning Brand Reputation
Did you know that one of your brand’s most valuable assets is its reputation? When consumers make purchasing decisions, trust is often a deciding factor. We have assembled some tips to assist you in building a positive reputation and earning lifelong fans.

Be Unique:

What qualities differentiate you from your competitors? Your answers to this question should build the basis for your messaging strategy. Choose adjectives that define your brand’s personality and utilize a consistent voice that fits the profile.

Engage:

Use social media accounts to reach out to your customers and prospects. Follow their pages, share their posts and offer your input. The point of engaging is to build a relationship with your audience and influencers. The contact base you build online could lead to future opportunities.

Content:

Create your own engaging content and share it, but, remember that quality is paramount. Your material should be informative and entertaining to your audience to encourage sharing. What is your company an authority on? Generate content that lets your audience know you are a thought leader on the subject.

Issues:

Should issues arise, address them immediately. If you receive a negative comment or review, thank your customer for alerting you to the issue and work to resolve it for them.

Finally, don’t underestimate the power that visual branding plays in gaining trust. Brands need more than just a verbal identity to build their persona. Distinctive visuals, that align with your company’s voice, will reinforce the company personality you are nurturing. Signature Graphics’ creative team can design branding that perfectly reflects your corporate identity.

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The Value of Project Management

The Value of Project Management
Creative teams, such as Marketing and Advertising, can spend as much as 50% of their time managing projects. Project management ensures that budgets and deadlines are met through strategic planning and efficient organizational processes. Branding initiatives should apply strict management tactics to keep projects on track and achieve goals. By partnering with a brand activation agency that employs strong project managers, creative teams will spend less time managing and more time creating or reviewing metrics from their streamlined project.

People

Processes and analytics are nothing without the right team to implement them. You’ll want to find a brand activation company that employs teams that are aware of the business impact that results from your branding efforts. An effective team will strategize the installation of your branding (large format graphics) so the process does not interfere with your daily business activities. For example, if the branding installation process of a vehicle is started, it should be finished that day. Your brand identity is vital to the success of your business and a partially installed graphic, on a vehicle performing daily duties, does nothing to help those initiatives.
the value of project management

Processes

The right processes streamline communications between all parties involved. Communication is critical to the success of any project. Teams with open communication paths are able to swiftly address issues, navigate an unforeseeable, and easily share vital documentation that in turn is relayed to the partner’s creative team. These processes should include a combination of technology and practices.

Metrics

Metrics allow creative teams to view the progress of their branding projects so they know exactly where to focus their energy to reach project goals. Knowing where installations are occurring, the quantities of surfaces that have been branded versus not branded, and any potential issues that may have surfaced allows for quick resolving of issues and measurables that are easily understood and reported.

Signature Graphics can propel your brand forward with our disciplined project management practices. We have invested heavily in people, processes and technology to provide the most efficient, measurable, and cost effective services to our partners. Ask us about the innovative tools we have that will simplify your procurement and management of future branding materials.

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Why Choose Vinyl Over Paint?

why choose vinyl over paint
Vinyl graphics are more durable than paints. They can be removed at the end of a vehicle’s life cycle, eliminating the need to paint over existing painted graphics. Vinyl graphics are, typically, more cost-effective than painted graphics and can also be applied in a fraction of the time. If this does not convince you, we’ve assembled a list of things you should consider before you paint your vehicle.

Resale Value:

Keeping your vehicle’s original factory color will allow you to keep your resale value intact. Bright or exotic colors are often a hard sell to potential buyers if the color is not their preference.

Options:

Vinyl wraps give you the option of easily transforming your vehicle should corporate make changes to their branding guidelines.

Installation Time:

A paint job can leave you without transportation for up to 2 weeks. A branding company can fully wrap your vehicle in a matter of days and get you back on the road in no time.

Protection:

Your vinyl wrap will shield your factory paint from the hazards of weathering, prolonged sun exposure, chipping and abrasion.

Protection:

Your vinyl wrap will shield your factory paint from the hazards of weathering, prolonged sun exposure, chipping and abrasion.

Easy Maintenance:

Vehicle wraps require little to no maintenance. A simple hand washing with soap and water will have the film looking like new again. Paint will require washing and waxing maintenance.

Long Lasting, Safe Removal:

High quality vinyls are long-lasting and safe to remove without affecting your current paint.

Signature Graphics understands that time is money. The last thing you want is for your vehicle to be out of commission for any length of time. That is why we’ve developed solutions that provide you with a high-quality product and an expedited turnaround time.

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The Importance of Strategy in Design

Importance of Strategy in Design
Graphic design is a critical component to visual branding strategies. To build on-brand supporting graphics, there are a few concepts designers need to consider during the creative process. In designing an effective campaign, they should research the brand, select fonts and colors that harmonize with the logo, and utilize these decisions to create a memorable experience that enhances that brand.

Research

Research is essential in implementing any brand activation campaign. In developing a strategy, a consultative team will conduct research to gain a full understanding of your brand’s personality and the goals you wish to achieve. Research helps designers to identify messaging that will resonate with your customer base and attract new ones.

Harmonizing Typography and Color Choices

The right typography and color palette should align with all the elements of your brand identity. Good designers will choose secondary colors that illicit the right emotions for your strategy and harmonize with the colors in your logo.

Memorability

Above all else, your branding should be memorable. It should inspire your customers to connect with your brand and remember the positive, past experiences they had with it and to imagine the future ones, as well.

Brand identity designers, like the ones we employ at Signature, have marketing expertise that differentiates them from typical graphic designers. Day to day, they work with organizations’ marketing and advertising teams or develop tailored solutions on their own, utilizing their vast industry expertise and marketing knowledge. When it comes to branding, you need more than decorators. You need specialists that can align your design with a strategy that achieves your goals.

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Measuring The ROI of your Vehicle’s Wrap

ROI on vehicle graphics
Our customers have told us stories of passing business cards in parking lots or at red lights when riding around in their wrapped vehicles and this type of interaction is easy to measure when weighing the effectiveness of your branded vehicle. But, how do you track the amount of people that jot your number down or visit your website after viewing your vehicle if you have no interaction with them? After over thirty years in this industry, we’ve assisted numerous organizations in doing just this.

Use An Alternate Landing Page

Consider creating a unique landing page and using that url on your wrapped vehicle. Most companies use web analytics to track traffic and behaviors on their sites. The only way your visitors will arrive at this page is if they saw the web address on your vehicle. This will enable you to easily see the amount of traffic and interest your vehicle is generating.

Use An Alternate Phone Number

This tactic involves getting a second phone line for your business. If this alternate number is advertised only on your wrapped vehicle, you will easily be able to measure the effectiveness of your vehicle wrap. The only calls received from this number will be generated by the visual impression your vehicle left upon your target audience.

Run a Promotion

You can also test the effectiveness of your vehicle wraps by incorporating a promotion into the design. By offering a percentage off or including a free service, via a promotion code, you will know that every caller that mentions it is doing so because of the impact your graphic had on them.

Signature Graphics has been helping brands come up with creative ways for measuring the return on investment of their brand activation campaigns for over three decades. If you’re looking to employ your company vehicles as a marketing medium, our experts will create a unique strategy for your business that will make a meaningful impact.

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