11 Company Car Wrap Design Mistakes

When designing vehicle wraps it is easy to get carried away. If you’re a business owner looking to design their company car, or a professional wrapper filling a job it can be easy to have a few missteps in the design process. Focusing on delivering clear, concise, and engaging advertisement is the main goal of almost every company car. It not only states the company, but who they are and what they do to everyone they pass on the road. Here are 11 mistakes to avoid when designing a company car wrap.

1. Crowded Text
You shouldn’t try to say too much on your vehicle design. Keeping it short and sweet is a good rule to practice. People reading it maybe only have a few seconds before the car is gone or they lose interest. Too much text to chew on will not only cause loss of interest, but will make the design look cluttered. You only have so much room to get the point across and filling the space with words isn’t the greatest idea.

2. Squinting to Read
Make sure your text is large enough to read. If the car has any hope to reach people, it has to be legible quick and from a distance. Larger fonts work best, especially for something important you want to convey such has company name, tag line or slogan, services, or phone number.

3. Text that is Illegible
Font choice is just as critical on the sides of a car, as it is in any other advertising form. Choosing a really elaborate cursive font might look appealing, but will someone be able to decipher and read it quickly as it drives by? A decorative font may display the brand message, but again is it easy to read and process. Clear, crisp fonts should be at the front of the list.

4. Design with a Lot Going On
Just like the text, keep the design as a whole clear and concise. It’s easy to get carried away with patterns and color schemes, but how well does it translate to the road? Keep the color scheme limited to two or three colors and avoid overlapping or loud patterns. Additionally, as stated before, don’t go overboard with text. Get creative, but keeping in mind the viewer when designing can help the process.

5. Little to No Branding
You may create the best car wrap design the world has ever seen, but does it accomplish its purpose? Can someone easily understand who the company is, what they do, and get a feel for who the company is? Using signature company colors or style is important. By doing so it will look like a reputable company car and translate back to your business. If you don’t it would be like seeing a Wendy’s car without the signature color, font, or logo anywhere on it. It would look like a rip-off and people will ignore it.

6. Little Contrast
Using low contrast can translate poorly to a car wrap. It may be appealing and looking cool in your design program, but can be hard to read or figure out when in motion or from a distance. Using high contrast can help your design be clear, concise, and legible. For example, if you use a white, or light color background be sure to use black or dark colored text and vice versa.



7. Improper Design Size
Make sure you know the measurements for the vehicle before you start layout out your design. Using a design template for the vehicle you want your design to be on is a good start. What will fit well on a car, might be too small or distorted on a van. Even scaling down from a large truck or van to a compact car can cause issues with readability, design, etc.

8. Image Quality
On top of designing for the right size, making sure your image is high resolution can save you trouble. It might look good in the program, but if you blow it up and print it on vinyl, will the image pixelized and look blurry? Keeping your image high resolution will help prevent this from happening and provide you with crisp graphics.

9. Ignoring Curves and Breaks
When laying out your design it is important to take note of where the cars curves and breaks are. Windows, handles, ledges, and curved panels like the bumper are all trouble areas. Text or designs can get distorted in these areas and its best to either account for the curve or design around them.

10. Well Balanced Design
It’s easy to look at the vehicle and see four different side for design and see it as four separate spaces. You want to think about what people will see. You’ll want people to see the same thing on the right as on the left. If you put a valuable piece of information like phone number or website on only one side, anyone passing by the other side won’t get that information. Its good to make sure things like name and contact information are visible from all viewing angles.

11. No Roof Design
While a majority of viewers won’t see your room, placing some sort of design on the top still should be considered. If you park anywhere where people can look out a window and down at the company vehicle, they’ll be able to see a roof design. This will allow you to get even more visibility. Even putting a logo and contact information could be a good idea.

Your company car wrap is a mobile advertisement. If done right it can draw in business and present your business well. 80% of viewers remember car wrap advertisements, making your design essential. By avoiding these 11 mistakes you’ll set yourself up for success.