The advantages of car vinyl wrapping

Your signs and getting them right.

When designing your new vehicle vinyl or shop front signs, it is important that you convey all the relevant information you can as clearly and succinctly as possible. We have all seen signs that are a jumbled and confused mess of logos, contact details, social media pages and jarring colour schemes, so how do you avoid these pitfalls and create the most visually striking signage?

Working with a professional signwriting company will minimise the risk of getting unattractive, difficult to follow or meaningless signs that do not accurately convey your brand identity. Sign design is an art form and expert designers are experienced and highly trained in crafting signage that brings together multiple important elements to create the cleanest, most visually appealing and informative signs.

Vehicle signage options: what content should you include?

You should think about the side of your commercial vehicle as the perfect mobile display board for your business; once you have your branding on there, you could reach thousands of people an hour with your vehicle signage. Car wrapping and applying vehicle vinyl to vans has never been an easier or more cost-effective way of getting your message across, so investing in high-quality vehicle signwriting is a wise business move.

Car wrapping allows you to fully customise however many vehicles you have within your fleet, whether you are a one-man-band with a single white van or a taxi company owner with multiple vehicles in need of a unified single vehicle livery. As vehicle vinyl can be recreated as many times as you need, you can achieve a coherent and easily-recognisable look across the board.

As hardly anyone leaves their home without their smartphone these days, it is important your vehicle signs include your contact details, website address, and any social media pages you manage. Thanks to the small screens in their pockets, more and more people are likely to immediately visit your online profiles when they see your vehicle drive past. They have little time to forget your name and logo, and may even be tempted to put in a spur-of-the-moment order.

Vinyl graphics: getting the right look

In addition to your contact details, you need to consider the visual impact of your vehicle vinyl. It is hard for people to miss a branded vehicle, whether they are a pedestrian you pass on the road or a fellow motorist following you up the motorway as you whizz between jobs and meetings. Ensuring that your car or van sticks in their mind is crucial if you want to make a lasting impression and capture a slice of this passing trade.

You need to make sure that your message is clear. Your company name and logo need to be sharp, attractively arranged and easily identifiable so that they lodge in people’s minds and these potential customers will recognise them again the next time you pass by. People switch off when the image they are looking at is unattractive or incoherent; however, a well-designed sign that is bold, bright, beautiful and clear will certainly turn a few heads.

You really can have too much of a good thing, however! Try to pack too much information onto the side of your vehicle or go for a crazy colour scheme or overly-complicated logo and people will be turned off. You want your vehicle to stand out, but for all the right reasons – make it too busy or too much of an eyeful and people will switch off.

Design layouts: how to get the best from your vehicle vinyl

The best vehicle vinyl can convey all the important content you need to get across and give people a good idea of what your company stands for. The best signs – be they car wrapping, shop front signs or signs for schools – can tell a story about an establishment. Your potential customers and clients need to be able to work out at a glance what you do, what goods or services you provide, and what you could do for them.

Your logo and company name need to be displayed in such a way that they imprint themselves on the memories of passers-by. Clearly defined, they can tell people everything they need to know in an instant, from who you are and what you do to how to get in touch and even how trustworthy your company is likely to be.

People can tell a lot from your signs. Well-designed and well-maintained signs demonstrate that you take your work seriously and take pride in what you do. Caring about appearances is not shallow but a good way of showing you care about other aspects of your work. Putting a positive face on your vehicle and premises with beautiful signage is encouraging to potential customers, who are more likely to connect with your brand and approach you if they think you care about how you come across.

Work with the best for the best results

If you want the highest-quality signage, it pays to work with the most professional signwriting companies. The Sussex Sign Company has been working in the signage industry for well over two decades and our highly-skilled designers are amongst the best sign writers in the country. With their expert knowledge and years of experience, they can work with you to craft incredible car wrapping and shop front signs that perfectly convey the content and message you need to put across to your customers.

For more information on the services The Sussex Sign Company can provide, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us today on 01273 424900

Car signage for businesses

Car Signage

Whatever goods or services your company sells, the chances are you are constantly on the lookout for new ways to promote and advertise your business. Taking out local radio advert slots or placing an ad in the local newspaper are both valuable exercises, as are leafleting campaigns and getting involved in community fundraising events. Few marketing ploys, however, have the reach and impact that installing vehicle vinyl can have, so in this post, we’ll be exploring just a few of the advantages car signage can bring to your business.

Get your name out there

Not only can a vehicle wrap lead to increased brand recognition in the long-run, but you’re more likely to make an immediate impact on people and make a direct, instant connection. Most people these days leave the house equipped with a smartphone or tablet, and most will admit to making impulse buys whilst out and about, thanks to the convenience of the small screen.

If they see your contact details on the side of your vehicle, potential customers are far more likely to visit your website or social media pages, or put in a phone call there and then. Sitting behind your contact details and instantly accessing your site as they’re stuck in traffic means they have no chance to forget you before they get home.

Research suggests a branded vehicle is typically seen between 2,000 and 9,000 times an hour – that’s a lot of eyes on your car or van, so making use of the side of your vehicle as an advertising signboard makes good business sense. Once you’ve paid the initial cost of having vehicle vinyl installed, your commercial vehicle is effectively acting as a mobile billboard. Since you’d already be using your van or car to get between jobs or clients, you might as well make the most of it!

Get the look you want

The technology behind car vinyl wrapping has come on so quickly in recent years that you can now have virtually anything you want printed and attached to your vehicle. Working with a top signage company and professional car wrapping signwriters means you can achieve everything from basic logo, contact details and colour schemes through to incredibly complex and detailed designs.

Being able to fully customise your business car or van gives you great scope for creativity and will help you convey business message information and brand identity. What’s more, if you have more than one vehicle or even an entire fleet to worry about, identical vehicle vinyl can be quickly and easily produced to see your branding carried across all your transportation.

This means that however many cars or vans you have on the road, that branded livery will make them instantly recognisable to potential customers and create a unified fleet of vehicles. Because vinyl is also so easy to replace, should your business want to rebrand at a later date or simply update your contact details, it’s a straightforward task to kit your cars and vans out with new vehicle signage.

Gain more trust

Vehicle vinyl is not only beautiful, but it actually increases trust in your brand. People like the strong, professional look which a high-quality car wrap can bring to a vehicle, and they’re far more likely to look further into your company if your fleet is well-presented. Shabby or faded paintwork doesn’t bode well in the eyes of prospective clients and customers, so making sure your vehicles look in top condition will lead to increased authority and trust in your business, which in turn means higher sales.

Investing in high-quality, long-lasting vehicle wrapping is a cost-effective way of seeing your business van or car is well-protected and will remain looking good for anywhere up to a decade. Not only is vinyl quick, clean and easy to remove or replace, but it actually shields the paintwork underneath from any scratches or nicks you might pick up in the course of your work. That means the wholesale price of your vehicle won’t be damaged by a car wrap and your vehicle will be better protected.

Working with the best

There’s no denying that vehicle vinyl makes a powerful visual impact on those who see it. It’s incredibly difficult for both pedestrians and other motorists not to register and engage with a beautiful, bold, bespoke vehicle wrap, and people are naturally more drawn to the aesthetically pleasing branded vehicle than the plain or poorly maintained one. Ensuring your business car or van has top of the range car signage is, therefore, a wise investment and makes sound business sense.

With vehicle vinyl, your commercial vehicle is working for you round the clock and 365 days of the year. Whether you’ve left it on the street outside your house overnight or have simply popped to the supermarket in it, your branded car or van is promoting your goods and services to a massive audience of potential clients and customers – don’t miss out by leaving the side of your vehicle blank!

In order to make the greatest impact, though, you need to be confident in the design and quality of the vehicle wrapping you’re investing in. At The Sussex Sign Company, we’ve spent many years keeping up to date with all the latest advances in vehicle signage and can craft the highest-quality bespoke car wraps, which are perfectly tailored to your business and the brand image you want to convey.

With an expert team of designers and fitters, we can help you get the look you want – whether you have a little runaround or an entire fleet of vehicles. For more information on how we can help, simply get in touch with our professional signwriters today.

Paint vs. vinyl wrap

If your company car or van looks like it’s in need of a little TLC, then you might be wondering how best to polish it up. Many people would instantly think that a lick of paint wPaint vs. vinyl wrapould be the quickest fix, but car vinyl wraps are now so much easier and quicker to design and install that they’ve already become a popular alternative.

Paint and vinyl both have their advantages and disadvantages, so to help you decide how best to enhance and customise your vehicle, we have put together a breakdown of the pros and cons.

Paint: the plus side

Paint is a very reliable way of sprucing up your commercial vehicle easily, and skilled painters and signwriters can achieve very neat, long-lasting results. If you want that ‘straight off the factory floor’ look, then having the entire vehicle resprayed can get you the result you’re after.

Similarly, if you’ve changed the colour scheme your company uses, then getting your vehicles painted in the new shades you have picked is straightforward, and allows you to recreate the same scheme across an entire fleet of vehicles, if needs be. One final advantage is that painting is a simple job and so there are plenty of companies which can provide their services to you, whereas vinyl wrapping is a more specialist route to go down if you want top-quality results.
Paint: the downsides

One of the major disadvantages of painting your vehicle is that you have to get all the bodywork done, so it can become expensive. Variations in shade and finish mean you can’t simply touch the paintwork up here and there, but will need to have the whole vehicle entirely resprayed to ensure an even coverage – otherwise it could end up looking like a very silly patchwork!

Paint also has a tendency to fade, flake and rust over time, so while it might seem like a long-term solution, you could find it starts to look shabby within a relatively short space of time, depending on the quality of the job and the conditions your vehicle is exposed to. There’s nothing worse than spending all that money only to see your company name and logo are becoming so bleached by sunlight that passersby can no longer see them properly.

Depending on the complexity of the paintwork and the text or images you want painted on to the side of your car or van, your vehicle could be out of action for a number of days while the work is carried out. You might have an alternative runaround to see you through this period, but bear it in mind when deciding.

Vinyl: the plus side

One of the main advantages of car vinyl is that it acts as a second skin for your vehicle, meaning all those annoying little scratches, scrapes and nicks which are part and parcel of everyday driving don’t affect the paintwork underneath. Because it can be so easily peeled away, you can also be confident that vinyl won’t damage the bodywork and your vehicle’s resale value won’t be affected, should you decide to sell it on.

Also, thanks to that easy peel aspect, if a section of your vinyl wrap is damaged then it’s incredibly easy just to replace a small part of the vehicle wrapping – with a paint job, you’d be looking at the expensive route of having the entire vehicle resprayed. It also means you can quickly and easily change your vehicle wrap at any time, whether it’s simply to update your contact details or as part of a major rebranding exercise.

If you own a fleet of cars and want brand unity across all your vehicles, this is far easier to achieve with vinyl. Custom-made designs can easily be replicated across any number of cars and vans, and there are multiple types of vinyl car wrap to help you achieve the exact look you want for your fleet.

Vinyl: the downsides

There are very few negatives, but one of the disadvantages of car vinyl is that it can take a couple of days to install, so you will need to factor in some down time for your vehicle. That said, paint can take anywhere between a week and ten days to be fully applied and allowed to dry, so vinyl can be the quicker fix.

In some cases, vinyl might be more expensive than paint, but that is entirely dependent on what you request from your vehicle vinyl wrapping company. If you have a large sided vehicle, then more material will need to be used, and going for an incredibly detailed and complex design will also push the costs up. In general, however, the technological advances behind vinyl have made it much more cost-effective in recent years.

Ultimately, the choice you make will depend on the vision you have for your car, van or fleet of vehicles. Both paint and vinyl wraps have their pros and cons, so it’s important to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of both before you make your final decision.

If you do decide that vehicle wrapping is for you, then you need to ensure you work with a company who can deliver the highest quality car wraps to guarantee they will be well-designed, well-fitted and made to last. The Sussex Sign Company has been providing local companies across the south-east with the best bespoke vehicle wraps for a number of years, and our experienced team of designers and fitters can see you get the very best vinyl for your vehicles.

To find out more about the types of vinyl car wrap available to you and the services we provide, simply get in touch with our expert team today.

Would vehicle vinyl suit your van or car?

Vinyl signwriting on your car?

The technology behind vehicle vinyl has advanced so much in recent years that it has never been such a cost-effective and attractive option, for car and van drivers everywhere. Vehicle wraps can be used for all sorts of reasons, and the possibilities for creating beautiful, bespoke designs for your vehicle are endless.

If you own your own business and use a company vehicle on a regular basis, it’s worth remembering that the side of your car or van is prime advertising space. Whether you’re a builder or plumber with a high-sided van, an estate agent with a nippy little runaround to get you between viewings, or a taxi company with a whole fleet of cars, vinyl can be a great way of getting your brand identity and personality stamped onto your vehicle.

What are the perks of vehicle vinyl?

When it comes to your marketing strategy, vehicle wraps are the gift that keeps on giving. Compared to other forms of advertising, car or van vinyl can reach a much wider audience, with very little effort on your part. While you could pay to run up and distribute brochures around the local area or take out an advertising slot on the radio or in the local paper, the number of potential customers you might reach is very limited, and the effect fleeting. If you’re already out and about in your car or van, then it makes sense to utilise the free advertising space you already have.

Research has shown that a commercial vehicle with its own branded vinyl will be seen anywhere between 2,000 and 9,000 times an hour – that’s a lot of eyes on your company name and contact details. What’s more, once you’ve paid the initial cost of having your vehicle wraps installed, they can last for many years and they’re working for you 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. Whether you’re popping into the local convenience store, sitting in a traffic jam on the ring road or parked up in front of your house overnight, your vehicle signage is still clearly displayed for all passersby to see.

A further advantage of vehicle vinyl is that it protects your van or car against all those annoying little scratches, knocks and scrapes which are part of everyday life when you use a vehicle for work. Vehicle wraps can be quickly and easily installed and cause no damage to the body and paintwork of your car or van, which means its resale price won’t be affected should you wish to have the wrap removed in order to sell your vehicle. In the meantime, your wrap acts as a second skin to protect your vehicle as you’re driving around between jobs, meetings or to and from the office.

Would your vehicle suit a vinyl wrap?

The easy answer is that vinyl suits every vehicle. Whatever the size or make of your van or car, bespoke vehicle wraps can be created to fit every shape and model imaginable, helping you get the best use out of the space you have available on the side of your vehicle. When it comes to getting creative about customising your car or van, there is little, if anything, which is off limits. That means you really can let your imagination run wild in terms of the colours and imagery you use and how you want to lay out important information in text.

As a business, you probably already have a brand identity which includes your company’s name, logo, colour scheme and motto or tag-line, and you probably use these on all your marketing materials, from your shop signage and branded promotional giveaways right down to business cards and letterheads. It’s important that your brand is carried across all platforms in order to create a coherent identity which customers can instantly recognise and identify with, and that should include your vehicle.

The smartphones in people’s pockets have opened up a wealth of possibilities for the savvy business owner. Since the majority of us are addicted to our phones and will admit to impulse buying through our mobiles while out and about, making sure your website address or social media pages reach as many people as possible could see a massive boost to your online sales figures. No matter what goods or services you sell, if people see the contact details on the side of your vehicle and can instantly get online to check your company out, then they’re more likely to make a purchase then and there, before they have a chance to forget your name.

Vehicle vinyl can, therefore, be a fantastic opportunity to reach a whole new audience and connect them to your brand. Costs for vinyl have fallen significantly in recent years, so it’s well worth investing in high quality vehicle signage.

Here at The Sussex Sign Company, we have a highly skilled team who are able to design and fit the most cutting-edge vehicle wraps. Making use of the most advanced vehicle wrapping technology, we are able to create beautiful, bespoke vehicle wraps which make a real visual impact and help you reach the people who matter to your business. Whatever industry you’re in and whatever vehicle you own, let us help you create a vehicle wrap which perfectly captures your company and brand identity.

For more information on the services we provide, simply get in touch with our expert team today on 01273 424900.

Five reasons to update your vehicle livery

Whether you own a runaround vehicle or a whole fleet of cars or vans, updating the livery of your company vehicles will give your business a whole new lease of life. A brand new livery means so much more than simply making your vehicles look pretty. It can have a positive knock-on effect on other aspects of your enterprise, helping boost brand awareness, generate interest among potential customers and giving you the edge over the competition.

Your vehicle livery is your way of getting your name and brand seen, letting the public know about the goods or services you supply and how they can get in touch with you. Here are just five of the top reasons for updating your livery today.

It’s free advertising space

If you already own the car or van, then the side of your vehicle is prime, free advertising space just waiting to be exploited. If you’re not already making use of it, then you’re missing a very important opportunity to promote your business and get your contact details seen. If you do already have vehicle signage, it might be time for an upgrade, to keep it up to date and looking attractive.

What’s more, your car or van provides you with round-the-clock publicity. Whether you’ve just stopped off for a few minutes at the petrol station or have left your vehicle parked up on the street overnight, your vehicle signage is always there and always visible.

You will reach more people

Studies have found that a vehicle with company branding could be seen by between 2,000 and 9,000 people per hour, both other road users and pedestrians passing by. With that much exposure, you can’t afford not to have an attractive livery. People are instantly attracted to bold, well-designed car graphics, so updating yours to ensure it’s looking its best is a wise move.

While you could fork out for a slot on the local radio or an advert in the local paper, the audience for such publicity tends to be very limited and the effect short-lived. With your livery acting as free advertising, you could reach more people without having to lift a finger, just in the course of going about your daily working life.

You can create a unified brand

Most companies will have a specific logo, colour scheme and font which they use across all their corporate branding, on everything from their shop front sign to their letterheads, their business cards and their websites. Including your vehicle in that overall, unified brand identity is important, because your business vehicles often play a key role in your day-to-day work.

A unified brand means customers are better able to instantly recognise your company, seeing a familiar logo and colour scheme across a range of materials and platforms. With your fleet of vehicles proudly displaying your new livery, you’re ensuring that unified brand is gaining as much visibility as possible, so potential customers will know it again when they pass by your shop front’s illuminated signs, or see that familiar font at the head of your restaurant menu or price list.

It helps you stay current and on-trend

Many companies are reluctant to embrace change, but change is sometimes exactly what’s needed to inject new energy into a business. If your company has been around for a while, it could be that your logo and branding are looking a little outdated and could benefit from a bit of an update, to ensure they’re on trend. Perhaps you’re regretting that particularly vivid shade of green you picked all those years ago, or you think your logo now looks a little bit unfashionable. Whatever the reasons, if your branding is looking a little tired, then it might be high time for a makeover.

It’s also a good opportunity to update your contact details. Many more companies are embracing social media and making use of their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages, so if you want to direct more traffic to your website and social media platforms, then you need to make sure people know how to find you. Adding this information to your vehicle livery is a great idea, because people who are out and about with their smartphones to hand can instantly search for you before they have a chance to forget.

It shows you mean business

There’s no doubt that we’re in for yet another tough year, and keeping ahead of your rivals is crucial. Whatever field you work in, from shops and estate agents to restaurants, bars, cafes, gyms, cleaners and building firms, you know just how fierce competition is at the moment. Companies which invest in themselves and in their own self-promotion show they mean business and are here to stay.

By updating the livery of your car, van or fleet, you’re showing the world that you take pride in what you do, and if you show an interest in your business, then potential customers will be more inclined to show an interest too.

Here at The Sussex Sign Company, we’ve perfected our vehicle wrapping techniques over the course of many years, and are able to offer our clients the highest quality and most long-lasting vehicle signage. Our expert team of designers can work with you to craft bespoke and beautiful vehicle wraps which truly reflect you and your business. If you’re feeling inspired to update your vehicle livery, simply get in touch with us today.

Planning Your New Sign Project

Spring Into Action With New Signage

Whether you’re launching a full rebranding exercise or you’re looking at a smaller-scale makeover to the front of your business premises, you need to plan your new sign project with care. Studies have shown that the human brain processes what it can see, forms a first impression or makes a judgement in just a tenth of a second, so appearances really do matter. In an already challenging retail and hospitality market, ensuring your premises are looking their very best has never been so important. A well-presented shop or restaurant front encourages custom, offering a promising glimpse into what might lie beyond the double doors.

New signage can make an immediate difference to how potential customers perceive your company. High-quality signage is the gift which keeps on giving, always visible and acting as round-the-clock and year-round advertising for your business. Done well, signage does more than simply put your company name and logo in lights – it reflects your brand to the world, it lets customers know you take pride in your work and it enhances the area around it by being attractive and pleasing to the eye. If you’re planning on updating your existing signage or considering a whole new sign project, getting the right team on board to support you in the design, installation and maintenance of your new signs is crucial, if the exercise is to be a success.

Why New Signage?

As an advertising tool, strong, well-designed signs have a more far-reaching and enduring power than taking out a small ad in the local paper or a slot on a local radio show, as more people come into contact with your signs on a daily basis. Made up in your company’s signature colours and clearly displaying your name, logo and contact details, a good sign makes a lasting impression on all who see it, whether they’re conscious of the fact or not.

It’s also true to say that people notice change in their neighbourhoods, especially when the change they see is improving the local area or making them sit up and take notice. Familiarity can breed indifference, and no matter how brilliant the products you sell, the food you serve or the services you offer, if people have stopped noticing your premises, then trade inevitably trails off. Sometimes, when they pass your shop, café, bar or restaurant every day on the school run or commute, people may simply have ceased to register your existence. If the signage changes, if the front of your premises suddenly gets that bold new look, then it will turn heads – and heads turned equates to more trade in the long-term.

It’s All In The Planning

Installing new signage does require a certain level of investment. Done well, though, it will pay you back multiple times over and will last for many, many years to come. Just as you wouldn’t rush into any other important business decision without first looking at it from several different angles, having new signs installed must be undertaken only after careful consideration and plenty of planning, and preferably with the expert advice of an experienced signage company.

You may well begin planning your new sign project with a very clear mental image of what your signs should look like, or you may be completely open-minded and looking for guidance. Either way, the best sign designers will be able to find creative alternatives and new solutions that you may not even have considered. Technical expertise, such as which fonts, colours and types of sign work well together are only acquired with experience, which is why it can be a good approach to go into the process with an open mind about what you might want from your new signs. An installation company will also be best placed to advise you on the positioning of your signs, to ensure they get the maximum exposure and are legible, eye-catching and more likely to capture the attention of potential customers.

As well as the visual appearance of your signs, you also have to consider the health and safety implications of new signage. Poorly fitted and badly-maintained signs can pose a serious risk, both to you and your customers. If there’s any danger that they might cause injuries, the consequences can be dire, in terms of reputation damage and costly litigation. Good planning in advance means that risk is reduced, and setting up an ongoing maintenance programme ensures they are kept safe and sparkling throughout the year.

Other Considerations

Finally, you need to decide when the best time would be to have your new signage installed. A professional signage company is unlikely to be put off by the bad weather over the autumn and winter months, so your new sign project could really be undertaken at any time of the year. Spring is, however, a particularly good time to consider new signs, especially as this is a period when lots of business owners feel the need for a cathartic deep spring clean and a fresh start with better branding. The timing will have to depend on when you feel you’ll make the minimum impact on your customers and the maximum impact in terms of relaunching your powerful new brand identity.

You also need to make sure you work with designers and sign installers you’re comfortable with and a team you can build a rapport with, as this can be a long-lasting relationship. Not only are you entrusting them with your company image and your creative ideas, but they may also be involved in the ongoing maintenance and servicing of your signs.

Here at The Sussex Sign Company, we’ve spent many years working with local businesses to plan and manage their new sign projects. Thanks to our highly creative design team and our expertly qualified professional fitters, we combine bright ideas and technical skills to make your new signs work for you. For more information on how we can help, simply get in touch today on 01273 417057 or contact us using the contact form.

Vehicle Signwriting: What are the Benefits?

Being a business owner means no end of tasks and concerns to tackle and take care of. Of these responsibilities, advertising and business promotion is perhaps one of the most costly and time-consuming. Many businesses choose to consult a marketing agency – a choice which inevitably involves paying substantial fees and handing over the future of your business to people that you have never met, who themselves lack the intimate knowledge of your business necessary to draw up a plan that properly responds to your needs, values and goals.

Vehicle-based advertising offers a way out of this conundrum. Forget using a paintbrush and a pot of paint to literally write your advert onto the side of your vehicle – the long-established art of vehicle signwriting has moved on leaps and bounds in recent years.

Vinyl for High Impact, Long-lasting Signage

The use of vinyl instead of paint carries with it a wide range of benefits. For one, it’s far less time-consuming and doesn’t require the trained and talented hand of an artist. Indeed, you could apply your own vinyl lettering depending on the complexity of your sign, but for larger vehicle signage covering the dips, gaps and raised surfaces of the side of a van, the skills of an expert can be a godsend.

Modern vinyl sheeting takes advantage of the latest advances in technology, including special egress channels on the adhesive side to allow air to escape, making those annoying bubbles a thing of the past. Certain kinds of adhesive are also available which allow the installation technician to move the vinyl sign around on the substrate before activating the adhesive once the perfect location is found.

As a result of not requiring an artist, modern signwriting that makes use of vinyl is also much more cost-effective, with a typical sign likely to set you back hundreds, not thousands, of pounds. More complex and detailed signage, including that done with full or partial vinyl body wraps, can carry a larger price tag, but also allows us to demonstrate another compelling benefit of vinyl – its longevity.

Some vinyl wraps can last up to five years, and lettering is even more long-lived. Standard vinyl letters last from four to seven years, while higher quality premium vinyl can last up to an entire decade, ensuring that your investment in vehicle signwriting provides a healthy return for many years to come. Vinyl is highly durable and withstands the elements of the notorious British climate without difficulty.

Whilst your sign may last for ten years, we’d naturally recommend changing it and giving your vehicle a facelift slightly more frequently to ensure that your sign keeps turning heads and attracting the right kind of attention. And, unlike painted signs, which require very expensive full vehicle body resprays, vinyl can simply be peeled off with the right tools.

But how effective is it as a form of advertising? Read on to find out why we believe it’s one of the best forms of business promotion available, ticking every box and making the lives of business owners much easier.

Widen Your Reach

When you buy an advertising slot on the radio or rent a billboard, your advert appears at a particular point in time or space respectively, after which it disappears. If your advert failed to attract much attention to communicate your message during this short window, then your marketing investment was wasted.

When your advert occupies space that you already own for an unlimited amount of time, and is attached to a mobile vehicle, then you have overcome the constraints on time and space that the above traditional means of promotion carry. This allows your sign, and thus your message, to reach a far wider range of people than would otherwise be possible.

And this expanded reach for your promotion isn’t inconsiderable – marketing research suggests that on a busy high street, around 3,000 people will come into contact with your sign every hour. If your vehicle spends the day parked outside a shop in which you’re doing work for the owner, the number of people that you could reach would number the tens of thousands. This demonstrates the unparalleled power of vehicle signwriting.

Boost Awareness and Favourable Sentiment

It goes without saying that by transforming your vehicle into a mobile billboard, your target market will slowly become more aware of your company and what you have to offer. This is an excellent benefit in itself for one reason – studies have shown time and again that consumers are far more likely to purchase from a brand that they’re familiar with, even if they haven’t personally tried their products or services before.

There is an array of additional benefits from increased brand awareness as well. One piece of market research that focussed on brand awareness from vehicle signage in particular found that around three quarters of respondents claimed to have a favourable opinion of companies and brands that they encounter through vehicle signs. Consumer perceptions of these businesses typically include that they are well established and successful firms.

This in turn makes consumers more likely to seek to purchase your goods or services, as well as recommending you to their friends – even if they haven’t personally required what you have to offer.

Cost-effectiveness

Vehicle signage, measured by cost per impression, comes out far cheaper than all other forms of advertising – this is a well known fact. But few people think about the additional financial benefits. By turning your vehicle into a moving advertisement, you can transform unproductive time, such as a traffic jam or your daily commute, into potentially productive time well spent.

And your usual productive work time is multiplied further – while you’re busy working away, your vehicle will also be silently but strongly promoting your firm’s unique proposition to a whole host of potential customers. Call us today on 01273 417057 to see how we can help.

Vinyl signwriting: past, present… and future?

Modern vinyl signwriting is a marvel to behold; very high resolution graphics designed on a computer and rapidly printed directly onto sheets of vinyl, before being cut by another machine far more accurately than most technicians would be able to manage by hand. The technologies and chemistry used in the production of vinyl film have also advanced significantly to meet the evolving demands of businesses and consumers.

Nowadays, vinyl signage is in operation improving road safety and providing businesses with a modern, bright and highly versatile means of identifying and promoting themselves. This hasn’t always been the case, however, and like many inventions that go on to become ubiquitous, vinyl signage had rather humble beginnings.

Early days

It was back in the late 1930s that vinyl was first tested as a signage material. After several tests, the first road signs with a layer of high-visibility reflective vinyl sheeting appeared in 1939, beginning a new era in signwriting. The potential for reflective vinyl coating films used on road signs to protect the surface underneath led to the invention of non-reflective films. It was this type of vinyl film that was first used for vehicle identification and advertising.

Another significant leap forward in vinyl technology was the invention of cast vinyl production techniques in the 1940s. Pre-existing techniques were based upon extrusion, using ‘calendars’, or rollers, to stretch and squash the vinyl to the desired thickness. Because the shape of the vinyl film is constantly changing throughout this mode of production, the finished product tends to be weaker and prone to shrinkage.

In the casting technique, a mixture of resins and plastics are poured onto a liner and passed through heaters and coolers. The vinyl isn’t stretched or squashed, producing an inherently strong and thin film resistant to shrinkage. Calendar and cast vinyl techniques are both still used today, with cast vinyl remaining the best choice for high quality film graphics boasting uniform colour. That said, calendaring and other extrusion techniques have naturally improved over the years, and in many instances and applications perform just as well as cast film.

Competition in the signwriting industry

By the early 1950s, non-reflective vinyl lettering had been invented. Adhesives were not as developed as they are today, and the application of the lettering to a substrate relied upon either heat-activated or solvent-based adhesives. The manufacturing technique used for the non-reflective lettering was the coating technique, producing around 20 feet of film a minute. The process was unreliable in the early days, however, and very often 50 per cent or more of the vinyl produced was unusable.

Despite this, early vinyl lettering materials had many properties that gave them an advantage over the traditional hand-painted signwriting industry. These included far greater durability and the possibility to be die-cut, allowing for mass production of regular and uniform signage. One of the first uses for early vinyl lettering was to decorate American military planes with the logo of the Air Force.

Technological leaps and bounds

The pace of invention and innovation picked up even more as the 50s unfolded. 1956 saw introduction of many more colour choices, together with the release of vinyl film with pressure sensitive adhesive. These developments broadened the possible applications of vinyl, enabling the creation of visually appealing emblems, logotypes and signs using vinyl. But progress didn’t stop there. Just two years later in 1958, a high-visibility fluorescent film arrived on the market, seeing quick adoption in schools’ and hospitals’ signage.

That same year, an easy-peel silicone release liner was also developed. These are still used today to protect the adhesive backing of the vinyl film. 1958 also saw the arrival of even more colour options, including metallic-effect films with choices such as gold and silver. One of the first high profile uses for these was in the creation of the metallic stripes on American Eastern Airlines planes.

The 1960s saw the development of textured and embossed films, including a wood-grain effect that saw huge use in the cars of the era. The major innovation of the period was the invention of repositionable adhesive in 1965. This adhesive made vinyl appropriate for an even broader range of applications, hugely expanding the market.

Hi-tech vinyl

By the 1980s, translucent films had appeared on the market. This was significant due to the large number of technical challenges it was necessary to overcome. Wide-format vinyl films just 2mm thick could display a huge advert with uniform colour density and uniform backlighting. Technology continued to work miracles into the 1990s with the advent of micro air channels to allow air trapped under the film an escape route. This made bubble-free installation an achievable reality, eradicating the need for needles to pop troublesome air bubbles.

A bright future ahead

Developments have more recently focused upon the environment, with the creation of lead-free inks and metal-free piezo UV inks offering increased durability and flexibility. Work is underway to remove all lead pigments from graphic films, crucially and preferably without sacrificing the high level of performance that consumers and designers alike have come to expect from vinyl signwriting.

Other imminent advances include enhanced films that conform to more challenging surfaces including compound curves and deep draws. Easy application and residue-free removal are also top of the list. The evolutions of the past 70 years have been driven by the needs and expectations of the vinyl signwriting industry, and this is expected to be the case looking into the future.

In this changing and exciting industrial environment, the team at The Sussex Sign Company have the expertise and knowledge honed over two decades in the industry necessary to guide you through the science of vinyl signwriting towards a solution perfectly tailored for your business’ needs. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch and we’ll do our utmost to assist you.

Marketing with vehicle wraps and car graphics

Marketing with vehicle wraps and car graphics: hidden cost benefits?

You naturally view your company cars and vans as machines; tools to help you run the business. This is accurate, but it misses the whole picture. Whereas a piece of equipment such as a drill or a hammer is designed to carry out a couple of functions at most, your vehicle exists on a different plane. It fulfils multiple tasks, from holding the rest of your equipment overnight, to enabling you to travel from place to place to be able to work in the first place.

There is another function that your company van or fleet can fulfil: that of advertising. Vehicle branding has been used, in one form or another, since the days of horse-drawn carts, when signwriting was a highly skilled job that involved literally writing with paint on the side of the vehicle. These signs were basic in every respect, from the materials used, to the kinds of designs that were possible. Most vehicle signs simply featured the trading name of the business and perhaps a slogan.

These limitations have been swept away by advances in technology, and the possibilities and effectiveness of vehicle branding have increased dramatically as a result. One of the most exciting and still not particularly widely adopted methods of vehicle branding is that of vehicle wraps. This technique involves designing the graphics on a computer and printing it directly onto a sheet of vinyl, which is then ‘wrapped’, or stretched, over the vehicle, possibly covering the whole van or just the bonnet or rear doors.

This creates the possibility of using photographs or very detailed, engaging computer graphics for your sign, where previously your design would have been limited by the physical skill of an artist with an airbrush or paintbrush. This, in turn, means that the role of the company vehicle as a mode of transport has also been redefined to include its potential as a mobile advertisement, alongside the van’s more traditional roles.

Vehicle wraps and car graphics present an exceptional mode of advertising with very few negatives. And your business may be overlooking an outstanding advertising opportunity if you view your company fleet as purely means of transport. Out of the many benefits, cost is likely to be the make-or-break issue for most business owners, so we’ve broken down the costs below and compared them with other modes of advertising.

Cost-benefit analysis

The 21st Century businessperson has a wealth of marketing tools at their disposal. The most commonly used marketing channels tend to be the traditional ones, such as radio, billboards and direct mailing, alongside print media, such as newspapers and magazines. Pay-per-click advertising and a social media presence are also growing in popularity, but may be of limited use for a small business dependent on local custom.

The relative price of a form of advertising is measured by the cost per 100 views. Direct mailing is one of the most expensive forms of marketing, coming in at £1.95 per 100 views. Radio adverts aren’t significantly cheaper at around £1.20 per 100 views. Vinyl wraps and car graphics, by contrast, can cost as little as £0.04 per 100 views.

Hidden benefits

The cost benefit is greatly magnified when we consider some of the corollary effects of the use of vinyl wraps as a marketing tool. The cost of a car graphics solution is a one-off sum, as opposed to the repeat hire payments required to make a print or radio campaign effective. High quality vinyl, by contrast to the short-lived effects of a radio slot, can last for up to five years and your van will be viewed by up to 3,000 people a day if you drive in a city, making for an incredibly high reach.

If you drive around the same area during your working day, you can effortlessly achieve a saturation effect and create a high level of brand recognition, which is vital for a local business in a competitive environment. People tend to choose to buy from companies that they have heard of over unknown entities. Likewise, if you travel all over the country, an advertising wrap helps you to engage a vastly broader selection of people than you would ever be able to reach with conventional marketing modes.

These advantages constitute hidden cost benefits. Vinyl wraps do involve a significant one-off outlay, but this is an investment which is offset and outweighed by the extra earnings and business that it generates.

Other hidden financial benefits are only realised later on in the life of the vinyl wrap. Other methods of applying graphics to cars inevitably involve spraying paint onto the surface of the vehicle. When you later come to resell your company fleet to make way for newer models, if your graphics are painted on you will have to pay for an expensive respray before any resale can take place. With vinyl, however, the wrap is simply peeled away in a far easier and less costly process of removal.

The upshot of this is that your vehicle’s resale value is protected by the wrap. Modern vinyl wrap technology includes the use of an over-laminating protective layer to safeguard your graphics. This layer also protects the underlying paintwork of your vehicle from scratches, abrasions and stone chips. These are highly important considerations with positive financial implications should you choose to resell your vehicle at a later date.

Conclusions

Any undertaking of a marketing campaign is an investment which will hopefully produce a high enough return to justify the initial expense. With the use of vinyl wraps for car graphics, this is far easier to achieve compared with traditional advertising methods.

At The Sussex Sign Company, we have over two decades of experience in the business; expertise that we can put to use by assisting you in making the right choices in vehicle signage solutions. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you would like any further information, on 01273 417057.

The Sussex Sign Company explains the pricing for vehicle wraps

Dependent upon your requirements, design sensibility, and time frame, the budget for a partial wrap on a small vehicle can cost from £500 to £1,200. A full wrap, van wrap then the price will start at around £1,200 for a small van and rise to a maximum of around £2,500.

Does it really take three days?
If you want a first class job done and we are fully wrapping your vehicle then yes, we do really need it for three days. After all, you don’t want the wrapping media lifting after just a few months do you? It takes a long time to clean your vehicle properly and take off all the items that need removing to be able to fully wrap your vehicle.

Can I take the wrap off when I need to sell the car?
All of our vehicle wraps are removable – this is a benefit of getting the vehicle wrapped. It also offers some protection against damage to the paintwork.

How can I be sure the material you use will last?
We have been wrapping and signwriting vehicles for over twenty years now, and have used pretty much every kind of vinyl there has been on the market. As a standard we only use 3M or Avery Dennison. These two manufacturers are regarded as two of the best vinyl manufacturers in the world today, and they also the most expensive. As a business we would rather explain why we are more expensive than our competitors than have to explain in six months why your vehicle wrap has failed.

Does the wrap last as long as the vehicle?
Our preferred vehicle wrapping media is either 3M or Avery Dennison which are widely regarded as the two best vehicle wrapping media companies in the world today, however the life of the wrap depends on many difference factors, not least, the condition of the vehicle prior to wrapping, how you keep your vehicle clean (what chemicals are used on it) and what part of the world the vehicle is kept. However, even when you take all the above into account, our vehicle wraps should comfortably last between 3-5 years.

How do I clean the vehicle?
The best way to clean your car is to wash it by hand, or better still get someone else to wash it for you J
All our vehicle wraps are laminated if it is a digital print, and if you have a solid colour change, then the material is colour fast. We would not recommend a jet wash or a mechanical car cleaner as the power of the jet wash can lift the edges of the vinyl on a power wash and the brushes can be abrasive to the material.

Do you guarantee your work?
All our work comes with an unconditional 12 month guarantee; however, manufacturer’s warranty on materials can come with up to 5 years, subject to various terms and conditions.

Is your company insured?
We hold Public Liability insurance of £10,000,000. We also hold a motor trade policy which covers our team members when they are driving your vehicle.

My vehicle has been repaired in the past, is this a problem?
As long as the vehicle has been repaired properly and the paintwork was keyed in properly and baked on, then this should not be a problem. However, if the repair job was not carried out properly or with regard to the manufacturer’s specifications, then this may cause a problem with adherence of the vinyl.

Do you wrap the door shuts?
In a word – no, all our wraps are kerbside wraps which means when the vehicle is viewed driving along the road or parked up, the vehicle is a different colour than the original colour. We do not advocate wrapping inside of the door shuts.

Image of – Full Colour car wrap designed for charities – Sussex Signs.Image of – Partial wrap with digital elements – Sussex SignsImage of – digitally printed partial wrap – Sussex Signs

Call us today on 01273 417057 or Email us from here

A list of the towns we work in throughout East and West Sussex is listed below.

East Grinstead , Crawley, Gatwick, Horsham, Haywards Heath, Burgess Hill, Steyning, Worthing, Arundel, Littlehampton, Bognor Regis, Selsey, Chichester, Midhurst, Petworth, Portslade, Brighton, Hove, Newhaven, Seaford, Eastbourne, Bexhill, Hastings, Hailsham, Lewes, Uckfield, Heathfiled, Crowborough.