A vehicle wrap is one of the most impactful ways to get noticed — but only if the design is right. That starts with the vehicle template: a 2D outline tailored to your exact make and model, used by installers to ensure your wrap fits perfectly and looks as intended.
Read on to see how to avoid some of the most common vehicle design mistakes. If you’re still concerned, don’t worry. Our in-house design team can always handle this process for you!
Logos, images and illustrations should be looked at ASAP. After all, you don’t want your vehicle to feature an outdated logo. So, make sure these still represent what your company is about.
Rebranding means finding a graphic designer you trust. If you’d rather keep everything with us, our design team can create all-new assets that work in print and online. And of course, we’ll also produce them with your vehicle design in mind!
When it comes to logos and simple illustrations, we recommend using vectors, aka SVG, AI and EPS files. They can be resized over and over, without a loss of quality – perfect for vehicle graphics!
Images are typically JPGs or PNGs. We suggest using files with a resolution of at least 750 dpi, as this will allow us to print them large in high quality.
With your assets finalised, it’s on to the vehicle template…
Consider how these assets will sit on your vehicle. Wraps aren’t flat like posters or banners – they follow the contours of doors and handles, as well as panel joins and wheel arches. This means you should think carefully about their placement.
You don’t want an image ruined because of a door handle or your branding lost when a door opens. So, give your central assets room to breathe – with the main elements always visible and away from edges and handles.
If you want an exact colour tone, it’s best to design in CMYK as opposed to RGB. Being digital only, RGB can lead to inaccurate colours because the printer will aim for a close CMYK shade. Some clients prefer to give a specific Pantone colour instead.
See our article on car wrap colour charts for more colour-related advice, or visit our guide to the various wrap finishes available. If you're still unsure how to proceed, we can iron out all colour issues and find your perfect shade as part of the vehicle design process.
Converting fonts to outlines makes them into vectors, so we can see and print them just as intended – without needing the original font files.
Once outlined, your text won’t be editable, so it’s worth double-checking your spelling and keeping a separate, editable file for making simple changes.
Read the ultimate guide to vehicle branding for more advice on design, fonts, captions and more.
Before sending us your artwork, make sure all images, logos and other design elements are either embedded or included using Illustrator’s ‘package’ feature. This helps us avoid broken links, missing assets or low-res previews that can slow production.
If you’re working with linked files, packaging your files keeps everything organised in one place, so nothing gets lost along the way.
Worried you still won’t get it just right? Don’t be. We’ll perform the final tweaks and send them across for approval. We can then start wrapping your vehicle in your company branding!
Even seasoned graphic designers can struggle with vehicle templates if they lack experience with them. To make things easier, we’ve created a helpful artwork explainer video. See the design process in action, become familiar with your template, and see which pitfalls to avoid.
Not sure where to start with your design? Our in-house team can help! We’ve wrapped vehicles for decades, so we know exactly what works and what doesn’t. We’re also hugely familiar with the vehicle template design process, so we can always handle it for you as an extra service.
It all starts with a free, 30-minute consultation. Just click the link below to book now!