Design

Best Watercraft Graphics of 2011

Who says you need terra firma for a butt-kicking wrap?

Published

13 years ago

September 19, 2011

Steve Aust Signs of the Times October 2011 Issue

FIRST PLACE

Fabricator
Extreme Graphics
Tampa
(813) 855-4364
www.extremegraphics.com

Designer/Installer
Mike Postill

Client
Chris Biery
Clearwater Jet Boat

Biery, who offers jet-boat rides on waterways surrounding Clearwater Beach, FL, wanted to bedeck his boat with a wrap that replicates a fighter jet. Postill executed the rivets, afterburners and other details using Photoshop and Illustrator. He decorated the wrap on 3M Controltac IJ180C-10 with Comply v3 air-release film with his shop’s Mimaki JV3-160SP solvent-ink printer. 3M’s 8518 glossy overlaminate combats the environmental hazards the wrap encounters.

As with his other first-place winner, Postill installed the wrap solo using the Wraptor, his proprietary installation apparatus that reportedly helps vinyl maintain consistent tension and reduces installation time by using a gimbal joint and a vertical, expanding stanchion that allows 360° vertical and horizontal application.

SECOND PLACE

Fabricator
GatorWraps
Ontario, CA
(909) 390-1020
www.gatorwraps.com

Designer
Jeff Ciavardini

Installers
Jose Barragan
Omar Paz

Client
Gary Rippey

Rippey, who owns a construction company, wanted his private boat to replicate a vintage, wooden Chris Craft powerboat with a patriotic image and a subtle plug for his business. Ciavardini’s biggest challenge was creating the splinter effect where the flag and wood-grain design intersect: “We shadowed and contoured the flag to give the appearance that it’s pushing the wood planks off the boat’s hull.”

The shop fashioned the print with Avery MPI 1005 EZ RS vinyl on a Mutoh ValueJet 1614 printer with eco-solvent inks. Avery’s DOL 1060 glossy laminate, which was applied with a Seal 62 ProS laminator, protects the graphics.

THIRD PLACE

Fabricator
bluemedia
Tempe, AZ
(480) 317-1333
www.bluemedia.com

Designer
Chris Keal

Client
Tilted Kilt

Decorating a racing boat with a scantily clad babe and edgy graphics is always a sure bet to gain attention. Tilted Kilt’s Buford, GA-based, competitive-racing team hired bluemedia to wrap its boat and deliver some rapid branding. Keal designed the wrap using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, and the shop produced it on its HP Scitex TurboJet 8300 with 3M Controltac air-release media and glossy topcoat.

HONORABLE MENTION

Fabricator
360 Wraps
Dallas
(214) 432-9029
www.360wraps.com

Designer
Tommy Strader

Installers
Matt Blanchard
Jayy Esquivel
Nick Gilstrap
Tommy Strader

Client
Kris Tennison

click to Comment(Comment)

Introducing the Sign Industry Podcast

The Sign Industry Podcast is a platform for every sign person out there — from the old-timers who bent neon and hand-lettered boats to those venturing into new technologies — we want to get their stories out for everyone to hear. Come join us and listen to stories, learn tricks or techniques, and get insights of what’s to come. We are the world’s second oldest profession. The folks who started the world’s oldest profession needed a sign.