Business Management

Best Watercraft Graphics of 2012

These projects create sizzle above water

Published

12 years ago

September 25, 2012

Steve Aust Signs of the Times October 2012 Issue

FIRST PLACE

Fabricator
GatorWraps
Ontario, CA
(909) 390-1020
www.gatorwraps.com
Designer
Jeremy Webb
Installers
Omar Paz
Armando Rodriguez
Client
Carlos Carreon

Flames, skulls, a bottle of Patron and a beautiful woman – all the ingredients are here for a provocative wrap. Webb composed the wrap with Adobe Creative Suite 5.5, and GatorWraps’ installation team prepped the surface with 3M Primer 94 bonding agent. The shop output the wrap on its Mutoh ValueJet 1614 solvent-ink printer with 3M Controltac with Comply air-release media. 3M’s glossy topcoat, applied with a Seal 54 laminator, will keep the imagery muy caliente in the water.

SECOND PLACE

Fabricator
Resource 4 Signs
Canoga Park, CA
(818) 347-7500
www.resource4signs.com
Designer
Daniel Cuadras
Installers
Daniel Cuadras
Matt Olson
Client
Matt Olson

Olson purchased a speedboat from a previous owner, who had christened the boat Funky Divas and painted it metallic blue. Obviously, the boat needed a testosterone infusion. Thus, Sinister was born, and Olson’s imprint on the boat is undisputed. The shop printed the wrap on its Roland VersaCamm VS-540i with Avery Graphics’ MPI 1005 SuperCast Easy Apply RS air-release film. Avery’s DOL 1060 cast laminate, applied with a Royal Sovereign RSC-1400C laminator, protects the wrap’s ghastliness. Cuadras and Olson secured the film to the fiberglass boat with tape, and Geek Wraps’ felt-edged squeegees (assisted by X-Acto knives and torches) smoothed it into place.

THIRD PLACE

Fabricator
A&M Graphics
Mesa, AZ
(480) 964-4254
www.amwraps.com
Designer
Jeni Crawford
Installer
Central Sign Installations
Mesa
(602) 252-3214
www.csiinstall.com
Client
Mike McFarland

This boat wrap should elicit plenty of “oo-rahs” as it zips across Lake Havasu or any other body of water. The shop produced the wrap on its Mutoh ValueJet 1624 eco-solvent-ink printer with Controltac air-release media. 3M’s Scotchcal 8518 glossy overlaminate, which was applied with Royal Sovereign equipment, will keep the graphics at attention. CSI installed the wrap using Yellotools’ propane torches and vinyl squeegees.

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