Vehicle Contest Winners

FIRST PLACE

Jay and Margie Kramer, advertising executives from Jewel-Osco, a division of SuperValu grocery stores, approached Ross Iazzetto, Dahlstrom’s president, about developing a vehicle-graphic concept for 40 trucks in the Jewel-Osco fleet that communicated its “freshness and market dominance,” according to Dahlstrom’s Hannah Rutzen. Christopher Tedin, Dahlstrom’s creative director, manipulated iconic presences in the Chicago skyline, such as the Hancock Building, the Sears Tower and the Grant Park Fountain, into a playful fruit and vegetable grove. “The image connects Osco, which has been part of Chicago for more than 100 years, with the history of the city and its customers’ pride and loyalty.”

Dahlstrom developed the system with Adobe Photoshop CS3 and printed the system with Avery Graphics’ MPI 1005 EZ opaque, cast, embossed-adhesive film on its Mutoh Toucan PJ-1626 NX printer. To keep the fruits and veggies fresh, the installers applied Avery’s DOL 1100 matte-finish, cast overlaminate.

SECOND PLACE

I’ve always thought ASU’s Sun Devils stood as one of the most unique major-college mascots, and this fleet project needed more than 30 university employees to help carry the school’s athletic identity throughout the Valley of the Sun (except perhaps Tucson, where the rival University of Arizona Wildcats reside). Boetto customized ASU’s furnished graphics of some prominent student-athletes to fit the contours of the trucks’ and SUVs’ surfaces. The shop produced the fleet using 3M’s IJ180-10C with Comply media on its Mimaki JV3-160S printer and protected los diablos del sol with 3M’s 8518 glossy overlaminate.

THIRD PLACE

I always enjoy hearing the Allman Brothers’ “Ramblin’ Man,” but hearing Greg, Duane and the rest of the boys from Statesboro (GA) sing about this bloom from the Solanaceae family would seem a bit incongruous. Therefore, wraps for Armstrong’s (a retail garden center) 28-vehicle fleet prove much more effective. Epic’s installers produced the fleet on Rhino 28-oz. vinyl (a proprietary, fleet-grade vinyl designed expressly for heavy-duty trucks) using its proprietary printing system, and installed the graphics using its Kwik Zip™ installation system, which enables the placement of modular vehicle graphics that can be replaced quickly, according to Epic’s Shelley Smith. Installers welded Epic’s “Mushroom Beads” into all four edges to fit within the company’s framing system. A structural-grade, aluminum frame secures the graphics.

HONORABLE MENTION

Maritime Graphics Winners

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