Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/637632
56 • WRAPS • 2 0 1 6 DESIGN be on the wrap. He told me that his chil- dren loved riding in the truck, playing with the lights and horns and talking on the loud speaker. He said that the neigh- borhood kids and even their parents were having fun in the fire engine. And finally, he told me that his grandfather Arvel used to be the Fire Marshall of our city. Building a 3D Fire Truck At this point we had lots of informa- tion to work with, freedom to create and we were eager to see where this would lead. I like to get into new projects by becom- ing familiar with the vehicle. This is a custom-built truck, so the first thing I did was take all of the important measurements and then began to build it from scratch in my 3 D modeling software. This engine is basi- cally composed of square shapes, so I started constructing the truck from a simple box, then a cube and then began adding the details from there. Working from reference photos and accurate measurements, I was able to quickly rough in the shape of the truck. Completing the model design took about eight hours, but I always enjoy this stage in the development because I really get to know the shapes that I will soon be wrapping with film. One thing I keep in mind is how I will actually use the rendering of the model in the final design and how big it will be on the final wrap. This helps me make decisions on how much detail to put into the model. Design Decisions For quite a few years I have suggested to customers to include "dot com" in their new logo if their website shares the name of their business. Most people will not mistake them for only being an online business. This approach first identifies the business and then gives the viewer the address of the web- site. Most people have a smart phone and they can get on the site as soon as they see the logo. With such an attention-grabbing vehicle, many people will want to know more immediately and will visit the website sitting beside him in traffic. Presenting the Web address so promi- nently makes this easy for them. I usually discourage customers from listing products and services on any wrap. If people are interested in listed details, they will get that information from the website. At first, the thought of listing 150+ products on this wrap was not even a consideration. Throwing out predict- able solutions is one of the first things we do with every design. So if eliminat- ing lists is the predictable thing to do, keeping the list becomes the innovative possibility. Transforming the extensive product list into a wallpaper-like background pattern had potential. From a distance it looks like a striped texture and up close it is loaded with information. Even if many of the complete words are covered, they still make a strong statement that he sells lots of different kinds of insur- ance. Brandon also wanted us to create an authentic looking fire department logo using his initials. Memorable Mascot So the business part of the strategy and design was coming along nicely, but it lacked personality. Insurance is a seri- ous business, but a certain famous Gecko has shown us that a mascot with person- ality is important, too. Everyone knows you have to be different to be noticed, but you have to very different to become unforgettable. So how could we create a memorable mascot that had personality to represent Brandon's unique business? After the 3 D model of the fire engine was completed, it occurred to me that a Hot Wheels-like version of the fire truck could express the fun personality that he brings to his business. It only took a few Wraps have only three to five seconds to get their message across to the viewer.