How to brief a vehicle wrap that actually gets you calls

Step 1: decide what the vehicle must say

Start with the job, not the colours. A wrap has to do three things for a stranger in a few seconds: tell them who you are, what you do, and how to reach you.

Write those down before anything else:

• Name: exactly as customers should search for it. If people know you as "Kowalski Plumbing", don't lead with a holding-company name.
• Trade: in plain words a homeowner would use. "Electrical", "Roofing and eavestroughs", "Plumbing and drains".
• Contact: one phone number and one short web address.
• Up to three services or a single line: for example "Repairs · Renovations · Panel upgrades", or "Serving [Region] since [year]" if that is true and you can prove it.

Everything else is optional. Social icons, long lists of services, slogans and email addresses are rarely read from another lane.

Step 2: check the vehicle, the lease and the timing

Before design starts, gather the facts:

1. Make, model, year, wheelbase and roof height for every vehicle. Templates differ even between trim levels.
2. Body colour. White, silver or black bodies change what partial graphics can do.
3. Ownership. If the vehicle is leased, read the lease or ask the leasing company what is allowed and what removal involves.
4. Existing graphics. Old vinyl may need removing first; your installer should quote that.
5. Timing. If new vehicles are arriving in the next few months, design for those, not the old ones.

Step 3: choose full wrap, partial or lettering

There are three broad options. Here is how they compare in practice:

There is no universally right answer. The right choice is the one that keeps your name and number readable and fits your budget across the whole fleet, not just the first truck.

Step 4: apply the layout rules

These rules come from how people actually see vehicles: from a car beside you, from across a parking lot, from behind at a light.

1. Biggest element: the name. Place it high on the side panels, above the beltline, where parked cars and fences won't hide it.
2. Second: the trade. Directly with the name, in plain words.
3. Third: the number. Large, high-contrast and placed where it isn't split by a door seam or handle.
4. The rear is for people stuck behind you. Name, trade, number and web address, as large as the doors allow.
5. Respect the panels. Ribs, handles, fuel doors, sliding-door tracks and windows will cut through text. Designers must work on the real template, not a flat side view.
6. Contrast beats colour. Light on dark or dark on light. Test the layout in greyscale; if it's unreadable in grey, it's unreadable at dusk.
7. Hood and roof are optional. Worth it if your vans are often seen from above, such as from apartment windows or job sites with upper floors.
8. Leave room for required details. Licence or registration numbers, if your regulator or your own policy calls for them.

Step 5: make the fleet consistent

A single great truck is good. Five trucks that clearly belong to the same company are much better. Ask for a fleet master:

• A fixed lockup and size ratio for the logo and name.
• Fixed positions for the number and web address on each side.
• Exact colour references for vinyl and print.
• Adapted layouts for each vehicle body you own or plan to buy.

Once you have a fleet master, new vehicles can be quoted and wrapped without redesigning from scratch, and the look stays identical.

Step 6: brief installers on equal terms

When you ask two or three shops for quotes, send each the same package:

• Print-ready files or design files, with the templates used.
• Your colour references.
• The list of vehicles, with photos.
• What you want quoted: removal of old graphics, materials, lamination, installation, and warranty terms.

You'll get comparable quotes and avoid the situation where each shop quotes a different design. Ask each installer about the material and finish they recommend for Canadian winters and road salt, and what their warranty covers; that's their expertise, not the designer's.

Step 7: check the proof

Before printing, ask for a proof on the actual template and check:

• Spelling of every word, especially your name, street names and the web address.
• The phone number, digit by digit. Call it.
• Nothing important falls on a seam, handle or window.
• Colours match the brand values, not a screen guess.
• The rear doors are readable from about a car length away when viewed at reduced size.

Step 8: set up tracking before the van leaves the shop

If you don't plan measurement now, you'll never know what the wrap earned.

• Use a dedicated number that appears only on vehicles. It can forward to your main line.
• Add a vehicle option to the "how did you hear about us" question your office asks.
• Record a baseline of branded searches and Google Business Profile calls before the fleet is done.

A quick way to judge the result: if the fleet number brings in ten calls a month, half become jobs and your average job is $700, that's $3,500 a month in revenue linked to the vehicles. Compare it against your production cost spread over the wrap's useful life.

Common mistakes

• Letting the cheapest quote dictate the design. Production cost and design quality are separate decisions.
• Photographic backgrounds behind text. They look impressive on screen and turn to noise at distance.
• Cramming every service. A generalist-looking truck attracts small, low-value calls.
• Different designs per shop. That is how fleets stop looking like one company.
• Forgetting the rear doors. They get more reading time than the sides, because people sit behind you at lights.

Your brief, in one list

Copy this into your first message to any designer or installer:

1. Name as customers search it; trade in plain words; one phone number; one web address.
2. Vehicle list with make, model, year, wheelbase, roof height and body colour.
3. Ownership and lease constraints.
4. Full wrap, partial or lettering, with a budget range.
5. Required details such as licence numbers.
6. Colour references and logo files.
7. Tracking number and how calls will be counted.

If you'd like us to design the layout and the fleet master, see vehicle wrap design. For the identity it rests on, see brand identity, and for how wraps fit a wider budget, read the rebrand rollout guide. Questions? Call, text or email, and send photos of your vehicles.