The vinyl car wrap has been around since as early as the 1920s, and fashions have changed a lot in that time!
When vinyl wrapping was first invented, it was very fashionable and popular, but was not widely used as it was very expensive. Car wraps then became more widely available in the 1950s when they grew popular for marketing purposes, and by the 1980s, they were available to tradespeople from a wide variety of backgrounds.
Car wrapping for personal purposes became more accessible in the 1990s-2000s, and since then, it has been onwards and upwards for the car wrapping market! In the last 10 years, more textures and effects have become available, making car wraps more creative and versatile than ever before.
So what can we expect from the future of the car wrapping industry? Read on to find out!
AI Designs
This video by BMW shows their latest vehicle wrap designs in conjunction with art collector and founder of ArtDrunk, Gary Yeh. The AI was given a database of more than 900 years’ worth of art history to ‘learn’ how a painting is composed and what a piece of art should look like.
When the AI was able to generate new paintings from its database, it was then given a series of modern paintings, selected by Yeh, to analyse the technique and effects used and reinterpret them into vinyl car wraps.
These vinyl wraps are unusual, innovative, and one of a kind; a fascinating look into what may be achieved in the future of AI design. The ability of an AI programme to go through thousands of potential different designs in minutes makes it potentially a very valuable piece of software for many designers across the globe, as it offers greater speed, efficiency, and value for money.
Matte Wraps
Matte car wrapping is a great choice for subtle, understated design and marketing. Using subtle techniques for advertising is especially usefully for marketing to customers who do not like to be marketed to. Car wraps are a good vehicle for this purpose, as they can subtly influence other road users without directly attracting their attention.
The use of matte car wrapping helps to create an overall air of subtlety, which is useful for covert marketing, or simply for more subtle and tasteful designs. A solid panel of matte effect in a neutral shade can also provide a nice counterpoint to bright or busy graphics, patterns, and colours.
Another benefit of matte car wrapping is that it does not show as obviously if your wrap gets scuffs and tears. If you use a highly reflective wrap, any scuffs are obvious to the naked eye. But with a matte background, the effect is likely to be more hard-wearing.
Textured Wraps
While there have been many patterns available in vinyl wrapping for a while, textures have been limited beyond the standard matte, gloss, or satin. Now there are leather-textured car wraps, and even snakeskin textured wraps.
Chrome has also been a big feature on many popular car wraps this year, which looks set to continue in 2022 and beyond. This eye-grabbing trend brings a futuristic twist to your car, regardless of its age.
Careful Contrasts
Although the design emphasis this year has been on subtlety and ‘Scandi-chic’ minimalism, there has to be a little flare somewhere. And that artistic spark has come from bright, block colours.
When thinking about the design for your car wrap consider how the components fit together. Does your main colour complement the accents? Does it have many clashing patterns, or does it balance a pattern against a strong bright?
And how does any text on your design fit into this? Can you read it against the print?
Also, consider exactly what you are trying to communicate: does your design reflect this?
Attention-Grabbing Patterns
Throughout 2021 we saw big, bold patterns across the car wrapping scene. In 2022, this will likely continue, but it may be balanced by bright and bold colour blocking. Your patterns should be big, bold, and clearly visible to other road users from as far away as possible.
This means that your design should not be too intricate, and you should make creative use of blank space to emphasise your design points.
Wrapping Things Up…
2021’s move towards daring, unconventional vinyl wraps is set to continue in the next few years, with loud patterns, vivid new textures, and striking designs full of contrast likely to prove popular.
Plus, as the technology for designing and printing vinyl wrapping is constantly developing and allowing designers to come up with more innovative ideas, the potential for AI and computer-aided design is looking very promising. This could make the design process faster, more efficient, and more cost-effective in future.
Meanwhile, using vinyl wrapping for marketing purposes will be as popular as ever, but may take a more indirect approach. In order to appeal to customers who have grown weary of brash, ‘in-your-face’ advertisements, marketers will likely opt for more discrete designs, choosing indirect influence over more traditional ‘attention grabbing’ methods.
Still unsure how you want your vinyl wrap design to look? Give us a call on 01604 645826 and talk to one of our expert team today!
Sources
https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/car-wraps
https://frshcustoms.com/car-wrapping-who-thought-of-it/
https://stickercity.store/top-10-upcoming-car-wrapping-trends-for-2021/
https://www.topgear.com/car-news/best-2020/21-most-exciting-controversial-new-cars-2021