February 1, 2021 Reanne Duffy

The British Sign Awards’ Vehicle Graphics Of The Year accolade has been won by a work that puts art before commercial interest. It’s the work of Richmond based Eyecatching Signs and it’s printed on MetaCast MDC…

How's the saying go? If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. The expression must have made it to Richmond in North Yorkshire and fallen upon the ears of Steven Smith who runs Eyecatching Signs there. 

Whereas most people might have taken it as a hint having been shortlisted five times by the various and sundry industry experts who’ve judged the British Sign Awards, he had another crack. Something must have clicked. Not only did Steven walk away with an award, he scooped it for ‘Vehicle Graphics Of The Year,’ arguably the most contested and competitive of all the ‘Awards’ categories.

The winning livery has a very interesting story to tell. Sorry, there’s no major international or High Street brand coming along for the ride, in fact the motivation behind the wrap’s very production is a bit of an eyebrow-raiser. The livery’s mission, was, and is, to make the car it adorns, it’s Steve’s family vehicle, a bit easier to find in the car park.

With a brief as relaxed as this suggests, anything was possible. The prime influencer over design was Steve’s young son who’s bonkers about Super Heroes. Dad’s done much to encourage that and has a room at home dedicated to a huge collection of Super Hero centred stuff. He also has a major attachment to the comic art that breaths life into characters as diverse as Batman and The Ninja Turtles.

Art is a challenge to explain on occasions. What mesmerises one person as a moving exhibit is just a pile of bricks to an observer who’s yet to be enlightened. Comic art though will register with many. The artists who immortalise comics’ Super Heroes in ink on paper are responsible for connecting thousands with the very concept of a powerful medium. The illustrations they create connect the writers’ stories such that the medium and effect almost transcends themselves - put another way, the characters seem to come to life.

Steve set about creating a montage amounting to a homage to all that’s best in the sphere of SuperHeroDom. Batman, The Flash, Wonder Woman and The Turtles all rub shoulders and play a part. Being well connected with the community that sustains the Heroes, Steve reached out to the Artist, Freddie Williams to get the OK to use his works. Freddie was flattered and gave the enterprise his blessing. Freddie’s website can be found at freddieart.com . 

The team at Eyecatching Signs reached for a roll of MetaCast MDC and its matching MGC laminate to produce the livery. The key colour being blue served wrapping’s purpose well. If the colour thinned, Steve reasoned, the car under colour would not intrude into the wrap. In the event, Steve needn’t have been concerned. The next generation premium cast wrapping film handles its ink like an MD-Class film should, and it tolerates insistent elongation too.

The result is what we’ve come to know as a head-turner in the sign and allied industries. It’s a hard-to-ignore vehicle now and its celebrity is instant. Losing it in a car park no longer seems likely - if you can’t see the car, look for the small crowd milling around it. 

Speaking for ‘the trade,’ the car does a great job as an ambassador for wrapping. That’s because it makes the point that, done well, wrapping is all about memorable and very positive impact.

It looks like the experts agree. This is the British Sign Awards’ Vehicle Graphics Of The Year winner. It’s a sensational wrap, printed on MetaCast MDC and produced by a notable signs and graphics producer based in North Yorkshire. It wears the honour well. To achieve its position, it was critically compared against the output of the country’s best known and most highly regarded signs and graphics producers. It won and it’s winning still.