July 17, 2020

When a fleet’s livery has to be a cohesive part of a well rooted identity that radiates nothing but quality, where do you start?

From humble beginnings - selling used office furniture from a shed, Hunts Office has been expanding since the 1990s. Their immersive showroom is a live example of progressive ways of working, open for people to try and experience. Today, Hunts Office are Steelcase Platinum Partners who lead organisational change through transforming traditional offices into insight led, people-centric workspaces. Moving into the future the vans -- complete with the new distinctive Hunts visual identity -- will become a key touchpoint and a pivotal part of hunt’s brand awareness campaign nationwide.

The livery job came to Oxford based Vinyl Revolution, an established signs and graphic business with a very experienced team led by its MD, Simon Broughton-Wells. Simon knows his way around the fleet livery business and is no stranger to the needs of businesses like Hunts Office. He was handed a very well prescribed design and colour-ways and something amounting to a blank canvas in terms of porting it to the new fleet. Seeking out the imaginative and creative corner of the brief’s envelope, Simon dug deep into his Metamark colour cards and swatches.

Several designs and material combinations were offered to the team at Hunts Office but the one that caught the eye and that won the job was arguably among the more unusual. The winning livery would be finished in its entirety in a flat, matt finish with the livery’s colours iteratively corrected to compensate for the lack of specular reflections and lower contrast.

Matt finished vehicles typically seen on British roads are either members of the British military or occupy the rarefied air breathed by expensive, exotic cars. Commercial fleets and matt finishes are not well known partners. For that reason alone, the fleet would turn heads and there’s no doubt that matt finishes radiate the quality that’s important to Hunts Office.

Simon Broughton-Wells elected to use Metamark’s recently introduced premium cast MD-Class digital print film, MetaCast MDC for the livery and to laminate the printed film with the product’s matching MetaGuard MDG laminate. Simon said of the MDG laminate, that ‘it’s the most matt finishing film’ he’d ever seen. The print needed expert colour management interventions to impart the required saturation and colour under the laminate.

The wrapped vehicle’s sides are substantially flat but there are areas of the panel work the wraps cover that present a challenge in terms of 3D surface variation. The MDC film in the expert hands of the Vinyl Revolution team met the need in full and the applied prints are fully and reliably adhered. The MDC film’s MetaGlide Adhesive facilitates repeated repositioning and only commits to the ultimate bond available when deliberately and finally squeegeed onto the application surface.

The finished fleet wraps look sensational. The printing is flawless and the application reflects every hour of the team’s experience in handling quality livery work. The matt finish and understated design create an impression of quality and yet are not restrained in broadcasting it. The livery is unusual. It turns heads and it gets remembered. Most of all though it fulfils the brief’s obligation to deliver Hunts Office’s ID and all that stands for in an important and mobile advertisement for the company.

Whether Hunts Office or Vinyl Revolution know it, there’s a very high probability that they might have let an opinion leader out onto the roads. Matt liveries for commercial vehicles are something we’re sure to see more of. It all started with the finish of this very attractive fleet.