food truck wrap

Graphic design, visual design, printing

Objectives:

  • Analyze and determine the design needs of the client
  • Ideate a design that directly addresses the client's needs and ensures visual appeal and distinctiveness
  • Accurately implement the design within the physical space


orginal ideation of design

When engaging with this particular client; I had received a set of specific instructions the client had to reflect their vision. The client, based in the Muskoka region, wanted to see the region incorporated in their design, including wildlife with a moose being highlighted as a central element. Additionally, since the food truck would be primarily operating at music and movie festivals; the client requested the target audience be acknowledged in the design. Furthermore, the client wanted the whole design to convey a noticeable ‘Canada’ theme, supplying a rough maple leaf logo for updating. I was given a quoted timeframe of 3 hours for the creation and finalization of this design, so time and efficiency was crucial.

In developing the design, I started with the ‘Canada’ theme. Analyzing the supplied logo, I felt that the best way to achieve this theme was with an abstract representation of the maple leaf. To achieve this, I positioned the maple leaf to the rear of the truck, allowing only half to be visible, thus keeping in with the feel of the theme while adding a slight creative touch. Inspired by this choice, I then made the entire back of the truck red, creating a cohesive foundation for my design.

Next, I focused on the task of incorporating elements that represented the Muskoka region. Drawing from my own experiences within the region, I believed the forest would be a good start. Initially, I considered including the isles and river characteristics of the region, however I ultimately decided against this due to the time constraints and potential conflict with the color scheme I was formulating. Additionally, the designated ‘end space’ of the truck that was quoted to the client was just before the ‘lip’ of the food truck, which would not accommodate the abrupt ending of the isles and would disrupt the visual flow of the design.

I aimed to create a color palette that was meant to be simple yet distinct, to evoke a sense of ‘Canadian’ identity. Naturally, I chose red and white to be the primary colors in this design to reflect the Canadian flag; for contrast, I incorporated black into the color scheme. With the concept of the forest in mind, I initially wanted to include lighter shades to suggest density within the forest. However, after some ideation, I found the hues of gray to be unsatisfactory. Instead, I decided to introduce a blue hue as a contrast to the red, which was then transitioned into a brighter orange red to increase the contrast with the black and steel blue tones I had selected.

My final color palette for my truck design

Returning to the forest element, I opted for a flatter design for the forest, considering the limited time available. Using the black and steel blue tones I had finalized, I aimed to give the forest some depth rather than solely using a series of silhouettes. Referencing images of Muskoka forests, I incorporated various tree assets to enhance the natural feel of the design. I limited the depth to only two layers to avoid a busy design, and to ensure ample white space for the dark forest to stand out. I would continue this pattern to the rear of the truck, initially changing the black tress to white for contrast, but I found that the black better complemented the red and steel blue. Next, I turned my attention to the wildlife. It quickly found a moose asset that had a more dynamic pose, but I felt that a singular moose felt like an artificial addition to the forest, rather than being integrated into it. To create a more authentic representation, I decided to implement a family of moose, both to utilize the space more effectively and to establish a sense of belonging within the forest setting.

Then, I addressed the challenge of implementing music and film festival elements within the design. I envisioned using a film reel as a central feature of the design, with musical notes flowing alongside it, resembling a sheet of musical notes. I quickly sourced assets that aligned with my idea, and would position them within the half maple leaf. This approach both broke up the uniform expanse of red and created a visual flow into the forest. Finally I created placeholders for the client’s contact information, including their phone number, website, and social media handles, as I was not supplied this information; I strategically placed them in areas I believed would complement the design.


Refining the design

I soon received feedback from the client regarding this iteration of the design. They expressed satisfaction with the theme I created and were enthusiastic about moving forward with it; however, they indicated a desire to build off my design and confirmed they did not want any contact info or social media on their truck.

First, the client requested a change from the moose family to a variety of animals native to Muskoka. This adjustment was simple enough to make; I sourced assets of a beaver and a bear and replaced the moose, ensuring their sizing and spacing were proportional to the bull moose and to effectively utilize the space. The client asked if I could extend the design up to the ‘lip’ of the truck; from a design perspective this was certainly feasible. I resized the elements to occupy more of the space and positioned the animal assets accordingly. Next, they wanted to reposition the logo on the right side of the truck from the service window to next to it, which was a straightforward adjustment.

Next, the client requested designs for the back generator and gas boxes of the truck, for this task I aimed to enhance visual variety while integrating the existing design. With the gas box, I continued the pattern of the forest at the rear of the truck while scaling it down slightly. I did this to give a pseudo 3D effect with the box, and added a moose to break up the visual monotony. For the small gas box I wanted a more distinct design. Inspired by the box's symmetrical cube shape, I created a representation of the Canadian flag using the client’s logo for the maple leaf.

My second draft of the design before creating an updated logo

updating the logo and finalizing the design

This leads me to the client’s next request; to update his logo to a more impressive design. Now that I had established a design style the client appreciated, I set out to create their logo with it in mind. The client wanted to keep the overall design of his logo, but to ‘modernize’ it.

To begin, I worked on updating the text in the logo. Inspired by film elements in the design, I opted for a font based on marquee lettering. I would find a font that was close to the examples I had researched, but it needed further enhancement. Initially, I attempted to incorporate marquee lights in the form of orange and yellow circles within the letters, however this made the text look too busy and did not achieve my desired effect. I created a 3D effect by duplicating the text, arranging the copy underneath and shifting it downward, after which I then connected the gaps of the text. To further emphasize the marquee design, I added an inward stroke in the same color as the bridging elements I created.

As for the maple leaf itself, I looked for inspiration from stylized maple leaves and I discovered a mosaic-like, polygonal design of a maple leaf that I felt would contrast nicely to the marquee lettering. I located a suitable asset and integrated it with my text. Satisfied with the result, I would then update the design of the truck with this new logo.

I then sent the second draft to the client and soon received a response. They were thrilled with my additions and redesign of their logo, with just two requests left.

Firstly, they wanted to reposition the logo on the right side of the truck from the service window to next to it, which was a straightforward adjustment. The second was more intriguing, the client wanted to highlight that they were selling food on the truck and had asked me to incorporate that element into my design. I quickly came up with the idea of replacing the film reel wheel with a hamburger, keeping the overall design intact. After some fine tuning, I had positioned the burger so that the film reel flowed naturally from it.

With this final adjustment, I sent the client another draft and received their approval to proceed with production. I was pleased to note that my design time had just reached the 3 hour mark I was given.

The final approved design of the food truck

production of design

With the approval I had received, I was able to move into the production phase of this project. The template I was using was a general representation of the size provided by the client, but each truck can have unique measurements for their elements. Because of this, I required specific dimensions of the truck, which the client would soon bring in for me to conduct measurements. After obtaining these measurements, I compared them against my template and was pleased to find little discrepancy between the two, as such only slight adjustments were necessary.

At this stage, I needed to preflight my design for printing. The process for this is relatively straightforward. For food trucks, the design would be divided into several ‘panels;’ each panel’s width determined by the roll of material we would use. Each panel slightly overlaps with a previous panel to ensure seamless coverage, and bleeds would be applied to the top and bottom edges as well as to the ends that reach around corners and sharp angles. This ensures the design fully covers the intended space. In essence, I was translating the 2D design I created into a preflighted format that would seamlessly fit on a 3D surface. For elements such as the logo on the front of the truck, no panels were necessary.. Given its size, I could make it a PLC (Print/Laminate/Cut) file, which would allow the file to be printed, laminated, and cut to shape for precise application to the truck as per my design.

Once this preflight process was completed, the panels were printed and subsequently installed by the installation team. The final results are shown below.

Reflecting on this project, I am quite proud of the final outcome. I valued the ideation and revisions process, particularly with a design that inspired me. I was also gratified by the client’s positive response and appreciation for the work.