What Are the Biggest Vehicle Graphics Mistakes?

The biggest mistake is not having ANY graphics on your organization’s vehicles. But, once you’ve decided to brand your vehicles with graphics, there are a few mistakes which are easily avoided.

TMI — Too Much Information

This is the number one mistake made when designing vehicle graphics. For example, multiple logos — you probably don’t need the logo for every product you offer on your vehicle. You’re probably not Nascar, and they aren’t likely paying you to advertise. More impor­tantly, your logo — which should quickly identify your brand — can be easily lost in the confusion.

Another mistake is listing too many services. Vehicles aren’t suitable for bullet points. Remember, this is a car or truck, not a brochure, and you only have seconds to capture your prospect’s attention.

Too many images or concepts is another branding killer, such as a heating and cooling company wanting fire & ice images, then adding, “Oh, by the way, we do plumbing, so could we add a sink and a pipe wrench?” As well, using multiple slogans may seem like a good idea, but the most probable outcome is a muddied message — it’s usually best to stick with one slogan.

Unified Branding

Your vehicle should be part of your marketing plan, not a stand-alone.  Companies like Red Gold under­stand this; their 53-foot semi-trailers reflect their product branding. There’s no mistaking who they are or their message.

Colors and Fonts

I recently mentioned several common mistakes made with signs, and the same holds true with vehicle graphics. Hard to read fonts like a script or Comic Sans dimin­ishes read­abil­ity, and are typically unpro­fes­sional looking. More than two different fonts (three at most) clutter and confuse your message. Also, the wrong color can destroy your message. For example, yellow letters on a white truck or dark blue on black will be difficult, if not impos­si­ble, to read.

When branding your vehicles with graphics, the best thing you can do is…

Keep it simple.