Another busy U.S. run coming up next week
This Sunday I start a bit of an epic journey. First, I fly out to LA to wrap my buddy's car. He, along with his girlfriend, own an online company called Sweety High. I will be wrapping his girlfriend's BMW with Avery 1005 Supercast with their new 3D overlam. The wrap was designed by Randy Anderson at Mutoh and it was printed on a Mutoh Valuejet. After wrapping it up on Monday I fly to Vegas on Tuesday for the SGIA sign show. I will be doing demos in Mutoh's booth along with Todd LaBrie from Carwraps. For this show Mutoh is bringing in Rusty Wallace's race car. Instead of just wrapping I will be giving small workshops on how to apply graphics so feel free to come on by and wrap Rusty Wallace's car. On Friday I fly to Santa Cruz for a good friend's wedding then Sunday I head out to Painesville, OH - home to Avery Headquarters. At Avery, I will be teaching the Mutoh School of Wrap workshop that runs from October 18-20 (www.mutohschoolofwrap.com). I then head home on the 22nd to my ladies. Well, actually, my wife will be flying to LA on the 22nd from Amsterdam o do a story for a new Tony Scott film so that reunion will have to wait a few days. Frequent flier family.
DVD in the Box
I am really happy to announce that starting in October Mutoh will be putting my DVD in the box with their most popular printers. The deal was finalized last week which means, well, a lot of people will be getting "Techniques and Tips: Vehicle Graphic Installations" with their printers. Very exciting. A special thanks to Brian Phipps, General Manager at Mutoh America, for pushing this forward.
Epic 2 Week Workshop/Sign Show Completed
I just got back to Amsterdam after completing a 2 week workshop/sign show bonanza in LA and Reno. In week one I taught 2 private workshops for Icon Image Graphics and an owner of a Sign O' Rama in Perth, Australia.
I then worked the Mutoh booth in the NBM Long Beach show.
After getting a Sunday off I then taught the Mutoh School of Wrap that was hosted by Graphics One in Burbank. Monday and Tuesday was the Basic/Intermediate and on Wednesday the Advanced.
Thursday morning I flew to Reno to teach a 2-day private workshop for Sierra Custom Signs.
Friday I flew back to LA to hang out with family then Saturday I returned to my ladies back in Amsterdam. Definitely a high energy run but well worth it. It was nice to meet so many people eager to learn the art of wrapping. Next workshops coming up are at Squeezy on September 2 and the Mutoh School of Wrap at Avery Headquarters in October. For more information on that workshop go to: www.mutohschoolofwrap.com.
NBM Sign Show for Mutoh completed
Yesterday was the last day of demos I did for Mutoh in their booth at the NBM Long Beach show. Over the three days I wrapped a boat using Avery's 1005 Supercast with 1.3mm overlam. The graphics were printed brilliantly with a Mutoh Valuejet. This was only the second time I wrapped a boat so it was nice to get some practice in. One of the aspects of the 1005 Supercast that I like so much is the initial low tack. This enables me to install something as long and awkward as the side of a boat by myself. The reason for this is that I can take the entire backing paper off and install at my own pace. A special thanks to all of those at Mutoh, especially Brian Phipps, for all their help during the show and to Ron Winter from Avery and Todd LaBrie from Carwraps for all their input. Next show on tap is SGIA in Vegas in October. For that show I will be wrapping Rusty Wallace's race car in Mutoh's booth. Exciting stuff so be sure to come on by.
movie clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRUtqgW6Sr8
Private workshops in LA completed
I just got done teaching two private workshops in LA. The first one was for Icon Image Graphics and the second was a one-on-one for Craig, co-owner of a Sign O'Rama in Perth, Australia. The students for both workshops were experienced installers looking to lower their installation times and find new tips and techniques for the more challenging aspects of vehicle installations. Craig said at the end of the workshop today that it was well worth the time and travel. He feels that from what he picked up he has lowered his time per vehicle by 1-2 hours. With 50 vehicles on tap for the rest of the year it adds up to a big profit. Its nice to see that more and more people get my message which is that quality, durability and speed can be combined if you have the right system and technique. A special thanks to Avery for supplying the 1005 Supercast with 1.3mm overlam and Mutoh for printing up the perfect prints on their Valuejet.
Here's a video from the Icon Image Graphics workshops:
Getting Ready for the Next Mutoh School of Wrap Workshop
I'm busy getting everything ready for the upcoming Mutoh School of Wrap Workshop at Graphics One in Burbank. The Basic/Intermediate workshop runs Aug. 16/17 and the Advanced is Aug. 18. For the Basic/Intermediate, we will again be wrapping one of the participants vehicles from start to finish. This is nice potential bonus for signing up for the workshop. The media used will be Avery's 1005 Supercast with 1.3mm overlam and all the graphics will be printed on a Mutoh Valuejet. For more info or to sign up go to: http://www.mutohcarwraps.com/MutohSchoolofWrap.html.
Before this workshop I will be doing demos in Mutoh's booth at the Long Beach NBM sign show. If you are at the show, come on by to check out the demos or ask me questions as I wrap it up. Always nice to be doing the sign shows/workshop in sunny California.
Great testimonial
This is a testimonial a student from my last workshop sent to Mutoh. The kind words were much appreciated and, equally important, I think he really defined what I do and how it is different from what everyone else is teaching.
"After having attended a few other wrap training classes I was still facing struggles with installs that took longer than expected. I did some searching on the web and found stellar reviews for Justin Pate and the Mutoh Hands-On Wrap Class. It was clear that with his years of experience, Justin had developed a unique system to break down the complexity of wrap installations. I felt that learning them first-hand was a necessity to decrease overall installation times and increase our profits.
The class far exceeded my expectations from the get go. Justin took the time to explain materials, tools, vendors, techniques and more. He went over his UGIS technique in detail, with numerous visual and hands-on examples. I couldn’t believe that this system hadn’t been “required teaching” by the major material vendors. With over 2500+ installs under his belt, it was clear to see that there was a well thought process behind developing his technique. His has made the UGIS easy to understand, simple learn and a breeze to execute.
In previous classes, we were encouraged to use heat to stretch the material into any space, this however led to premature failure and obvious re-do’s. In fact, the entire class was in awe when Justin installed the side of a Ford Transit using UGIS and no heat. Justin showed us how to “visually read” the material so that we could minimize film distortion. We learned to use proper hand tension and tool technique instead of heat to make the material conform, as we needed. This knowledge alone has saved us countless hours in install time and re-do’s.
I cannot say enough good things about Justin and what I learned in this class, it’s truly a game changer in our shop. It will increase production efficiency and quality, which in turn will lead to bigger profits. My only regret is that I was unable to attend the Advance Workshop the following day. Had I been able to change my flight, I surely would have made it!"
Elmer Martinez
GMediaWraps
GMediaWraps.com
847-791-6668
Mutoh interview about wrapping
Brian Phipps, general manager of Mutoh, was interviewed about printers and vehicle graphics. He talked about the Carwraps Business Builder and my trainings. Thanks, Brian.
Mutoh School of Wrap Workshop at Seal completed
I just got done teaching the 2-day basic/intermediate workshop for Mutoh at Seal in Elkridge, MD. Once again, it was a great class. All the students were eager to learn and wrap, wrap wrap. We wrapped one of the students vehicles, pictured below. We worked a lot on technique and understanding the film and really only got to wrapping the car during the afternoon session on day 2. I was very impressed that with everything they had picked up they wrapped the car in 3 1/2 hours. Thanks as always to Mutoh for printing such beautiful graphics and Avery for their supa Supercast. A special thanks to Mark Rugen and Seal for the hospitality. Tomorrow the advanced workshop and then off to Halifax to teach a private workshop for Avery.
Online videos coming out in DVD format
I'm happy to announce that "Techniques and Tips: Vehicle Graphic Installations" videos are coming out in DVD format starting June 5. The DVD was shot in HD and is over 144 minutes long. It covers everything from basic techniques like cleaning, hardware removals and properties of the film to advanced techniques like bumpers, deep recessed areas and door handles. The DVD will sell for $89 and come with a free Squeezy Sleeve. To pre-order now go to: dvd@justinpate.net.
Techniques and Tips: Vehicle Graphic Installations will continue to be sold at Carwraps and given to new Mutoh owners via Carwraps (www.carwraps.net)