Game day is on the horizon, and you need to transport your school’s athletic team on a bus that brings school spirit from the team to the community. To help you create the best athletic bus graphic design, we’ve covered all the bases – from design & cost considerations to timeline & installation. It all starts with the graphics.
The bus wrap design you choose should be bold, recognizable, and aligned with the school’s branding. That means colors, typefaces, and logos should match school brand design guides. There’s always room to go big, especially when it comes to athletic buses. At Vomela, when working with any college, we understand schools have their graphic design nailed down in-house, and our job is to help schools create a statement piece bus wrap design.
That said, there are a couple of things that don’t work well when it comes to bus wraps.
Time-sensitive design or information: Special dates or anniversary years can lose their impact as time passes. For example, a football team may be current reigning national champions, but if they lose the next year, the signage on the bus is no longer relevant.
Social/pop culture trends: All caps copy, Comic Sans font, The Shuffle — All are examples of social and pop culture trends had their place and time but are now obsolete. It’s important to design with the future in mind.
Graphics are meant to last, so create graphics to stand the test of time. While in-house design teams may have a great design in mind, graphics professionals who work on buses understand not only how to design timeless graphics but also how to manipulate awesome designs to better fit the bus itself.
Many schools prefer athletic bus design and installation to be completed in time for football season. Between the start of the semester and January, athletic buses will travel far and wide for football games, basketball tournaments, and wrestling matches. Bus wrap design should begin with artwork brainstorming sessions in Spring and Summer.
From the start of Fall semester in August or September, it is best to plan eight weeks for the design and installation process. Ideally, you will have a goal completion date in mind and work backwards eight weeks from there. As always, be sure to include extra room in your timeline to allow for artwork changes, budget adjustments, and installation.
Athletic buses can essentially become traveling billboards with the right graphics wrap, and the impressions schools gain from their athletic fleets are far more valuable than the cost of the wrap itself. This means better ROI and more money in your pocket for other expenses compared to paid billboard or newspaper ads.
Another consideration is installation; include installation in both total cost and timeline budgets, especially if your school has multiple campuses or multiple athletic buses. You'll also want to consider how often you'll be swapping out graphics, because every installation first requires a de-installation of the old graphic.
With each new athletic bus graphic design comes a renewed sense of community and school spirit. The athletic teams represent communities and institutions as they travel across the country to compete, and a bus that showcases school pride helps keep team morale strong along the journey. Not only do current students love when their athletic buses show off their school spirit; alumni also enjoy seeing their alma mater thrive.
A great athletic bus wrap sets a school apart and builds morale across the community. Start your athletic bus wrap design project with the professionals at Vomela to get your bus fleet looking spectacular in time for the next season.