Austin, Texas
Starting a business is an adventure filled with twists and turns. Just ask Pete LoBrutto, president and founder of Azure Vehicle Graphics of Austin, Texas. In 2003, after 15 years in the software industry, he decided to take the plunge into small business ownership. He has since transformed a sound business strategy into a thriving graphics business that is specialized, growing and profitable.
“The vehicle graphics market is growing rapidly,” LoBrutto said. “Increasingly, companies are looking at vehicle graphics as an effective means for advertising. Our customers come from a wide range of industries - from beverage companies to resorts and casinos. Full-color vehicle wraps are relatively new, but more companies are becoming aware of them, so demand is rising considerably.”
Today, Azure Vehicle Graphics boasts more than 100 customers across the U.S. and Canada, and the company has posted impressive business growth of 100 percent year over year. The cornerstone to this company’s busy production environment is a pair of SOLJET integrated printer/cutters.
Based on Roland’s award-winning print/cut technology, the SOLJET 54”-wide integrated printer/cutter delivers a one-step operation for the production of complex sign graphics - printing and then automatically contour cutting on one device without any steps in between. As a result, the SOLJET is ideal for producing even the most intricate custom graphic quickly, and in an unattended fashion.
One of the company’s most unique applications is a wrap completed for a “dollar store,” which
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sells a wide range of products priced at $1.00Us. To drive home the marketing message, the store’s delivery vehicle was “wrapped” in a giant one-dollar bill design. “We had to check with the secret service first to verify that we could legally scan a dollar bill,” LoBrutto said.
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“Picture trying to take rectangular pieces of vinyl and designing and applying them to the contours of a Beetle,” LoBrutto said. “In cases like this, the Our installers have expertise to handle these contours. It’s truly an art.”
For most of its work, Azure Vehicle Graphics designs using Adobe Illustrator® and Photoshop® and outputs to the SOLJET using Roland’s own RIP software and color profiles. Design files from customers can be scanned as well for use as artwork. Once designed and printed, the graphics are laminated and then applied to vehicles by the company’s trained installers. Azure Vehicle Graphics uses 3M cast vinyl and 3M overlaminate film exclusively for its graphics. To accommodate future capacity, LoBrutto plans to expand his production environment in a modular fashion, installing new SOLJET printer/cutters on an as-needed basis.
“The SOLJET printer/cutter’s versatility makes it ideal for this modular expansion strategy,” LoBrutto said. “I know that whatever direction my graphics business takes, the SOLJET is engineered to handle it.”
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