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Film in the News
Compiled from News Reports Around the World

Window film is a popular item among consumers and, as such, stories about it pop up almost every day in newspapers around the world. The Window Film staff has compiled a few on this page that we found interesting. To submit articles that you see in consumer publications or your own hometown press, please e-mail a link to the story to erogers@glass.com or mail a copy of the article to Attn: Window Film magazine, P.O. Box 569, Garrisonville, VA 22463.

Full Steam Ahead
Burlington, Mass. – Vehicle wraps have seen increased popularity in recent years. Consumers can wrap their cars or trucks to give the vehicle a unique flare; business owners may choose to do so to advertise a product or service. Regardless of the application, DGI-Invisuals (DGI-I) in Burlington, Mass., is one company that’s wrapped just about everything—including a train. The company recently worked with advertising firm Arnold Worldwide and Amtrak in wrapping an 85-foot Amtrak passenger car with more than 2,000 feet of vinyl wrap to promote McDonald’s McCafe coffees.

DGI-Invisuals faced several challenges when it came to creating the wrap. These included the fact that the train had a rippled surface, which meant special measuring techniques needed to be employed to be certain the vinyl would fill the vertical space accurately. And, because the company had to apply a 2-dimensional design onto a 3 dimensional object, the team had to be sure and pay special attention to bleed and sizing.

In addition, the graphics file size was very large—8 GB—so designers had to break the file into multiple pieces to make print production manageable.

Likewise, DGI-I says placement of the vinyl was critical, as it had to fall in very specific locations on the train in order to properly convey the design concept, so site inspection and measurements were also critical.

In the end, DGI-I’s work was approved on the first round of proofs, putting them on track to meet the deadline. The graphics were produced using 3M IJ180 adhesive vinyl with 3M 8519 lamination, perforated window film and CAD cut vinyl for overlaid text and logos. DGI-I was provided a four-day installation period, but says it finished ahead of schedule and completed the installation in just three days.

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