How to Design Vehicle Wraps in Illustrator: 7 Key Steps

Key takeaway: Designing a vehicle wrap in Adobe Illustrator involves preparing a high-resolution vector blueprint and applying a clean, attention-catching design to the vehicle outline template. 

Follow my steps to create a standout vehicle wrap design using Adobe Illustrator.

Step-by-Step Tutorial on How to Design Vehicle Wraps in Illustrator

A well-designed wrap promotes your brand effectively with memorable messaging while showcasing visually balanced elements that capture attention.

Do these steps whether you’re wrapping a Tesla Cybertruck or your fleet vehicles.

1. Prepare your resources. 

Gather everything you’ll need for a beautiful and on-brand wrap:

• Vehicle Template File: Find a high-resolution vector outline that matches your vehicle’s exact make, model, year, and dimensions to create an accurate and print-ready design.
• Visual Elements: Prepare your brand kit, including your logo, icons, fonts, color palettes, and other available assets you use for a cohesive brand identity. Any graphics or images should be in high resolution for scalability.

Pro Tip: Consult your vinyl car wrap installer about their print guidelines, particularly the file type they want, before starting your wrap design. Most U.S. installers prefer .pdf, .ai, .eps, or .svg file extensions.

2. Brainstorm design ideas.

You want a wrap design that effectively communicates your brand identity and messaging. 

An eye-catching wrap harmonizes your color scheme, graphics, typography, and other elements for visual impact.

Decide whether you want a full wrap, partial wrap, or spot graphics.

Pro Tip: Draw inspiration from vehicle wrap designs that align with your vision. Platforms like Pinterest and Behance are excellent sources of aesthetic wrap ideas.

3. Open your template in Adobe Illustrator and start designing.

Adobe Illustrator is one of the best software applications for creating scalable vector designs.

Follow this process:

• Import your vehicle outline template to Illustrator, ensuring you scale it to match real-world dimensions.
• Work in vector format. Instead of pixels, vector graphics are made with mathematical equations, making them infinitely scalable without losing resolution. They are perfect for large-format prints like vehicle wraps. 
• Organize your work by using layers, each with a clear name. This means separating your vehicle template and design elements into individual layers for faster editing. 

4. Keep in mind vehicle wrap design best practices.

Our skilled designers at National Car Wraps recommend these basic principles to create beautiful, eye-catching designs:

• Keep it clean and visually balanced. Avoid noisy backdrops, chaotic imagery, and heavy gradients, which make viewers think hard to understand your brand message. Texts must be short and easy to read.
• Use simple, contrasting colors and bold, easy-to-read fonts. Your color palette should make it easy for viewers to read your text at a glance. Make your message pop! For example, use dark text colors if you have a light background and vice versa. 
• Spotlight your brand name, logo, and tagline, especially if your goal is to get leads and spread brand awareness.
• Position your website and phone number strategically in highly visible areas, particularly the sides of your vehicle rather than the roof or front hood.

Remember, less is more!

Most people only have a few seconds to look at your mobile billboard when it’s on the move.

Make a strong impact by highlighting the most essential elements your target audience will likely remember.

5. Consider your vehicle’s slopes and curves.

It’s best to avoid putting important elements, like your brand name and logo, over seams, door handles, and other curves.

Also, your wrap design mustn’t cover essential vehicle parts, including lights and license plates.

If your vehicle has sliding doors, check what the design looks like when the doors are open to avoid misalignment.

6. Double-check, visualize, and finalize your wrap design.

Be sure your design is error-free before sending it for printing.

Here are a couple of tips:

• Convert all colors to CMYK format to avoid unwanted color changes in the printed result.
• See how your wrap design looks on the vehicle by creating mock-ups. 

Pro Tip: Share your digital mock-ups with friends and colleagues for feedback before finalizing your design. 

7. Prepare your design for printing.

Convert texts and fonts to outlines, which means converting them into vector shapes, to ensure they appear exactly as intended when printing your wrap design. 

Finally, add between ⅛ and ¼ inch bleed margins to your vehicle outline, allowing for trimming after printing.

Once satisfied with your vehicle wrap design, export it as a PDF with all vector elements intact to ensure consistency in the results. Don’t forget to save a copy!

Level Up Your Fleet Branding With a Standout Wrap Design

Now that you know how to design vehicle wraps in Illustrator, the next step is to choose a trusted installer and turn your vision into reality.

With a well-thought-out wrap design, your vehicles become powerful marketing tools that promote your business wherever they go. They’re a long-term investment that may even offer better value than digital ads.

Don’t have the time to make your vehicle wrap design? Contact us today and our talented designers will create a custom design for your fleet!