Playa Graphics bedecks a fishing boat
By Steve Aust
Brad Styron began his signmaking career working for 10 years at his father’s shop, Sign Central, in Morehead City, NC. His desire to specialize in boat and vehicle spurred him to migrate to Florida’s Gulf Coast and set up his own shop, Playa Graphics, in Oldsmar, FL.
An avid local fisherman hired Playa to create a wrap for his fishing boat, a Hewes Bayfisher with a Yamaha outboard motor, In The Slot. Styron said its name referred to the term red-drum (a fish native to the Gulf of Mexico) anglers use to describe the high season when the fish are biting.
“He’d heard about my shop from other boaters in town,” he said. “I was a little nervous when I saw the four corrugated ridges on each side, but I was confident the right material, skill and patience could handle it.”
After having found the piscine graphic using online clip art and selecting a font appropriate for an aquatic motif, Styron designed the program using Adobe’s Creative Suite 3. Before graphic application, he prepped the boat with a mixture of water, denatured alcohol and soap.
He created the boat’s 64-sq.-ft. wrap using Avery Dennison Graphics & Reflective Products Div. MPI 1005 film with Easy Apply air-egress technology that’s sheathed with Avery’s DOL 1000 cast overlaminate. He fabricated the graphics using Playa’s Roland DGA Corporation VersaCamm VP540 54-in., eco-solvent, inkjet printer. To apply the laminate, Styron used a Royal Sovereign 1400C 65-in.-wide, pressure laminator. For his efforts, he received an extra perk in addition to the sale price – a joyride aboard In The Slot to take pictures.
Did you enjoy this article? Click here to subscribe to the magazine.