We envisioned StickOut with 4 basic principles:
We want to give people the chance to take personalization to the next level. Whether it's using their own art to make a unique skin, or want to use their car to advertise their small business. This means we need to update our software, which take a lot of coding hours. We'll also need better servers to store all that uploaded graphics. [continue]
- You can apply the artwork not only on your car but also for your boat (as long it is placed above the waterline), on your door, on your boring furniture, on your fridge or even on the tail of your private jet :-)
- If you are more of a handy person or you have previous experience with vinyl application, you can ask to send you the full uncut artwork so you can decide “live” where to install it and cut it by yourself.
A quality and easy-to-use product is paramount for us. We've conducted extensive research and tests on materials to analyze the tradeoffs and chose the best solution for people without previous experience applying this type of graphics. We focused our research on 4 areas:
- The adhesive
- The graphic film - the media where the graphics is printed on
- The lamination - a clear layer that protects the graphics from the sun and scratches so they stay vivid for years
- The cut
The Adhesive
3M™ Controltac™ graphic film with Comply™ v3 adhesive delivers the benefits of easy installation and non-visible air release channels for a smoother appearance and higher gloss.
This adhesive has three major characteristics that makes easier to apply the graphics on your car:
- Slideability - the glue is pressure-activated, meaning that, unless you press the vinyl to your car, the adhesive will remain “inactive”. This allows you to slide the graphics on your car until you get to the right position.
- Repositionable - Controltac™ technology is a mechanical feature out of millions of glass spheres on top of the adhesive surface. This minimizes the initial contact area of the adhesive and allows the applicator to reposition the graphic during application.
- Bubble free - the adhesive has an array of micro air dissipation channels to help reduce trapped air and avoid those annoying bubbles.
There are basically three types of vinyl families: monomeric calendered, polymeric calendered and polymeric cast (or simply cast).
Calendered films start life as a lump of plastic that is then flattened by being passed through two pressure rollers suffering from an inherent “memory” problem. In other words, they shrink over time leaving an exposed adhesive strip around it which catches dirt.
Monomeric calendered vinyl - These are low-cost, short-life films suitable mainly for flat surfaces - not something that we would like to use in StickOut…
Polymeric calendered vinyl - These films have added polymers to reduce shrinkage. However, although they have developed significantly over the years, they still fall short of the stability and durability of cast films.
Cast vinyl - This is a premium grade vinyl that, unlike calendered films, they are manufactured with very little inherent stress in the materials so they have no memory so shrinkage is barely perceptible. They are also thinner and softer, they better conform to curved sufaces found in most vehicles.
At StickOut we wouldn’t compromise with the material so we chose to use only premium 3M™ cast vinyl.
The Lamination
The lamination choice has a significant impact on the ease of application and aesthetics. Good lamination matching the graphic film is essential to protect it from abrasion, chemicals and UV exposure to extend the graphics life and to keep them vivid and vibrant for several years.
3M™ Scotchcal™ Gloss Overlaminate perfectly complements the graphic film of our choice.
The Cut
We are aware that people may be reluctant to install the graphics on their cars by themselves so we worked hard to reduce all barriers making the installation as easier as possible. Cutting the artwork to fit the desired position on the car may be intimidating for many people afraid of harming their cars or the artwork itself.
We developed a method to cut the artwork to fit your car model and the specific spot that you would like it to be. The artwork is cut in top-of-the-art vinyl cutter to ensure maximum accuracy and clean finish.
