Big Picture - September 2017 - 18

extreme vinyl

Carving out a Niche
Become an expert at something that no one else has done before. | by Sino Tour

he most honest form of filmmaking is to

BIG PICTURE

September 2017

make a film for yourself." - Peter Jackson
Tinseltown's love affair with vinyl
wraps (before anyone knew what to call
them) is the real deal. It's not some
short-lived fling; we're at soulmate status. This mutual
affection can be observed during a scenic moment of your
favorite film or even in a cheap paparazzi shot in a tabloid.
Visibility is vital in every business, and it's certainly no
exception in the well-oiled, nonstop machine known as
Hollywood. Producers are embracing the use of vinyl graphics
in the same way they would applaud a perfect pairing of two
leads with immense chemistry on the silver screen.
I'm also talking about an astonishing array of mediums
that make up the star-studded world of entertainment: cinema,
television, theater, music, commercials, public events, etc.
From the perspective of a wrap artist, it's a fairly untapped
industry that hauls in billions of dollars each year. This is
where my role as a vinyl expert has grown more and more
coveted. It's a role of a lifetime, and let's face it: There's
nothing wrong with wanting to be a "rock star" in your
profession or to gain some notoriety for your hard work.
Hopefully, it all equates to a blockbuster hit: More business.
More exposure. More money.

becoming the next prolific auteur, like Truffaut or Hitchcock.
Upon reconnecting with my past career in show business, I
had unknowingly tapped into a new market for vinyl graphics
and wraps. To this day, it's a market that I've carefully
cultivated with an elite community of artists, designers,
filmmakers, managers, and musicians, spawning a little
niche that has become another viable source of income for
my wrap company.
Niche, by definition, is "denoting or relating to products,
services, or interests that appeal to a small, specialized
section of the population." As any shop owner can attest,
we're always looking for new ways to capitalize on the
ever-evolving graphics market so that we may have a stable
business in a crowd of competitors. When we first started our
company, my business partner Susanne and I firmly established ourselves as fleet wrappers, and we took all the
necessary steps to solidify our place in the corporate branding
side of the wrap world. Fleet wraps are usually based on
volume, like a rebranding program or conversion that may
contain 20 to 1000 units. When a wrapper is tasked with
wrapping different types of fleet vehicles multiple times, he or
she is subconsciously honing his or her technique, speed, and
quality. It becomes a perfect learning platform before moving

ANSWERING THE CALL
When Hollywood came knocking on my door to secure my
specialized services in a creative capacity, my custom vinyl
work took center stage almost immediately. For the record, I
had prematurely closed the door on this industry about a
decade ago, though I'd always left it slightly ajar because of an
affinity for motion pictures and my big dreams of one day

SINO TOUR is co-owner and director of operations at Icon Image Graphics,
a full graphic installation company in Sante Fe Springs, California. You can
find him on Twitter @IconImageWrap and Instagram @sino_tour.

https://www.twitter.com/lconimageWrap https://www.instagram.com/sino_tour

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Big Picture - September 2017