Mardi Gras Mambo Combo – Vette #01
About this project
This year PG NOLA is proud to enter car #01 of two 2017 Z06 Supercharged Callaway Corvettes we wrapped for Cannonball Run 2018. Our clients came to us with two simple requests…. 1st, They wanted a Mardi Gras theme this year, but when asked what they would like to see in the design, what elements, colors, etc… all we were given was make people think Mardi Gras when they see them. Now, this is where the 2nd request came in as one of the brothers/clients walked over to Kevin “Professa” Kempf, placed his hand on Kevin’s shoulder and said, “MAKE THEM BETTER THAN LAST YEARS!!!” With pretty much no direction whatsoever besides Mardi Gras & beat last years wrap, Kevin had the task of figuring out what signifies “Mardi Gras”, but not just that, but will the masses see this and think “Mardi Gras”? Mardi Gras means different things to different people, so this was probably the hardest challenge in PG NOLA’s history. The first thing we agreed on was, DETAILS, DETAILS, DETAILS!!! We started by making various sized, even up to half-car size templates to map out ideas we had. Once we got the game plan, the Professa got busy with the design by creating from scratch, a truly seamless diamond pattern (4 total), then one with smaller size patterns of all three colors combined. The craziness didn’t stop there…to step it up a notch (thinking BEAT last years the whole time) We decided to add reflective bead overlays throughout the wrap, bumper to bumper, front to back, over the top, down under, etc.… We created five different styles of Mardi Gras beads from scratch, all vector formats that would soon become pinstripes and overlay the seams where panels each other, but also just to add some Jazz to the wrap. The beads flow in and out of jams, vents, the client’s logo, but even flow around the side mirrors of if they are flapping in the wind. We then added the 1/3rd smaller size multi-color reflective diamond patterns to the side exiting the vents behind the front wheels, but also at the door jam itself and into the jam. This now gives the door jam wrap design a reason to flow outside of the car so there is not a hard line of exterior & interior seams at the jam. When the door is open, the smaller diamonds flow out onto the exterior wrap, yet totally looking like they belong on/with the wrap. PG NOLA has always been known for thinking outside the box, so this year was no different. The gas cap and hood Mardi Gras doubloon are not only done in multiple layers giving it an embossed look, but they are actually made of with a rigid 3D substrate, so they almost float off the car. When the hood of the car is raised, the doubloon floats half on the car, half off to really add to the 3D WOW factor. You would think we are done, but not yet…. we Photoshopped & cropped over 70 real Mardi Gras doubloons so we can use on the beads and various spots on the car. The wheel faces are wrapped in chrome w/ the entire barrel wrapped in the multi-color reflective seamless pattern. Such details as wrapping both the front and back Corvette wing badged in purple, green & gold them was also done to help the entire look come to a completion. Lastly, we’d like you to pay attention to the diamond pattern as it goes from color to color, matching nearly 100% up and over the entire car. This was a very difficult task to accomplish, lots of material and design time was consumed in order to get a panel to wrap up and over or around a corner and still flow to match the next panel. Even where a large diamond pattern meets the 1/3rd scale pattern, they match up how they should.