Sole trader with a ute
Cut vinyl lettering on both doors and the tailgate: business name, trade and phone number. It's the lowest-cost way to get identified and it can be upgraded later. See vehicle signage and decals.
Van & Ute Wraps Adelaide
Signwriting, wraps and canopy graphics for tradies and service businesses, on any make of van or ute.
Send us a photo of the vehicle and your logo, and we'll come back with a design proof and a fixed price.
Your work vehicle is your best ad
A tradie's van or ute spends most of the day parked outside a customer's house. The neighbours walk past it, the people across the street see it, and when one of them needs a plumber or an electrician next month, the name they remember is the one that was in the driveway.
Between jobs it sits in traffic, where the driver behind has nothing else to look at. Good signage turns both of those moments into enquiries, and it keeps working for years after it's fitted with no ongoing cost.
Van wraps and signwriting
We wrap and signwrite every make of van, from a HiAce or Trafic to a Transit, Sprinter or Crafter. Most jobs fall into one of three levels. Signwriting puts your name, trade and phone number on the doors and rear in cut vinyl. A half wrap covers the rear section of the van in printed graphics that fade into the paint. A full wrap covers every panel, which suits a business with a strong brand colour.
Vans have a few traps that we design around. The sliding side door means anything that runs across its edge gets split in half whenever the door is open, which is most of the day on a job. Window vans lose part of the side panel to glass, so the layout has to work on less space than a panel van. And on barn-door vans, the gap between the rear doors cuts straight through the middle, so the phone number needs to sit on one door.
For a side-by-side view of the coverage options, see our full wrap, partial wrap and decals comparison.
Ute wraps and canopy signage
Whether it's a HiLux, Ranger, D-Max, BT-50 or Triton, a ute gives you the doors, the tub or tray sides, the tailgate and, if you run one, the canopy. The canopy is often the best space on the vehicle: big, flat and at eye height.
Canopy doors that lift on gas struts need planning, because the graphics have to read properly when the doors are shut and line up across the panel gaps. Tray sides on cab-chassis utes are narrow, so they suit a single line of large text instead of a full layout.
Most work utes are white, which makes them ideal for a partial wrap. Printed graphics on the canopy and tub blend into the white paint and give you the look of a full wrap for less. If you want a colour change or a different finish, our car wraps page covers gloss, satin and matte options.
Where to put your phone number
Every panel on a work vehicle gets read differently. This is how we lay out a van.
The rear doors are the most valuable panels on a work vehicle. They're read for the longest, by the driver stuck behind you in traffic or at the lights, so that's where the phone number and website belong, in the largest text on the vehicle.
The sides are read in passing, by people walking by or driving the other way. They need the business name and what you do, big enough to take in within a couple of seconds. A long list of services doesn't get read, so we keep it to the three or four things you most want to be called for. The bonnet and front are mostly seen in a rear-view mirror, so they're the place to save money.
Working around ladders, racks and toolboxes
Trade vehicles rarely leave the factory as they are. Roof racks and ladder racks hide the top of the side panels, so anything important goes below the rack line. Toolboxes, tray bodies and canopies change the shape of the panels we're working with, and side steps and tow bars sit across the lower edges.
We also leave reversing cameras, parking sensors, lights and number plates clear. If you're planning to fit a rack or canopy soon, tell us before we design, because it's much easier to plan around it now than to rework the signage afterwards.
Reflective and hi-vis graphics
Reflective vinyl looks like standard vinyl in daylight, but it lights up when headlights hit it. That makes it useful for rear chevrons on vehicles that stop on roadsides, and for businesses that work early mornings and evenings when the vehicle is on the road in the dark.
We can cut lettering and logos from reflective vinyl as well, so your name and phone number stay readable at night. It works well combined with a standard wrap, with the reflective elements on the rear doors where following traffic sees them.
What level of coverage suits a trade vehicle?
Three typical setups, and who they suit.
Running a truck as well? See our truck wraps and signage.
Utes from our workshop
What a van or ute wrap costs
Every van and ute is priced individually. Coverage is the biggest factor: door and tailgate lettering is a small job, a half wrap sits in the middle, and a full wrap on a long-wheelbase high-roof van is at the top end, because there's simply far more panel to cover.
The vehicle itself matters too. A high-roof van has much more surface than a low-roof one, window vans and panel vans need different layouts, and a ute with a canopy has more panels to plan around than a bare tray. Reflective vinyl costs more than standard vinyl, so it's usually used for the parts that need it most.
If there's old signwriting or a faded wrap on the vehicle, it has to come off first, and sun-baked vinyl takes longer to remove. Send us photos of the vehicle for a fixed price, or call 08 8345 3177.
Van and ute signage questions
Can I change the phone number on my signage later?
Yes. Cut vinyl lettering can be peeled off and replaced with new details. On a printed wrap we can usually reprint and replace just the section with the old number instead of redoing the whole vehicle.
Do you make magnetic signs?
Yes. Magnetic signs suit a vehicle that's used for work during the week and privately on weekends, or a short-term job. They need a flat steel panel to sit on, should come off before the vehicle is washed, and should be lifted regularly so moisture doesn't get trapped against the paint. For a vehicle that's on the job every day, vinyl is the better long-term choice.
Can my van and ute have matching signage?
Yes. We adapt one design to each vehicle so they look like they belong to the same business, even though a van and a ute have completely different panels.
Can you remove old signwriting first?
Yes. We remove old lettering, decals and wraps and clean the panels before fitting the new graphics. Old vinyl that has been in the sun for years takes longer to remove, so mention it when you ask for a quote.
Do you do reflective signage for vans and utes?
Yes. We fit reflective vinyl for rear chevrons, lettering and logos. It looks like normal vinyl during the day and lights up in headlights at night, which suits vehicles that work on roadsides or early and late in the day.
Other vehicles we wrap
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Truck wraps & signage
Cab signage and body graphics for rigid trucks, laid out to be read from a distance.
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Trailer wraps
Turn the trailer behind your ute into advertising that works while it's parked at the job.
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Vehicle signage & decals
Cut vinyl lettering and logos when you want the vehicle identified without paying for a wrap.
Get your work vehicle quoted
Send photos of each side and the rear, plus your logo. We'll come back with a design proof and a fixed price.