Melbourne wrap and signage group Graphic Effects is the winner of the Victorian Wrap Master final, the second state challenge of the series, with strategic planning coming through for the team despite a last minute player substitution. Grafico Group from North Melbourne and Tassie wrapper Signrite proved worthy opponents, with all three teams in the Victorian final finishing under the 4.5 hours allotted for the wrap contest, held at the AVS head office in Dandenong. Iain Gartley, owner and director of Graphic Effects; Bob Cuthill, production manager; and Callum Fulcher make up the winning Victorian team, which will now join victorious South Australia and Northern Territory winner SignCity at the nationals in Sydney later this year.
Victorian champions: (l-r) Iain Gartley, owner and director of Graphic Effects; Bob Cuthill, production manager; and Callum Fulcher
In the weeks leading up to the competition the group sorted out their game plan. Gartley says, “We spent a fair bit of time talking about the team dynamics and how we would approach it. Competing is completely different to how we would normally do our vehicle wraps – we decided to treat it as a sport, and thought that if all three team members were moving and being productive all the time we’d have a fair chance. “If you have three people then it is quite easy to be on top of each other and wasting time, so we figured out before what order to do things in, so we’d each always have something to do. We had this mapped out in our heads, and it worked pretty well for the first couple of hours – later we were jumping from task to task and getting things finished.” Cuthill was a later addition to the Graphic Effects team – the original third team member calling in sick. But with the plan in place, at game on the players put on their game face and got busy. Gartley says, “I had my blinkers on. A gun could have gone off next to me, I wouldn’t have noticed.” More than fifty spectators turn up to watch the contest during the five hours of wrap and judging, says ASGA president Michael Punch, including some visitors from Western Australia and Ballarat.
Shoulder to shoulder: the Victorian and Tasmanian competitors from Graphic Effects, Grafico Group and Signrite
As well as the typical rivalry between combatants, players and lookers-on alike shared tips and asked questions about wrapping and business before and after the competition. Punch says, “I was really proud to be involved in this industry when I mixed amongst them all – young and not so young, they were clearly there to do their best and to learn from each other and to enjoy the experience.” The next state round, for Queensland, is slated for the second day of the Visual Impact Expo at the Brisbane Exhibition Centre on April 11. SS Signs and The Digimen from Townsville are set to compete in Brisbane; ASGA is hoping two see at least two more contestants throw down the gauntlet. Punch says, “We are hoping at least two more companies will enter and grasp the marketing opportunity as hundreds of potential clients watch them.” In the meantime, the Graphic Effects team is mulling over ways to improve its performance, for a chance to play New Zealand in the Trans Tasman finals. Gartley says, “We had a debrief the day after, to talk specifics while they were fresh in our minds, and we will change a few things. As we get closer to the time we’ll bring out the photos and see what else we can do to minimise the stakes and maximise our efforts.”
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