Retro and Vintage Themed Advertising for a Heating and Air Company (HVAC)

By Dan Antonelli / President & Creative Director, NJ Advertising Agency Graphic D-Signs, Inc. 

Creating a nostalgic brand that lives up to this HVAC company's promise of old-school professionalism.

A new brand breathes new life - and a 65% increase in sales.

Here's the new vintage and retro themed branding for
Timo's Air Conditioning and Heating

When Palm Spring, CA-based Timo's Heating & Air Conditioning decided to elevate their business image, they knew we'd be the perfect match to take an already reputable brand to even greater heights. Having built their family-owned business on unparalleled customer support, fair pricing and craftsmanship, it was time to partner with a marketing firm to help them grow their business even further.

After discussing the direction and focus for their branding, we decided to highlight their history with a retro-themed brand that communicated the quality service that's often missing from today's service companies. Following extensive research, we hand-drew the new Timo's icon, as well as the typography--to reflect a design style indicative of the mid 50s.

Playing off the branding, we developed the company's stationery, along with their most important branding asset: their vehicles. A unique design was created for their service vehicles, which has proven to be a source of renewed brand recognition and quality leads.

Next was the HVAC web site design, which really carries the retro theme. We like to think that, if the internet been around in the 1950s, this is what web sites would look like. A very aggressive search engine marketing strategy was built into the site, and it serves as great generator of firm leads, as well.

In June, 2012, the truck wrap and vehicle advertising we designed was awarded first place in HVACR Magazine Tops in Trucks Contest. Their truck was also featured on the front cover of SignCraft Magazine. Timo's was also recently interviewed in the September 2012 Issue of HVACR Magazine. You can read their interview (and the nice things they had to say about us!) by clicking here.

What the client says:

"When we first stumbled upon Graphic D-Signs one year ago, we never could have imagined how influential this company would be to our business. What started as simply needing a website turned into the complete reinvention of our company's image and appeal.

Dan and his team took our original logo and modernized it... recreating it in a jaw-dropping way that demands attention from whoever sees it. Dan later applied the new logo to our vehicle advertising and created a stunning design that has received praise and admiration from not just our customers, but our competition as well. Our technicians get stopped on a daily basis and are asked for business cards simply because people see our vehicles on the road.

Last, but certainly not least, Dan and his team created our website. Words cannot express how impressed we are with the design and development of the entire project. We gave Graphic D-Signs complete freedom to design the site however they wished, and they surpassed our every expectation. Positive feedback has been pouring in since the day our website went live.

The most important thing Dan and his staff have done is breathe new life into our 20-year-old business, and helped us grow the business by over 60% in the last three years. Walking into the office every morning is an entirely new experience since our brand has been created. Because of that, we offer our sincerest thank you to Dan and all of the staff at Graphic D-Signs. You guys are awesome." - Joe Timo, President, Timo's Air Conditioning & Heating

Retro web site design, copywriting and HVAC marketing success using search engine optimization

Timo's award-winning air conditioning and heating vehicle advertising - featured on front cover of SignCraft Magazine

Timo's Air Conditioning and Heating have success with their retro and vintage themed stationery design and printing

Collateral and brochure design, copywriting and printing for capabilities brochure, just another example how retro logo design and branding works for Timo's Air Conditioning and Heating

 More details of Timo's Air Conditioning and Heating retro HVAC logo design and branding at work

Collateral and brochure design, copywriting and printing for service agreement brochure highlight Timo's Air Conditioning and Heating retro HVAC logo design and branding

Door hangers with Timo's Air Conditioning and Heating retro HVAC design and printing

Billboard design, layout and copywriting with Timo's Air Conditioning and Heating retro HVAC logo and vintage branding

Vintage and Retro HVAC logo design brings Timo's Air Conditioning and Heating billboard to life

Timo's Air Conditioning and Heating HVAC truck wrap design is an Award-winning vehicle- 1st Place, HVACR Business Magazine Top in Trucks Contest

Graphic D-Signs, Inc - The Small Business Advertising Agency is a New Jersey based advertising agency serving the marketing needs of small businesses, including HVAC companies, with logo and branding creation, web design and online marketing, print design and collateral development and traditional advertising and consultation services for HVAC contractors and others.

NJ Orthopaedic Center Says "Mission Accomplished" With New Sophisticated Brand

By Dan Antonelli / President & Creative Director, NJ Advertising Agency Graphic D-Signs, Inc. 

Giving a cutting-edge doctor a state-of-the-art brand.

Every client that comes to us gets an honest evaluation of their current brand. Working with Dr. Kayal was no different. He showed us his current logo, which utilized two colors - red and black. We felt those two colors did not have a positive connotation. So we started there - building a more modern, clean and sophisticated brand.

Once that was completed, the other components began falling into place. After tackling his stationery and web site, we built a consistent design structure for all of Dr. Kayal's print advertising. And the search engine work has resulted in Dr. Kayal's practice getting many leads—since his web site is now at the top of the search engines for dozens of terms.

What the client says:
"I could not be more pleased with the professionalism and expertise of Dan Antonelli and his entire staff at Graphic D-Signs, Inc. Words cannot express how grateful I am for the way they completely rebranded Kayal Orthopaedic Center, PC.

When I first contacted GDS, I had one goal in mind... to rebrand my practice... all I can say is MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! Not only do I just love the new look, so do my patients and staff." -Robert Kayal, MD, Founder, President & CEO, Kayal Orthopaedics, PC.

NJ medical and health company modern logo design and branding

Clean and modern web site design, medial and health company copywriting and search engine optimization success for NJ Orthopaedic Center

Custom online flash banner ads for NJ Orthopaedic Center, Medical and Health Company logo and brand design

Medical and health company print design and copywriting for Kayal Orthopaedic Center, NJ

Medical and Health Company Stationery design and printing

Facebook Design and Set Up with logo and branding for Medical and Health Company

Print collateral for NJ based Orthopaedic Center featuring health company logo design and branding

Online flash banners contribute to online marketing success for medical and health company, Kayal Orthopaedic

Graphic D-Signs, Inc - The Small Business Advertising Agency is a New Jersey based advertising agency serving the marketing needs of small businesses, including Medical and Health Companies, with logo and branding creation, web design and online marketing, print design and collateral development and traditional advertising and consultation services for Medical and Health Companies and others.

Top 5 Tips On Getting the Most from Your HVAC Truck Wrap

By Dan Antonelli / President & Creative Director, NJ Advertising Agency Graphic D-Signs, Inc.

Looking for the best ROI on your HVAC truck wraps?
Here's a few tips to get the best HVAC truck wrap for your business.

When viewing most HVAC truck wraps on the road today, you’d think the concept of designing a simple, easy-to-read message was difficult to understand for most companies designing HVAC truck wraps. This is unfortunate, as HVAC truck wraps are not cheap, and when done correctly, can generate substantial leads for service businesses, especially heating and air contractors. When done incorrectly, they represent a missed opportunity, wasted cash and a poor ROI.

Rule #1: Start with A Great Brand

So many HVAC truck wraps fail from a marketing perspective because the company has a poor brand identity and logo. The brand should always be the primary message for a vehicle wrap, unless you have national brand recognition. By starting with a poor brand means you’ve failed before you’ve begun: by wasting money on a wrap and missing a huge marketing opportunity. Carefully examine your current brand and ask yourself if it represents who you are as a company, and more importantly, the perception it garners. If it's dated, illegible from a distance, uses clip art, or is just simply not memorable or unique, it may be time for change. Here's where you want to stand out, not fit in like every other HVAC contractor with snowflakes and flames in their logos.

Rule #2: Don’t Use Photos

If you're using photos on your HVAC truck wrap, you're probably doing yourself, and your brand a disservice.  There are few effective wraps that use photos, and I’d argue that any wrap that uses a photo could have been more effectively done without one provided the company had a good brand (see Rule #1). A photo is not a brand identity; it doesn’t connect me with the business name. Maybe it connects me with what the company does, but if doesn't connect me with who the company is.

Rule #3: Limit Your Advertising Copy

I know your HVAC truck looks like a big canvas. That doesn't mean we need to fill it with a grocery list of every HVAC service under the sun. There’s only 3 or 4 things a good wrap needs: strong brand implementation, and perhaps tagline messaging, a web address, and maybe a phone number. Bullet lists, which look more like shopping lists, have no place on a vehicle. This isn’t the yellow pages. Would you rather list 10 things and have none remembered, or convey one to two memorable takeaways? If this truck were a billboard, how much copy would be on it? Billboards have the exact same challenges as vehicle advertising. If you prioritize your copy, it will be more effective. In general, the hierarchy should always be: BRAND, TAGLINE, WEB and/or PHONE NUMBER.

Rule #4: Design to Stand Out, Not Fit In

This isn’t the part where many might say diamond plate, carbon fiber, tribal flames will make your HVAC truck wrap stand out. Or the picture of the owner and his family flanking a condensor unity. Quite the contrary. By eliminating all those fills, noisy backgrounds, photos, bevels, and glows, you’ll be well on your way to designing a wrap which actually stands out. The wrap market is littered with visual noise. When we see something with impact -- something that we can actually read and remember -- it can't help but stand out among the visual clutter.  Start with the basics and if you keep needing to add things to the design to make it 'better', it's probably not good to begin with. 

Rule #5: Simple and Obvious is Good

If the viewer needs to work too hard to figure out the primary brand messaging, it’s an opportunity lost. The medium isn’t the same as print design, where the viewer can stop, absorb the advertising and try and understand the message. Consider that one, primary takeaway you’re hoping to leave with the viewer. What is it? And does the wrap effectively communicate it? Is it lost in the imagery? Distance legibility is, of course, a primary concern. You have very limited time to capture the viewer’s attention and have your brand and message be understood and remembered.

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Retro themed HVAC truck wrap example.

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Award-winning retro-themed partial truck wrap for heating and air firm in Palm Springs, CA. We also handled their branding.

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Award winning retro truck wrap and branding example for HVAC contractor in FL.

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Click here for more examples of effective HVAC truck and vehicle wraps.


Dan Antonelli is the President and Creative Director of Graphic D-Signs, Inc, a NJ advertising agency specializing in small business advertising, marketing, and brand development, including HVAC logo design and HVAC web design services.