SHOP TALK Z7GFX OF HAZEL AL | GINNY MUMM
The road to opening up a graphics shop.
Z
ach Jones, owner of Z7GFX, has always taught himself what he needed to know to run his bu s i n e s s , m a i n l y, h e s ay s , because “I didn’t have the money to pay anyone else to do it.” A long-time fan of graphic design, Jones learned Adobe® Photoshop® and InDesign® so he could run an online business while in college. After graduation, he freelanced as a racing engine builder and then followed that up by working as an iron door manufacturer. One day, his boss asked him to wrap a work trailer. “I’d never done a wrap before,” he said. “That’s when I discovered I really enjoy wrapping.” Jones enrolled in a Roland DGA Born-to-Wrap class back in 2015 and learned how to design effective vehicle graphics, produce quality prints, and quickly wrap a vehicle. After that, he bought a Roland DG SOLJET 64-
inch printer/cutter and, in 2016, started Z7GFX in his parents’ garage. “I’ve always been into drag racing and my family has roots there, so those connections really paid off when I opened my wrap business,” he says. “In addition to racing teams, I do work for racing industry manufacturers and lots of jobs for several big names in the industry.” Jones ending up building his current 4,000-square-foot facility (complete with a climate-controlled installation bay) on some family-owned land. “I like owning a graphics shop because there’s always a lot to do,” he says. The Z7GFX shop is located in the Huntsville, Alabama metro area. “We wrap fleets for some local universities,” says Jones. “We also do food trucks, utility trucks, delivery trucks, catering vans, transit busses, and just about anything else on wheels. We’ve done work for the fire and police departments in
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Sign Builder Illustrated
October 2021
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To read more details about Z7GFX and view additional photos of their projects, please visit https://bit.ly/3kcsPtl. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Sign Builder Illustrated, PO Box 239, Lincolnshire IL 60069-0239 USA. Instructional information provided in this magazine should only be performed by skilled crafts people with the proper equipment. The publisher and authors of information provided herein advise all readers to exercise care when engaging in any of the how-to-activities published in the magazine. Further, the publisher and authors assume no liability for damages or injuries resulting from projects contained herein.
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Photo: Z7GFX.
Vibrant Prints Fuel Growth
the area.” Jones also provides a lot of custom wraps and color change-outs for clients looking to personalize their ride. “We saw a significant increase in auto restyling requests during 2020,” he says. “Currently we offer more than 400 color options, as well as unlimited ways to customize one’s car or truck.” Huntsville also happens to be a big military town, so Z7GFX also does work with charities for the families of military service members or first responders. “We will also help out if a local church or charity needs graphics,” says Jones. In addition to vehicle wraps, Z7GFX also offers custom decals, printed banners, and posters. “We don’t do signage in the industry sense of the word,” says Jones, “but we will help out any of our clients who need four-by-eight-foot signs printed.” To attract new clients, Jones does a lot of outreach by posting their work on Facebook and Instagram. “That really amplifies our word-of-mouth referrals and brings in a lot of clients,” he says. “We’ve also focused on requesting additional Google reviews because we’ve noticed that the more five-star reviews we have then the more traffic we get.” Jones believes that his shop is on a good trajectory, aided with quality production equipment needed to continue to grow his business. He has one employee now and hires others when needed. Currently Jones is excited to be opening an online store. “We’re also working on streamlining our ordering process overall,” he says. “It’s amazing how quickly you can knock out a thousand decals, so we want to make it easy for our clients to order them.”