Passion, Pride The Pursuit of Perfection - The Cambea Project

By Javier Cruz and Damian Cordero

Entering this competition was very important to us. We knew that it was the first time that the Alltak and Tekton brand was going to be promoted in North America and we wanted to be part of that project. The competition was very well thought out, they brought in experts to judge and also gave the audience a chance to vote. We thought this to be very fun and inclusive. Plus the idea of having to share our progress on social media and seeing what the competitors were doing gave it that competitive edge. For the last few years, Damián has had a chance to collaborate together, we are two very like-minded people who love what we do. We enjoy promoting the industry and learning from it every day. When we found out about this competition we couldn't pass up the opportunity to participate together. We were very happy to have been chosen as one of the 10 finalists in the Cambea Virtual Wrap Competition… Damian and I spent a couple of days deciding what our focus was going to be. We really wanted to create something unique and original. Our goal was to design something that could showcase the appreciation and perspective of an installer. Right off the bat, we thought, let's create an octopus. This character has a very deep meaning, as installers we need to work like we have extra hands to be more productive and use many tools to help get us the final result. In our first draft, the Octopus was drawn on a sheet of paper and we started to think about what tools we could incorporate into its many tentacles. So we then decided on the tools that we believe are the most important; such as the torch, the spatula, the measuring tape, the "KnifeTucker" and the "Blade Cage". We took all these tools and added them to the Octopus so he looked like he was ready to take on that difficult project. The look we wanted was an installer hard at work and for that reason we named him “The Wrap Beasts”. The next part was picking the colors. Alltak and Tekton really challenged us because right after being selected they asked us to send our colors and our rough draft so they could send us the materials. When we ordered the material we did not have the whole concept together, just a general idea. So we took the colors we ordered and started to pick colors that would complement each other. We wanted to convey two different color schemes for each side of the vehicle, the same design just different colors. On the driver's side, we chose strong and vivid colors to represent the aggressive installer who does not need to plan and gets the job done, which is more of Damian's personality. On the passenger side, we made softer and brighter colors for the installer who is strategic and analytic in its installation which is more of my personality. From there we wanted to take it a bit further and see how we could incorporate unity within the design, so we included the different flags of the countries that made this project possible. Brazilian

Flag for Alltak, Canada since they are Tekton the Importers, Argentina Flag for Damian, and United States and Mexico flags to represent myself. Every single detail was thought out very carefully. The color of the car was a bright light color so to help bring the design together we decided to wrap everything that could be wrappable and remove the original color. We ended up wrapping the door jambs, under the hood, the trunk, and some interior highlights. This vehicle was a special treat because it challenged us even further as an installer. The Corvette Stingray is one of the only cars that has the capability to wrap under the car and so we said why not?! This design was projected more toward a wrap installer. It really helped us learn how to work together, helped us get creative, and helped showcase how much we do as installers. We were very anxious to see the results of who would win.

Once the work was submitted the 10 finalists designs were going to be reviewed by the judges for scoring. The way they would be scored was 50% by the judges scores and the other 50% by public vote. The prize was a paid trip to Brazil to participate in one of the biggest Wrap events in South America “Cambea 13” which will be held at the Interlagos Festival from August 8th to 11th. The day the results were given, Damian and I were in Long Beach California at another wrap competition. We were getting ready for that next competition when we received a call telling us that we had won the Cambea Virtual Wrap competition. We were ecstatic! We really put a lot of effort, passion, and time into the Cambea Virtual Wrap Contest. We are extremely happy and grateful to Alltak and Tekton for the opportunity and also to all the public who voted for our work to make this possible.