William Smith Training Academy launches free crash course in architectural wrapping

William Smith Training Academy has launched a free online crash course designed to give people working in signage, vehicle wrapping, and interior fit out a quick, plain English introduction to architectural film installation.

Called the Architextural Crash Course, it takes under ten minutes to complete and is aimed at anyone wondering whether architectural wrapping might fit into their existing business, without requiring a day of training to find out.

The course covers what architectural films are, where they get used, the commercial opportunities involved, and how the wider support network around Architextural and its A-Team installer network fits together. It is entirely online, so there is no travel and no need to clear a day from the diary.

Kitchen refurbishments, retail refreshes, hospitality fit outs and furniture wrapping are showing up with increasing regularity for installers who already know their way around vinyl and a squeegee. For a lot of sign and graphics businesses, the skills transfer is closer than people assume, which is the gap the crash course has been built to close.

‘There is a lot of curiosity out there about architectural wrapping, but not always a clear way in. People assume it means retraining from scratch, when actually a good chunk of what they already do as wrappers applies directly. We wanted something that gets that across in minutes, not days,’ said John Raine, training and applications manager, William Smith Group 1832.

The course is a primer, not a qualification, walking through common applications and how existing wrapping skills are diversifying into interiors, before pointing towards what further training through the Academy and the A-Team network looks like.

The course is aimed at three fairly specific questions installers tend to be asking themselves: is this right for me, would it fit into what I already do, and if so, where do I actually start? Rather than a sales pitch, it has been structured as an honest overview, the kind of conversation you might have with someone at a trade show who has done this for years and just wants to give you the lay of the land.

For those who do want to go further, the course signposts the next steps clearly, including hands-on training through the Academy and the support structure around the Architextural A-Team installer network.

‘Sign and graphics businesses are always looking for the next sensible diversification, and architectural wrapping keeps coming up as one of the better options. This course is just about making that first step easy to take, so people can find out for themselves whether it’s worth pursuing further,’ concluded John.

The free Architextural Crash Course is available now at academy.williamsmith.co.uk/courses/architexturalcrashcourse