BHOPAL: A 23-year-old graphic designer from the city is using his creativity to give a new look to vehicles, both two- and four-wheelers. His skill in giving an unusual and attractive makeover to vehicles, whether new or old, has won him over 7 lakh followers on Instagram.
Ashu Khan uses a technique called ‘colour wrapping’ to ‘repaint’ vehicles in new colours. Colour wrapping involves using a vinyl sheet that sticks closely to the body of the vehicle and looks exactly like paint - though it costs must less than the conventional spray painting and more importantly, once you get bored with the new colour you can get the wrapping removed to get the original colour back or wrap it in a new colour.
Thus, a white Suzuki Access or blue Honda Activa can sport crimson or pink or red colour. Not only that, Aashu also makes graphics on the body, to give the vehicles a distinct look. For more demanding customers, he changes the design of the headlights, taillights and number plates, as well.
He can also redo old models of the vehicles to make them look like new, expensive ones. For instance, Yamaha R15 costs around Rs 1.45 lakh while Yamaha R3, which is a sports bike, is priced at around Rs 3.5 lakh. Ashu can change the colour scheme, the logos etc to make your R15 look like R3.
Ashu got interested in giving vehicles a new look as a child when he used to sit at a vehicle repair shop in old Bhopal after school hours. He soon discovered his talent and after passing class 12, decided to adopt it as his profession.
He also works on cars, though graphics are not much involved in their case. “I have changed the colours of expensive vehicles like Mercedes, Landrover and Audi,” he told Free Press. In cars, the work is limited to colour wrapping. “Some customers want the colour of the roof should be different from the rest of the vehicle,” he said.
Ashu, who has been running his own shop, ‘Level Up Graphics’, in Shahjehanabad for the past two years, keeps on posting the ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures of the vehicles redone by him as also videos on Instagram and that has won him lots of popularity. “I have around seven lakh followers,” he said. He also receives calls from Mumbai, Kolkata, Allahabad and even abroad. “I can only give ideas and advice to the callers from faraway places though I do ask customers from nearby places like Jhansi and Chhinndwara to bring their vehicles to Bhopal, “he said.
According to Ashu the makeover of a two-wheeler can cost anything between Rs 3,000 and Rs 10,000 while in the case of cars, it starts at Rs 30,000 and goes up to Rs 50,000
