By Sym Posey | The Birmingham Times
When Hurt Coleman is described as one of Birmingham’s most influential wrappers, there needs to be some context. It’s not “rapper,” as in hip-hop, but “wrapper,” as in the owner of a widely successful business that creates custom vinyl print wraps for almost anything— vehicles, buildings, even caskets.
Coleman, 42, started his business, Birmingham-based Wrap It Up Customs LLC, in 2019, after taking his personal vehicle, an Aston Martin Rapide, to get a vinyl covering.
Car wrapping consists of covering a vehicle’s exterior with vinyl film to change its appearance.
“The price they quoted me, I was wondering why it was so high, what made it so expensive,” Coleman recalled. “I began researching, and the more research I did, the more videos I saw, the more information I found, I got quite interested.”
Vinyl printing has become a popular choice across various industries, from advertising and marketing to crafting and personalization. It offers a wide range of possibilities for creating vibrant graphics, signage, custom apparel, decals, and much more.
Creating a Lane
Coleman began taking classes around the United States, in places like Georgia and Texas, and paid for training to increase his skills as a wrapper to attract his own clientele. He eventually received certifications from three respective companies.
“I started in my garage [in 2018],” he said, adding that what began as ” playing around, grew to customers here and there.”
“I developed a talent and a knack for it,” Coleman said. “I saw myself getting progressively quicker and better. Also, the market in Birmingham wasn’t a large market. It wasn’t something very known or very big.”
In Black and brown communities, “we are normally the first to make something a little bit more popular,” he said. “Other cultures kind of mimic what we do. I saw that we didn’t have [vinyl car wrapping] in our neighborhoods, in our cities, in our streets, but we own and operate the car community. We have car shows, we have lots, we have the races, we have the burnouts, [the act of spinning your car’s wheels while staying in place]. …. I just saw myself being able to create [the car wrapping] lane for us.”
“I just threw myself out there, and it just clicked,” he added. “And when I say it clicked, it clicked hard.”
Coleman found a market that was all his. “I was No. 1. I was a pioneer. I was the guy that brought it the attention that it has now,” he said. “If there’s a wrapper out there or somebody doing it in a garage or the back alley or down the street, they probably watched my videos first.
“They saw me do it on car hoods and things like that first, especially during [the COVID-19 pandemic], when people were bored and didn’t have much to do. Things like tinting windows or taillights, painting rims, or painting calibers are very known in a lot of other markets, like Atlanta, [Georgia], Los Angeles, [California], or Miami, {Florida]. … But in central city, meaning Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and those little areas, [car wrapping] wasn’t readily available.”
Love and Compassion
Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Coleman grew up as an orphan and ward of the state of New York.
“[Coming] up the way I did had a major impact on me, negatively and profoundly,” he said. “The absence of trust or regard for self, based upon other’s foresight into me or about me, the not wanting to get close because of abandonment issues, the fear of being let down tossed to the side, all of that made me desire to have true and solid connection and give the best of myself to people and situations.
“I have often messed up or caused riffs, et cetera, but I still love and show compassion to a feverish point, … making me hold on to what I have and those I have,” he said.
Because of his background, Coleman, who moved to The Magic City in 2015, is very guarded about his personal life.
“I came down here for business opportunities when I was still in corporate America, and I just kind of landed here,” he said. “Coming to Birmingham, I did not know a single soul. It was a blind experience for me, but I mastered it along the way with business relationships and venturing into the city.”
You can find Wrap It Up Customs LLC on several social media outlets. Coleman started making content of his work for Facebook, but then he expanded to Instagram and TikTok.
“I have yet to make a YouTube page,” he said. “Creating content often takes longer than the job itself, but I do my best when I am able.”
The Vinyl World
In the billion-dollar vinyl printing industry, Coleman realized he could do more than wrap cars.
“In the vinyl world, it’s not just vehicles. There are walls, buildings, billboards, brick, glass. … [There are] commercial vehicles, [too]. When you see FedEx trucks, they have vinyl on the side of their trucks. There’s vinyl on police cars.”
From wrapping cars and creating different vinyl prints, Coleman added coffins to his repertoire because of his then location: “One day, I was sitting across from W.E. Lusian Funeral Home in Southwest Birmingham and [noticed] caskets being taken in and out,” he said.
“[At the time], I was tired. I was burned-out,” Coleman remembered. “It had been a very long day [of work], and I said to myself, ‘I wonder if I could wrap a casket.’ I talked to that funeral home director about getting a casket from him and asked what he thought. He laughed in my face. His exact words were, ‘Wrapping a casket. That’s more ghetto than a T-shirt.’”
That was 6 years ago—and now, Coleman said, “I’ve done [thousands of] caskets, and 17 caskets at [at one local funeral home] alone.”
“We use whatever is requested by the deceased family: teams, alma maters, cartoon characters, music album covers, their city, or their favorite things in life,” he said. “It only takes one person that knows how to design to create the layout for a casket. We apply mostly vinyl, but we also customize the interior and handles with paint that is used specifically for the long-term durability on the casket. I wouldn’t say I am an artist, but I would say I have a vision that brings art to life.”
Not About the Money
Coleman recalled the first time he was asked to wrap a casket. “It was in 2020, [and] I was not allowed to release [the photos] because it was a very well-known person in New York,” he said. “He was part of the New York Giants, … and I wasn’t allowed to show visuals. I have it on my wall here at the shop, but I haven’t released it publicly online because I want to respect the family and their privacy.”
That same year, Coleman did his first casket wrap in Birmingham for Antonio “Toni” Bass, a very popular young man in the city who was murdered at the age of 29 … His friends and family were like, ‘Can you wrap his casket?’”
For Coleman, wrapping caskets for clients isn’t about the money: “It’s about empathy, sympathy, and condolences,” he said. “In their worst moments of despair, [there’s] something I can actually give.”
Most of Coleman’s contracts go beyond wrapping caskets. Today he has multiple deals with businesses like the Southeastern Conference (SEC), Nike, Hibbett Sports, and others. He’s also done wraps for the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority.
“I’ve been all over the country doing jobs. The sign at Protective Stadium that says, ‘Welcome to Birmingham,’ that’s my job,” he said, adding that he has more than 113 corporate clients on the books.
“Some fall and fade, while others come in based upon their needs and requirements from our company. The largest I have done is maybe the subway system (in New York) or a few large building murals,” Coleman said. “I don’t have favorites per se, but caskets are my thing. Seeing those faces light up with delight in the midst of grief, that brings me joy and pleasure.”
WrapItUp Graphics, LLC is located at 137 W Oxmoor Rd #407, Homewood, AL 35209. Phone: (205) 703-4911
Updated at 10:17 a.m. on 12/3/2024.
