From Motocross Champions to Outsiders in Decoration with Valiani Flatbed Cutting
The desire to make their off-road bikes unique drove two brothers to invest in printing and finishing equipment, turning their creativity into a business.
Cecchi Graphics Design is what we would call a company born of its time, not so much because of the young age of its two founders, but rather for its value proposition, its audience, promotional channels, and business model, which has turned a passion for sports, creativity, and social media into a professional and entrepreneurial project.
Twin brothers, born in 2000, one with a degree in Digital Marketing and the other in Engineering, Lorenzo and Giacomo Cecchi have always shared a deep passion for motocross. While competing in races, the Cecchi brothers founded the BCR Crew brand in 2015 to share their adventures and experiences on two wheels. They created a YouTube channel that now has over 59,000 subscribers, with videos gathering tens of thousands of views. On Instagram, the “Cecchi Twins” boast 43,700 followers and receive a flood of likes for the content posted by the two motorcyclists and influencers.
In 2016, at just 16 years old, Lorenzo and Giacomo decided to make their motorcycles unique, embellishing them with trendy graphics and sponsor logos to offer their followers a more captivating visual experience. Frustrated by the slow and rigid graphic design services available, the Cecchi brothers began designing and applying their graphics independently, drawing admiration and envy from colleagues and followers alike.
Cecchi Graphics Design is now their core business and a successful startup that serves thousands of enthusiasts and invests in printing and finishing equipment. The latest addition to their setup is a Valiani Invicta digital cutting system.
From outsourcing to 100% In-House production
With no prior experience in graphic design, the two brothers taught themselves how to use Adobe Illustrator to create vector shapes and graphic content. Initially, since they only needed to meet their own demands and those of a few friends, they outsourced the printing and cutting to external suppliers. However, as their fame and visibility grew on digital channels, they soon found themselves overwhelmed with requests from fans, followers, collaborators, and even competitors.
What started as a hobby quickly began to take on the characteristics of a job, sparking the idea of launching a new brand and entrepreneurial venture.
“There were customization kits for bikes and helmets, but everything was quite standardized, outdated, and had extremely long delivery times, which didn’t suit us or our peers,” said Lorenzo and Giacomo Cecchi, co-founders of Cecchi Graphics Design. “Our insight was to offer innovative shapes, designs, and colors, exploring new graphic styles, materials, and special effects.”
The decision was made, and the brothers prepared an investment plan. While setting up a workshop, they attended demos of various printing technologies and vinyl cutting systems, ultimately choosing a Roland TrueVIS eco-solvent printer, a laminator, and two roll-to-roll cutting plotters.
When Roll-to-Roll cutting isn’t enough…
Cecchi Graphics Design’s production center officially opened its doors in 2021, equipped with state-of-the-art technology, the explosive creativity of its founders, and a team of in-house and external designers ready to meet even the most extreme requests. The core of their value proposition is fast turnaround times (3-5 business days) and the concept of total customization at a “fixed price,” no matter what.
“Many competitors charge extra for every layout change, while we offer unlimited online consultations, draft exchanges, and color and image adjustments,” says Lorenzo Cecchi. “It’s a small risk when dealing with an enthusiastic 15-year-old beginner, but with over 10,000 graphics in our background, we’re confident, and we almost always nail the design on the first try.”
Cecchi Graphics Design’s decorative kits are made with thick cast film and high-resistance adhesives, laminated with a protective overlaminate film. The high thickness and rigidity, necessary to adhere to the non-polar or waxed plastics used by off-road motorcycle manufacturers, make the finished material particularly difficult to shape with standard roll-to-roll cutting plotters.
“Even with the best roll-to-roll cutting technology, the pinch rollers caused feeding issues, and the cutting wasn’t powerful enough, which slowed down production and forced us to redo jobs frequently,” Cecchi explains. “We tried modifying an old first-generation plotter, but productivity was too low to produce dozens of complete kits every day.”
After doing some online research and speaking with several suppliers, the founders of Cecchi Graphics Design attended a specialized trade show, where they discovered Valiani and its Invicta cutting system.
Lorenzo e Giacomo Cecchi
Co-founders of
Cecchi Graphics Design
“After testing Invicta with our thickest materials, we were amazed by its productivity and extreme cutting precision.”
The flatbed cutter that adds value (even) on flexible materials
Originally designed for creating prototypes and small production runs in the graphic design and packaging sectors, the Invicta flatbed series combines robust construction, essential design, and low acquisition and operating costs. From a technical standpoint, the features that most attracted the young entrepreneurs were the powerful vacuum bed and the multifunctional head, which can hold both fixed and oscillating blades for cutting and half-cutting, as well as a camera for detecting registration marks.
“We wanted a fast, powerful, and precise machine, but we had limited space and a tight budget,” explain the Cecchi brothers. “After testing Invicta with our thickest materials, we were amazed by its productivity and extreme cutting precision.”
The company decided to purchase an Invicta 150, equipped with a 1,020×1,500 mm vacuum bed, ideal for accommodating the full decoration kit of a motorcycle. After installation and just a few hours of training, the owners and their collaborators were already able to operate the machine, which quickly became a vital part of production.
More efficient and competitive to keep growing
A pioneer in the field of custom decoration, Cecchi Graphics Design didn’t remain alone and unmatched for long. Although they offer a unique service, distinct design, and a special connection with the motocross world, the Tuscan startup faces fierce competition.
In this context, increasing production capacity, streamlining file preparation workflows, and eliminating errors and waste are key factors for staying competitive. “While the printer is fast enough and can even run overnight, cutting was the real bottleneck to solve,” the Cecchi brothers explain.
“Since introducing Invicta, we’ve more than halved our production times, bringing them down to about ten minutes for a full motorcycle, including material changes. From layout approval to shipping, we’ve reduced the average turnaround time from five to two business days.”
With Valiani technology, the company has expanded its range of workable materials and is aiming to introduce new decorative products for off-road motorcycles and related sectors. In addition to increasing its market share in Italy, Cecchi Graphics Design plans to bring its creativity and products to international markets, starting with the DACH countries.
Invicta is currently used on a single shift at 50% of its potential. Given the growing trend in orders, Cecchi Graphics Design expects to fully utilize the machine’s capacity and recoup its cost within a year, after which they plan to purchase a faster and more automated Valiani model.
