Opportunities from Obstacles - Creative Productions

TWO PIVOTAL DECISIONS WE MADE TO OVERCOME A MAJOR DIFFICULTY AND WE ARE SO GLAD WE DID.

The year was 1995. We were just starting on the road of creating our iconic style of Relationship Black and White Fine Art portraits that would later prove to be our saving grace.

We didn't know it. We couldn't foresee it. And...we didn't know that we would be able to create a whole new genre of products to answer a major difficulty we had-we couldn't print anything larger than a 20x24 with our darkroom sink size.

We needed to be able to fill a client's wall space in their home and have products that would provide enough income, but how could we accomplish these goals with a 20x20 portrait size?

So how did we overcome? How did we take this obstacle to create many new opportunities? We made some decisions...

DECISION ONE: SELL ONLY SQUARES AND INCLUDE A MAT FOR ADDED SIZE

We made the decision that every print would need to be square and with 20x24 trays and paper, 20x20 would be the size. To make the presentation larger, we decided each would come with a white, acid-free rag mat as part of the presentation. Not only did the mat increase the size, it also gave our prints the look of a fine art presentation. WIN-WIN.

Today, we call this premiere offering our "Museum Print" and we frame it with conservation clear glass.

It also made it easier to sell and hang wall portraits in groupings as all portraits were square. No fussing with verticals and horizontals!

DECISION TWO: SELL IN GROUPINGS

A second way to fill up a client's walls with these smaller prints was to offer multiple images which spawned the idea of creating and offering an Establishing portrait for the main wall image along with Abbreviations and Moments for groupings. This idea led into how we added purpose to our imagery which added value to the client.

For years...

A slam dunk product we sold for years was our Image Showcase to answer the question, "What should I do with the rest of these?" This was a secondary product offered after the sale of the wall image(s).

It priced out the same as a medium wall portrait and was a nice addition to the bottom line. It gave our clients an alternative to simply ordering a bunch of 8x10s which would most likely be put in a drawer and forgotten.

The set included 5-12x12 portraits mounted on Styrene with an 8x8 image printed in the middle with a thin, black stroke (WHCC.com) and it came with a table easel from Tripar.

It worked well for both color and black and white portraiture.

Today, we have replaced the Image Showcase with our Artisan Box Collectionfrom 3xm.

Tim handprints the images that are then placed in acid-free mats and sold in sets of 10 or 20 in the box. These are fine art pieces and as such, they are delivered with white gloves and a special information page printed on the same paper as the the images along with a few points about their archival qualities.

Tim's signature is added and it is then embossed. This serves as our Certificate of Authenticity.

Tim once said a wall is just a door in disguise. We simply need to find it. The trick is to keep looking...and never quit.

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