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Another shadowbox

Joe Weinbeck

Frequent Poster
Messages
131
Location
Blaine, MN 55434
Company
JB Picture Framing Studio
This is a shadowbox that I completed for the Fire Department. Our Governor Dayton in conjunction with President George W. Bush proclaiming all flags be flown at 1/2 staff at all federal and state buildings. The pictures are of the son of a fallen firefighter, the memorial, a pamphlet, the lining of the guard, the Proclamation, and the Minnesota State flag on top.

The shadowbox and flag box moulding is LJ 3" shadowbox #578146 and the interior moulding for the pictures and documents is LJ #200752. The mat is Bainbridge black suede and the glazing is TV Optium.

This was a fun project but kind of trying. I couldn't center a couple of the interior frames because of the space that was allotted. Oh well.
2mrut7c.jpg
 
Nice design! But... black suede? Were you out of your mind? GAAAH! You must have cleaned that a million times!

Well done.

No kidding - I thought I was going to loose my mind but that was only the 1/2 of it. I did 2 identical displays - from what I understand, 1 is for permanent display at the main fire house and the other is a traveling display. It was interesting. :loco:
 
Joe,
I must tell you that I'm not a fan of a lot of black, but that's my taste.

This is not an easy one to design, because there are five items to fit into the main frame and that can be awkward.

I think the pattern in the moulding on the inner item takes my attention away from the artwork in them. Fillets would be my personal preference.

Perhaps a little more space between the items and the two middle frames could have been aligned on the centres?

I'm betting someone else will come along and disagree with everything I said and that's OK. There are some excellent designers on this forum. I can only aspire to be as good!
 
I think the design is cool from a framers perspective and I like the black.
from a viewers view, I think I would have preferred a more traditional design with fillets on the openings.

I love the flag on top, but might worry about transportation issues for the traveling one.

Although I love the all black look, and it is about fallen firefighters, I think I would have preferred something more "celebratory" and upbeat like gold or silver frames and a touch of MN flag color in the matting.

Note: not trying to be mean, Joe asked for hard critique.
 
I Like the main elements of the design; the black mouldings and mat serve the purpose well, I think. To make the large frame look not so much wider than the flag case, my layout might have been more vertical, like this:
 

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This is a shadowbox that I completed for the Fire Department. Our Governor Dayton in conjunction with President George W. Bush proclaiming all flags be flown at 1/2 staff at all federal and state buildings. The pictures are of the son of a fallen firefighter, the memorial, a pamphlet, the lining of the guard, the Proclamation, and the Minnesota State flag on top.

The shadowbox and flag box moulding is LJ 3" shadowbox #578146 and the interior moulding for the pictures and documents is LJ #200752. The mat is Bainbridge black suede and the glazing is TV Optium.

This was a fun project but kind of trying. I couldn't center a couple of the interior frames because of the space that was allotted. Oh well.
2mrut7c.jpg

I don't come in here very often and when your post compelled me to look at this my first thought was: OMG..........BLACK SUEDE! And also about how challenging it must have been not only to clean, but to have 5 pictures in 5 different sizes fit into one frame and look this good. Nice job. And one many framers would not want to tackle very often. Cleaning black suede is like cleaning Plexiglass. Just about the time you think that you have every little spec off and you have the dust cover on and turn it over.....there it is......that one piece of something that is right where you can't get at it, and you have to open it up yet again. Oh yes, been there, done that, bought the T-shirt. All I can say is thank you Tru Vue for Static Sheild and Optium Acrylic. Now, if only the mat board companies would come up with a dark suede that doesn't attract dust! Wonderful job Joe. Sorry I didn't come in here sooner.
 
Hi Joe,

(Because you asked for a Critique)...and I agree that it can be one of the best learning experiences. :thumb:

The overall coloring is good. The black is respectful and neutral in color.

Because the flag is so busy it look busy at the top and tends to draw the viewers attention away from the other elements when presented attached to the top. I would have recommended creating the matching flag case as you did but make this a stand along complimentary item, or giving it more breathing room by incorporating within the rectangle shadow box.

Ormond Williams said:
...I think the pattern in the moulding on the inner item takes my attention away from the artwork in them. Fillets would be my personal preference.

Perhaps a little more space between the items and the two middle frames could have been aligned on the centres?

I agree with both of this comments. The use of "white space" is key to allowing elements stand out. I might recommend varying the internal presentation rather than having everything framed in a "matching" moulding. I like to see the internal components treated differently. Perhaps two finished with a smaller profile from the same family of mouldings, or a fillet reversed. Have on "floated" with depth behind it and just a mat opening. Another component could have been floated forward. I try to avoid all of the internal elements being at the same level...static.

I hope you find these comments beneficial.

Regards,

John
 
Thank you all for the comments - that is exactly what I was wishing for. Jim, I didn't even think about doing this job more vertical, I like the looks of it the way you laid it out.

One of the things I didn't like about this job was that it looked busy and I was wondering if that was just in my mind. The customer loved it, as he should have since he did the main design, but I was wishing I had a little more control of size and placements. With the comments from you all I can see that my original thought were not far off base.

Yes Pat, getting all the little specs out of the box was a chore. I would have like to have use a grey mat instead but I have to admit that black suede sure makes the other framed items pop. Thanks for the nice comments.

Again, thank you all, it will help me with future designs.

Joe
 
When I do multiple opening pieces like this, I always go from the longest points in both directions and then add my all around matting margin. I would have changed my design to add in the extra 1/2 or 3/4 to make the spacing symmetrical.
 
Jim's design is a good solution to the problem. When doing multiple openings, I like to have a minimum of 1" between the pictures to allow for breathing space and at least double the width between the openings for the sides.
Now the design looks too busy and cramped.

If you are not happy with the outcome and the customer had too much influence resulting in a bad design, then do not place your sticker onto the back. Placing a sticker on the back is a form of advertising and you do not want people to make negative comments about the frame, turn over the picture, see your name and say: "Oh I'm not going to that framer - look how horrible he designed it all!"
 
Kai Vanuffelen said:
...If you are not happy with the outcome and the customer had too much influence resulting in a bad design, then do not place your sticker onto the back. Placing a sticker on the back is a form of advertising and you do not want people to make negative comments about the frame, turn over the picture, see your name and say: "Oh I'm not going to that framer - look how horrible he designed it all!"

Kai,

Although I think Joe's design might be improved upon...there is no way that a customer or a guest in the client's home would think that it is a "bad design".

Leaving your sticker off of the back of a frame does little more than save you the cost of the sticker! :D

John
 
I concur with Jim.

Also, did you ask the client to print the photos in different sizes to better fit the frame design? Photos can often be enlarge or reduced to make for better proportions and less "dead" space.

It looks executed, but I'm not a huge fan of the overall design. Multiple items are always a challenge, so I feel your pain.

Andrew
 
you do not want people to make negative comments about the frame, turn over the picture, see your name and say: "Oh I'm not going to that framer - look how horrible he designed it all!"

I would bet that fewer than 1 in a hundred knows the difference between a bad design, a pedestrian design and a stellar design unless they were all in the same room at the same time. And even then...
 
One of the things I didn't like about this job was that it looked busy and I was wondering if that was just in my mind. The customer loved it, as he should have since he did the main design, but I was wishing I had a little more control of size and placements. With the comments from you all I can see that my original thought were not far off base.
Joe

Well Joe, if the customer did the layout and design the way they wanted and loved the finished prodoct, that is all that matters. If you had changed their design they may not have been so happy with it because it wasn't "their" design. It was the right way to go no matter how much you may have wanted to do a different, more balanced layout. In the end the customer is the only opinion that counts.
 
Well Joe, if the customer did the layout and design the way they wanted and loved the finished prodoct, that is all that matters. If you had changed their design they may not have been so happy with it because it wasn't "their" design. It was the right way to go no matter how much you may have wanted to do a different, more balanced layout. In the end the customer is the only opinion that counts.

Thank you for the comment Pat and I totally agree with you. It was pretty much the customers design and they were totally delighted with it - in my shop I will always do what the customer final decision is but at times I wish I would have been able to steer them in different directions.

Like I originally said, there are some things I like about the box and some I do not - I believe that overall it turned out nicely and is very presentable. My skill with shadowbox design is not that good and I appreciate it when I get assistance from people I consider the best in the business - heck, I get a free class here when I ask for a critique :smile: All the comment have been good constructive comments and that is what I was looking for. I like the way that Jim laid out the box vertically but know for a fact the customer wouldn't have gone along with it because of how and where it was going to be displayed. The customer has more horizontal than vertical room in the permanent display location. With that said, my fault was never even considering laying it out vertically. Now that I see it I can definitely see the advantages and in the future will always look at that as an option - that I consider as me being taken to school and I appreciate it.


And Andrew said he may have asked the customer to size the photos differently. Yes, I could have. The Pamphlet had more copies available but the original Proclamation was only supplied to different full time fire departments throughout the state and could not be duplicated because of the governors original signature. Also, all of the pictures and the Proclamation were supplied by the state and I do not know if they would have popped for duplicating them but that is a question I should have asked because the layout could definitely have been improved on with picture sizing.


Overall this was a good learning experience and I appreciate your and everyone else who did make a comment. Thank you all. Joe
 
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