Archive for Design

Showing Sample Albums

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Having enough samples in your studio to show a client the real depth and breadth of all the products you can offer them can be a challenge.  For many, adequate display space, portability and expense can play against us here.  Studio sample albums, for a realistic feel of the quality of construction of an item, and swatches, for a firsthand experience of textures and finishes, are a must in any successful photography studio.  Debi and Amanda Tipton of Kokoro Photography in Littleton, Colorado have expanded on that standard and shared their fantastic idea for showing even more sample albums to their clients for inspiration!

Now every time a couple orders a different album cover design we photograph the book before delivering it to them. We then lay out a 10×10″ image with photographs of that book, add them to our website here, and then get the layout printed. We have a Finao Elements peel-and-stick album that we can then add each cover option to as the layouts arrive! Now when you sit down with us to design your wedding album you have a lookbook of full album covers to help you with your design.

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They use a self-mount Elements album which has adhesive on the pages so you can easily mount your own prints, or add-to over time as you take new photos.

 

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The last page is blank and ready for new covers! We are almost ready for a whole new album.

Other similar options would be to design sample images and descriptions into layouts for a Finao playBOOK, or create sample images and/or pricing and package menus that can be displayed in frame mounts on an easel and kept organized in a Portfolio Box with a custom designed image cover that features your branding and logo.  Not into design?  Check out Design Aglow for a great selection of templates!

Jamie Westman

Jamie Westman

Jamie is Finao's resident Guidance Guru and Marketing Assistant to the Queen of All Things Finabulous, Christine Perry-burke.

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NEW Portfolio Box Options!

Portfolio Box Grouping - Shown in Black Buckram and Natural Blend Linen with white frame-mount mats.

As if they weren’t spectacular enough already, the Seldex Portfiolio Boxes have some new options that you are simply going to ADORE!!!

Natural Blend Linen Cover

This new cover material option adds a little yang to your yin where there were only black fabric options before.  This one should bring some light to the bunch and is proving to be a hit with child & family portrait photographers.

New Natural Blend Linen cover for Seldex Portfolio Box. Pictured with Black Buckram box.

New Natural Blend Linen cover for Seldex Portfolio Box. Pictured with Black Buckram box.

 

Ribbon Tie Closure

Here’s a new little addition to add some extra polish and softness to the exterior.  The ribbon will be match the base box color you choose – black or white.

Optional ribbon tie closures for your Seldex Portfolio Box.

Optional ribbon tie closures for your Seldex Portfolio Box.

 

Indent for Cameo Image

This option will allow you to mount a 2.5 x 3.5 print on a rectangular Portfolio Box, or a 3×3 print on a square box.  (*This is not an option on the image covers.)

Optional indentation for cameo photo on your Seldex Portfolio Box

Optional indentation for cameo photo on your Seldex Portfolio Box

 

V-groove Frame Mounts

Available on both the white on white and the black on white frame mounts, a V-groove can be carved around the openings on your mats to add a premium touch of elegance.

Optional new V-groove addition to your frame mounts.

Optional new V-groove addition to your frame mounts.

 

Print & Assembly Services

We now offer two options for receiving a finished box from us (or having it delivered directly to your client – there’s no fee for drop-shipping).

You can order frame mounts with your box and choose to have us print & assemble your images into them…

OR you can choose to skip the mounts and go for Styrene Mounted Prints.  You’d upload images sized for the box (ie the 11×14 box accommodates 11×14 prints).  Styrene mounts and frame mounts are about the same thickness so the standard box depth will hold up to 18 and the deep box will hold up to 25 mounts.

Print and Assembly options are available with the Portfolio Box: matted frame mounts and styrene mounted prints. See pricing for more info.

Print and Assembly options are available with the Portfolio Box: matted frame mounts and styrene mounted prints. See pricing for more info.

 

Stand-alone Frame Mounts

And to round it all out: Many photogs like to present their loose print orders matted and mounted for a finished presentation and easy display on an easel or in a frame.  The same frame mounts that are used in the Portfolio Box are also available to order in packs of 25.

Click here to order Portfolio Box Mats now!

Click here to order Portfolio Box Mats now!

 

Keep checking back for an even bigger announcement to come regarding boxes.  Believe me, YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS IT.

Jamie Westman

Jamie Westman

Jamie is Finao's resident Guidance Guru and Marketing Assistant to the Queen of All Things Finabulous, Christine Perry-burke.

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Finao iPad App Update

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For those of you who use the FINAO DESIGNER iPad App, you’ve got an update waiting!  31 New materials have been added and all those pesky material restrictions have been done away with!

Now for some design advice from @FinaoAlbums:

Just because you CAN doesn’t mean you SHOULD. You’re welcome.

TWEET THIS!

As much as it hurts sometimes (LOL cringe), we won’t play taste-police when it comes to mixing leathers and fabrics, but we would recommend that you choose a leather to go over the spine if you choose to feature an accent material there.  It’s just wears better over time and is more sturdy than fabric.  This is especially important when picking a leather to go with a specialty cover like the acrylic ICE or metal ARMOUR.

  • For current app users, your update should be waiting for you in your App Store.
  • And for those of you who are behind the times, get caught up and DOWNLOAD NOW or find the app in the iTunes Store.

Here are a few teasers to get your creative juices flowing:

3Tone with Brass Monkey, Chiara and Drifter

3Tone with Brass Monkey, Chiara and Drifter

 

Finao-Carrigan-Trevi-iPad

TooTone with Carrigan and Trevi accent.

 

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TooTone with Chyna and 50 Shades accent. Flipbook style.

 

Finao-Corruption-Cu29-iPad

TooTone with Corruption and Cu29 accent.

Leagalese: The Finao Designer iPad app is intended for use designing covers for the Finao ONE/artONE flush mount albums only.  Other album lines may have different cover designs and/or cover material options/restrictions. Please refer to the Finao website for details on availability for specific album lines.

Jamie Westman

Jamie Westman

Jamie is Finao's resident Guidance Guru and Marketing Assistant to the Queen of All Things Finabulous, Christine Perry-burke.

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Swatch Kit Updates

Are your Finao swatches up-to-date?

Finao leather tin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s what you can do:

1. Check out this detailed blog post and compare it with what you’ve got.

2. If you have a leather kit, make sure that you have the version of the Fragments card that has the red leather “Love Junky” on it.  Also make sure you have the “Urban Legends” suedes and “Mixed Bag” card in your leather kit.

If you do not have one/any of these, leave a note at the end of your checkout when you’re ordering your update kits and say you need the whole card of (Fragments/Urban Legends/Mixed Bag) with your update.

3. If your swatches are totally old-school, the leathers may be glued down instead of removable as they are now.  If this is the case, contact us and we’ll help you get it all worked out.

(NOTE: the Non-Leather swatches are supposed to be permanently affixed to the card, it’s just the leathers that are supposed to be removable.)

4. ORDER YOUR SWATCH UPDATE KITS:

(TIP: Scroll down below the photo and whole swatch kit order link to the darkened box with the red border for each update kit)

Finao Leather Update Kit

Finao NON-Leather Update Kit

(NOTE: You’ll save $5 in the cart when you order both update kits together)

5. If you’ve NEVER ordered Finao swatches before and you’re wondering why you just read this whole thing, no worries!  We can help you find out what swatch kits you’ll want based on the products you want to sell in your studio.  Just check out the SWATCH KITS section on the website or shoot an email to info@finao.com

Jamie Westman

Jamie Westman

Jamie is Finao's resident Guidance Guru and Marketing Assistant to the Queen of All Things Finabulous, Christine Perry-burke.

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Valentease ‘em

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Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, so get in the mood with Finao’s ultra sexy leathers, linens and silks and get under our covers!

Love Junky from Finao’s “Fragments” collection of leathers is anything but boring.  From it’s seductive suede finish to the tantalizing texture and tooling, this luscious leather will have you, and especially your clients, completely addicted!

Love Junky is a heavily patterned leather so it works great on it’s own, or paired with a plain material or one in a similar hue, or create a bold streak of contrast with a shiny patent leather like Red Light District, Sunday Shoes or Something Wicked.  Perfect for a steamy boudoir session, classy winter wedding, and still playful enough to add some fun and whimsey to a kid’s photo album for a child & family portrait session!  Love Junky will have you head over heels!

Available on Finao ONE & artONE flush mount albums as well as Finao Elements self mount albums.

Love Junky - MainPaired with (Left to Right, then up) Passion, Red Light District, Something Wicked, Miami Ink, Suspicion, Optimism, Harlow

Love Junky – Main
Paired with (Left to Right, then up) Passion, Red Light District, Something Wicked, Miami Ink, Suspicion, Optimism, Harlow

 

Lip Lock, a lascivious silk from Finao’s Midtown collection, will leave you breathless so make sure to come up for air.  Lip Lock and all of the Finao non-leathers are available on Finao ONE flush mount albums, Finao playBOOK photo books and Finao Elements self mount albums as well as Xcetra Folios.

Main - Lip Lockbottom left - Gothika, bottom right - Whiteout

Main – Lip Lock
bottom left – Gothika, bottom right – Whiteout

 

Strut your stuff in the Red Light District. Get a shine for real patent finished leather (no vinyl here) and check out Something Wicked and Sunday Shoes too!

Red Light District, Sunday Shoes, Something Wicked.Genuine patent leathers from Finao.

Red Light District, Sunday Shoes, Something Wicked.
Genuine patent leathers from Finao.

 

Let your Passion run wild and mingle this luxurious hand-finished leather with something on the wild side…

Left-PassionTop-Kitty Kitty, Middle-Patina, Bottom-Racing Stripes

Left-Passion
Top-Kitty Kitty, Middle-Patina, Bottom-Racing Stripes

 

 

Jamie Westman

Jamie Westman

Jamie is Finao's resident Guidance Guru and Marketing Assistant to the Queen of All Things Finabulous, Christine Perry-burke.

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Start a New Year with Project Life 365

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Introducing Project Life 365, a revolutionary art community like you have never seen before. Won’t you come and join too?

About Project Life 365:

Project Life 365 is an interactive photo a day challenge that helps you develop your visual literacy by guiding you through daily prompts that engage your imagination. Each day, we provide a “daily inspiration” that will stimulate your creative photographic magic. It doesn’t matter if you’re literal, logical, or a free spirit; there are no wrong answers.

Using your preferred mobile app or camera, simply capture and upload your photograph to visually connect with other participants from around the world. Take the Project Life 365 challenge and discover what is personal to you, can become much larger: a dynamic, interactive project without borders.

How You Can Join (and play!):

1. Join us at www.projectlife365.com to sign up for the monthly newsletter (and to receive the free desktop calendar and other sweet swag!) and learn how to get started asap.

2. Shoot an image (via your mobile phone or a camera) that you feel embodies the theme of the day.

3. Share your image or keep it as part of a private journal of reflection. If using a social media tool that allows hashtags, add #projectlife365 as the main hashtag, plus today’s inspiration as the secondary hashtag and upload your image. Easy!

4. Enjoy Project Life 365 by interacting with other participants from around the globe on Project Life’s Facebook page and inspiring daily Blog.

Why You’ll Want the Field Guide:

The Project Life 365 Field Guide will take your mobile photography from average to awesome.  This content-rich guide will help you to see the world around you differently, and understand the importance of stretching yourself each day as you chronicle a year in your life.  With expert knowledge, the Field Guide will help you to maximize your impact using social networks like Instagram, by connecting colleagues, friends & clients in a meaningful and creative and suits your personality and style.  It also shares key tips and tricks for success from the top pros along with their favorite images to inspire you and help take your creativity to the next level.

Whether you are newbie documentarian or a seasoned veteran, you’ll be able to sharpen your artistic eye and be a better artist using the informational tidbits and examples that we’ve packed into this 100+ page field guide just for you. Get inspired and excited about creating art again!

Are you ready to get your photo mojo on fire and be inspired every single day of the year? Then this is the guide for you.

The Best Part: We’re giving three of our loyal readers a copy of the Field Guide to jumpstart your year with Project Life 365.

Enter our sweepstakes for a chance to win the stunning Project Life 100+ Page Artist’s Field Guide for 2013.

Please leave a comment here for each item you complete. You’ll have 3 chances to win!

1. Follow Finao Online, LLC and Project Life 365 on Facebook.

2. Become a member of Project Life 365 (it’s free and you will receive lovely goodies)

3. Register at www.finao.com

4. Share this giveaway on Facebook by clicking a link from the “Sharing is Sexy” menu below. Post the following: “Check out @FinaoOnlineLLC & enter their fantastic @ProjectLife365 launch sweepstakes.”

5. Post a photo of your favorite Finao Album.  On Facebook, type in the status @FinaoOlineLLC and @ProjectLife365, or on Twitter use hashtags #ProjectLife365 and #FinaoAlbums

Hurry! Giveaway ends January 10th. Winners will be announced on January 12th.

 

LEGAL INFO: This promotion is in NO WAY sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. You will NOT be notified publicly via Facebook if you are a winner. You MUST be 18 to participate. By entering this giveaway, you are providing information to this blog and NOT to Facebook. Prizes do not have cash value. There will be no returns/exchanges on any of the items.

*blog content and photos provided by Project Life 365.

Jamie Westman

Jamie Westman

Jamie is Finao's resident Guidance Guru and Marketing Assistant to the Queen of All Things Finabulous, Christine Perry-burke.

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IMAGE COVER TEMPLATES

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IMAGE COVER TEMPLATES HAVE BEEN UPDATED THIS YEAR.  MAKE SURE YOU’RE USING THE CORRECT TEMPLATE FOR YOUR COVER IMAGE BEFORE SUBMITTING YOUR ORDER.

This is IMPERATIVE to make sure your order is counted as a HOLIDAY ORDER.  All orders expected for holiday delivery MUST be submitted COMPLETE AND CORRECT before the product deadline.  Incorrect cover images will delay your order and could disqualify it from being included as a holiday order.

Not sure which to use? This should help:

Example 1: You’re ordering an 8×8 playBOOK with 12 leaves/24 page-sides and you want a Photo Wrap cover.

Use the playBOOK photo wrap template for an 8×8 playBOOK with 12 leaves (NOT 24 leaves). You select the “LEAF COUNT” at the beginning of the order. So, if you selected “12 leaves/24 sides”, you’ll refer to the template for 12 leaves, NOT 24 (as 24 is the number of page sides).

Go to PRODUCTS > PLAYBOOK > PHOTO WRAP > select “Download playBOOK photo wrap template kit”

The most recent templates at this time are from a .zip file named “finao-playbook-photowrap-10262012.zip”  Please DOUBLE CHECK that this is the correct folder you are pulling your templates from!

The template to use in this example should be named “pb-8×8-10-13lvs“.

Here’s a pic for reference:

Download the playBOOK photo wrap template kit .zip folder and open it, select your size (in this case 8×8) and now select your LEAF count (1/2 the total page-sides).

 

Example 2: You’re ordering a 14×10 horizontal ONE with an Armour metal image cover.

For specialty covers like ICE, Armour, Erotika, Bebbalicious and Canvas Panel that only have an image on the front cover, you do not need to worry about the leaf count as you do for the Canvas Wrap or the photo wraps for the other album lines.  BUT, you do need to use the appropriate template for your album’s size and orientation.  You also must FILL the entire template.

Go to PRODUCTS > Finao ONE > SPECIALTY COVERS (find your cover, in this case it’s Armour) > select “Download ICE/Armour template kit”

The most recent templates at this time are from a .zip file named “finao-ice-armour-09102012.zip”  Please DOUBLE CHECK that this is the correct folder you are pulling your templates from!

The template to use in this example should be named “ia-14×10-horizontal”.

Here’s a pic for reference:

 

Example 3: You’re ordering a 10×15 vertical ONE with a Canvas Wrap cover and 15 leaves/30 page-sides in the medium page style.

Just like example 1, you will choose the appropriate template based on the album size AND the number of LEAVES. BUT, since the ONE offers two page thicknesses, you’ll ALSO need to account for the page style you are choosing, Thick or Medium, as this will affect the thickness of the spine area on the design.

Remember: # of leaves = 1/2 of your total page-sides.  So you will choose the folder of FULL CANVAS (canvas wrap) templates for Medium Pages > then the folder of 10×15 vertical templates with medium pages > and then select the 10×15 Vertical template for 14-20 leaves.

Go to PRODUCTS > Finao ONE > SPECIALTY COVERS (find your cover, in this case Canvas) > select “Download Canvas template kit” (includes both Canvas Wrap and Canvas Panel templates).

The most recent templates at this time are from a .zip file named “finao-canvas-10042012.zip”  Please DOUBLE CHECK that this is the correct folder you are pulling your templates from!

The template to use in this example should be named “10x15v-med_14-20lvs”.

Here’s a pic for reference:

 

Please contact Finao Customer Service with any questions BEFORE placing your order at 888-346-2687 (888-FINAO-US).

Jamie Westman

Jamie Westman

Jamie is Finao's resident Guidance Guru and Marketing Assistant to the Queen of All Things Finabulous, Christine Perry-burke.

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ONE “plusONE” = Extraordinary

The Zumanity Collection - Ultra high-end leathers exclusively from Finao.

plusONE Materials: Exotic Accent or Unbelievable Upgrade Cover

So you may have noticed (among other HUGE changes) a change to the flush mount ONE and artONE album order forms where there is an option for a Material Upgrade to a “plusONE” material.  If this new option has you a bit confused, this is the post for you. Read on to understand what this new option is all about.  Now hold on a sec! If you saw the word “upgrade” and it makes you want to run, hang in there for a minute as there’s news here for you too!

If you know anything about Finao at all, you know that choice is king.  With over 100 standard materials to choose from, you’re sure to find something for just about everyone.  But for those who want to take it a few steps further and offer their clients something completely unique and extravagant, the plusONE materials are the answer.

plusONE (at this time) is made up of the Zumanity collection and The Nines collection of ultra high-end leathers.  These materials can be used by everyone on their flush mount albums as an accent stripe for NO ADDITIONAL COST!  Simply select the tooTone or 3Tone cover upgrade as you would for any other book with multiple cover materials.  If, however, you want to use a plusONE material for more than an accent stripe, like the spine & back, front & back cover, or the whole book, you would simply select the “plusONE Material Upgrade” and choose your materials.  See Armour/ICE/Bullet specialty cover pricing.

The Nines Collection – Ultra high-end leathers exclusively from Finao.

 

The Zumanity Collection – Ultra high-end leathers exclusively from Finao.

 

Jamie Westman

Jamie Westman

Jamie is Finao's resident Guidance Guru and Marketing Assistant to the Queen of All Things Finabulous, Christine Perry-burke.

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