Tag Archive for non-leathers

| September 26, 2012
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New Cover Materials!!

Finao Leather - The Nines Collection

It’s been a long time coming, but they’re finally here!  Finao has 30 new delicious materials and a new specialty cover to add to the hundred+ tempting textures and luscious leathers we already offer!  Not only are there new options, but the way you can use your materials on the ONE and artONE has become simpler too: Anything goes! If you want a leatherette with a leather, or a silk with a leatherette, go ahead! Who follows rules anyway, right?  For more on this, please see the Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes blog post.

Due to the high demand, new swatch kits (for those of you who don’t have swatches) and new update kits (for those of you who already have swatches – GO YOU!) are available now for pre-order and swatches are expected to ship by early October.

And because you’re so studious and actually took the time to come here and read this, you not only get a gold star, but you also get an exclusive sneak peek of what’s new and what’s changed!!

The Finao Leather Collection

ACCENTS: Added Harlow & Trevi. Update kit will include a new card with these two materials on it and you’ll move your old materials to the new card.

The Accents Collection

The Accents Collection

BASICS: Added 50 Shades & Carrigan. Discontinued Shroom & Dubonnet. Update kit will include a new card with these two new materials on it, spaces for the discontinued materials will be eliminated, and you’ll simply move the remaining materials from the old card to the new card.

Finao Leather The Basics Collection

The Basics Collection

FRAGMENTS: Added Chyna. Update kit will include a new card with this material on it and you’ll move your old materials to the new card.

Finao Leather The Fragments Collection

The Fragments Collection

MIXED BAG: Added Corruption leather & Serenity laminate specialty cover. Update kit will include a new card with these two materials on it and you’ll move your old materials to the new card.

Finao Leather and Specialty Covers: Mixed Bag Collection

The Mixed Bag Collection

PLAYGROUND: This is an entirely new collection of handmade papers strictly for use on Finao playPAL mini duplicate books. playPALS must be ordered with a flush mount ONE or artONE album.

Finao Playground Collection

The Playground Collection

THE COLOURS: This collection name has been discontinued along with four leathers from the original collection – Jester, Lobster, Scotch Pine & Idol Eyes. You will move the remaining leathers from your original Colours card to the new updated Tricycle Alley card.

TRICYCLE ALLEY: Four leathers from this original collection have been discontinued to make room for the 4 materials from the old Colours collection. We’ve discontinued Jelly Bean, Sunshine, Mauvelous & Zonk Blue.

Finao Leather - the new Tricycle Alley Collection

The Tricycle Alley Collection

PARAPHERNALIA: This card of fabrics was originally included in the leather kit because it was only available with the flush mount ONE album. Now it is available across all Finao album lines, so we’ve moved it to the Finao Non-Leather Swatch Kit.

ALL THAT JAZZ: No changes have been made to this collection.

URBAN LEGENDS: No changes have been made to this collection.

 

AND NOW, to take it to the next level, we’re proud to introduce Finao plusONE materials!

These material collections are exclusive to the Finao ONE and artONE flush mount albums and can be used as an accent stripe with any other Finao standard material for no additional cost, OR for those who really want the wow factor with more than a stripe, you may choose to upgrade your material to a plusONE material for an upgrade price. There are two collections that fall under the plusONE upgrade material category:

ZUMANITY: The totally wild collection that was once an optional card is now included in new leather collections and is also provided with the leather update kit. We added 5 NEW MATERIALS – Feather Pillow, Satin Sheets, Glitteratzi, Holy Cow & Icelandia, and discontinued El Tigre.

Finao plusONE material upgrade The Zumanity Collection

The Zumanity Collection

THE NINES: This is a BRAND NEW COLLECTION of gorgeous leathers that belong to the exclusive plusONE upgrade material category.

Finao Leather - The Nines Collection

The Nines Collection

 

The Finao Non-Leather Collection

(All non-leathers can now be used across all Finao album lines)

ADDICTION: This is an entirely new collection of tempting textiles that can be used across all Finao album lines.

Finao Fabric - The Addiction Collection

The Addiction Collection

MIDTOWN: Another entirely new collection of luxurious linens and silks. Some of you may already have this card, but it will be in the update kit again for those who missed it’s launch earlier this year.

Finao fabric - the Midtown collection

The Midtown Collection

PARAPHERNALIA: This card of high-end fabrics used to be exclusive to Finao ONE and artONE flush mount albums and was only available in the Leather Swatch Kit.  It is now available across all Finao album lines and has been moved to the Non-Leather Swatch Kit and will come standard in new swatch kits and will also be included in the Non-Leather Update Kit.

BROCADES: We’ve said goodbye to six of these silks and condensed the original two Brocade cards down to one. We’ve discontinued Chai, Geisha, Karakane, Sandalwood, Sapphire & Shanghi. Update kits will include the new condensed card so you can put aside your old Brocade cards. Discontinued materials will still be available to order as supplies last.

The Brocades Collection

The Brocades Collection

MIDDLE EARTH: We’ve said goodbye to four of these materials and condensed the original two Middle Earth cards down to one. We’ve discontinued Amber Brew, Green Eyed Girl, Pot O’Gold & Blue Moon. Update kits will include the new condensed card so you can put aside your old Middle Earth cards. Discontinued materials will still be available to order as supplies last.

The Middle Earth Collection

The Middle Earth Collection

ECLECTIC LOOKS: No changes to this collection.

GARBO: No changes to this collection.

HAPPY COW: No changes to this collection.

HAUTE COLOUR: No changes to this collection.

Please note that all discontinued materials will still be available to order as supplies last, but we will not be replenishing our stock as it runs out.  Please check with us First before ordering or have a 2nd choice material ready.

We had so much fun hand picking these beautiful materials and many of them were custom created just for us! You’re not going to find anything else like them on the market and we hope you and your clients will love them just as much as we do!  Don’t be left behind, pre-order your new swatch kits or update kits now!

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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Category: Design, New Customer, New Products, Updates | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
| April 22, 2010
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How will you celebrate Earth Day?

Happy Earth Day,

Everyone is asking today “What will you do to celebrate Earth Day?” Change to an energy efficient light bulb? Lower your heating/cooling? Turn off the lights when you leave the room? At Finao, we try to celebrate Earth Day every day. If you have never read it, you should check out our GREEN INTRODUCTION in the Getting Started portion of our webstie. It talks about all the things we do in our products and offices to try and make our products and work spaces better for everyone. We might just give you a few ideas of your own to help you celebrate.

In recognition of Earth Day today, the Fashion Blog is GOING GREEN in our salute to making this world a better place for all to live on. Are you ready to get green?

So, feel good that you are dealing with an album company with these philosophies at heart. We would much prefer to offer you quality over cheap. There is generally a reason it’s cheap, we try and take a look behind why that is so with all of our materials and products. If the reasons don’t match our philosophy, we won’t sell it to you…plain and simple.

Have a good Earth Day everyone.

- L :l

Lisa Hoffman

Lisa Hoffman

Lisa Hoffman is Finao's official Image Enhancer for the Marketing Department. She makes stuff pretty...usually.

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| January 29, 2010
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LUDICROUS PASSION? | Our best of boudoir month – putting it all together

Well kiddies,

I hope you have had an inspirational month for boudoir and Valentease Day via our Fashion Blog. For the last three weeks we have focused on all the major material groups across the various product lines we offer. Each week we were inspired by a different person or time period. Now, however, do you think we can pull it all together. I think we can.

The test I gave myself this week was to take the last three weeks of Fashion Blog palettes and come up with one cohesive theme that could run across product lines. There were many totally AWESOME combinations I could come up with but if I wanted something that could spread across all the various lines, I had to give some of those awesome combos up….bummer.

I did pick a pretty basic color combination, however, as you will see, it can totally work from flush mount albums to selfmount albums to matted albums to press books. Really? Yes, really. Let’s check out the picks for our Best of Boudoir month 2010….*drum roll*

For our purposes here, I chose some pretty typical colors for boudoir (red and black) but by doing so, I gave myself more options in working with multiple product types. It’s a give and take relationship. If I want to be diverse in offerings, I have to keep some things simple. It doesn’t mean everything has to look the same though, does it?

For flush mounts I chose the Ludicrous patterned leather from the Fragments collection and paired it with Passion from the All that Jazz collection to play off one of our main cover design principles, mix a texture with a smooth.

Passion can also be used on the Upper Elements line. You can also tooTone! it with Miami Ink (black) into a nice companion self mount or guestbook style album. They won’t be exactly the same but the Passion will be the cohesion that keeps the two styles together.

What if you want to throw in a matted album. The simple addition would be to throw in a Gallery album in Red Linen. If you wanted something a bit more upscale, however, try Two Toning a Bookbound Art album. Yes, you can do that. I cheated and added Raven leather to the one shown here (it wasn’t part of my original picks). Add a nice cover image to a relatively simple cover and you have something that is arty and elegant and easy to offer with the other options.

For the quick turnaround minded out there, check out Lady Danger from the Brocade collection. She can be used on flush mounts, self mounts and press books. Self mounts are GREAT in that you can order stock and have them in-house for a super quick turnaround from shoot to client. Lady Danger can also be used as-is on the ONE flush mounts or mix it with Miami Ink for a nice red & black tooTone! Since press books make great add-ons as well, take your existing flush mount spreads and have them made into a RAVE press book. Coat it in Danger, add a nice opening to the cover and VOILA! Total hotness!

Thanks for reading this week, next week starts a whole new month and even more ideas so come on back. See you next Fashion Friday.

L :l

Lisa Hoffman

Lisa Hoffman

Lisa Hoffman is Finao's official Image Enhancer for the Marketing Department. She makes stuff pretty...usually.

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| January 22, 2010
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21ST CENTURY BURLESQUE | a color palette for Finao non-leathers

Hot off the convention trail and ready to heat up this week’s boudoir-inspired Fashion Blog series with a look at some options for the Finao non-leathers.

The non-leathers are used mostly for the self mount series of albums but a few select materials can be used on Finao ONE flush mounts and some of the Variations products. Always check to make sure the material you desire to use, however, is available on those products before you begin.

Modern burlesque has been making a comeback with the help of folks like Dita Von Teese and state-of-the-art burlesque shows like the one at the Crazy Horse in Vegas. Bright colors and creative lighting all add to the fun of these shows so why not try and translate that into an album of fun and creative boudoir photography?

Let’s take a look:

1) White Downs middle earth 2) Geisha brocade 3) Hollywood Orange garbo 4) Lady Danger brocade 5) Shanghai brocade 6) Tourmaline ecclectic looks 7) Sapphire brocade 8) Purple Haze happy cow 9) Texas Tea happy cow 10) Argento brocade

The materials selected for this palette weren’t selected just for their color. The feel of the materials as well as how they reflect the light are just as important. This is where your swatch kits will come in handy as the bits represented here aren’t necessarily going to do them justice.

For texture the Middle Earth and Garbo materials are going to give the most to those touchy-feely senses. If you want something that catches the light, however, try Tourmaline in the Ecclectic Looks collection or the silk Brocades. Geisha, especially, brightens considerably in the right light.

So, if you are looking for a way to quickly assemble some quick images into a stylish boudoir album, don’t let self mount albums turn you off. Just because they are simple and quick does not mean they can’t be stylish and fun.

Until next week, ciao for now folks,

L :l

Lisa Hoffman

Lisa Hoffman

Lisa Hoffman is Finao's official Image Enhancer for the Marketing Department. She makes stuff pretty...usually.

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| January 15, 2010
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THE ELEGANT STYLINGS OF JOSEPHINE BAKER | a color palette for Seldex

Greetings from LONDON!

Welcome to another edition of Fashion Friday. We are continuing this week with another boudoir-inspired color palette. This time, however, we are going to look at Seldex materials for matted albums and folios. Remember to check your material to make sure it’s available on the product you want to use. Are you ready?

This week our inspiration turns to an American ex-patriate. The Bronze Venus. The Black Pearl. The Creole Godess. In France she was simply referred to as La Baker. Our inspiration this week…Miss Josephine Baker.

Josephine Baker was a singer and dancer in the 1920 and 30s. She was the first African American female to star in a major motion picture and integrate an American concert hall and went on to become a world famous entertainer and civil rights supporter. She was most famous in France for her sensuousperformances and costumes. Ernest Hemingway called her “… the most sensational woman anyone ever saw.

That being said, let’s take a look at our Josephine Baker inspired palette for this week.

1) Oyster buckram 2) Argento brocade 3) Python Multi leatherette 4) Butterscotch Iridescent asahi 5) Copper shimmer 6) Aquamarine linen 7) Red linen 8) Purple Gold Iridescent asahi 9) Cappuccino Saturn 10) Black outback leather

So, If you are looking for something a bit more elegant for your images, think matted albums with a cover from our Josephine palette. Try the extravagance of the Bookbound Art or the simplicity of the Gallery albums or maybe even a nice pair of images in a Seldex portrait folio. Look for more material options to be added to the folio line in the next couple of weeks.

That’s all from the London road this week. Stop by again next week for yet another boudoir inspired palette as we gear up for Valentease Day.

You won’t want to miss it.

Cheers mate!

L :l

Lisa Hoffman

Lisa Hoffman

Lisa Hoffman is Finao's official Image Enhancer for the Marketing Department. She makes stuff pretty...usually.

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| December 18, 2009
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PANTONE FASHION COLOR REPORT | spring 2010

Brrrrrr….it’s cold!

I’m going to continue to think warm this week by taking a look at what Pantone has picked out for it’s Spring 2010 colors. It’s grading time folks, let’s see how Finao does:

FINAO LEATHERS: A-

The leathers appear to be the clear winner this round. They are the closest matches to our Pantone palette and can supply some fabulous spring cover options for the Finao ONE and Upper Elements line (select materials only). Best matches go to Lobster & ‘Shroom. We lose points for the blue. Nothing close on that one but our traditional Wedgewood option. Better luck next time, perhaps.

FINAO NON-LEATHERS: B-

The non-leathers by comparison are probably the weakest in matching our Pantone palette, however, there are still loads of nice choices for many of the colors that can be used on our self-mount Elements line. Best matches here go to: Geisha and Platinum Blonde. The Geisha has a nice reflective quality that the scan can’t really capture so go check your swatches to see what I mean. (pssst….you can buy the swatches if you don’t already have them :). Again, we lose points on trying to match the Violet and Amaparo Blue. That blue is just tough to match.

SELDEX MATERIALS: B

While maybe not the strongest of the material collections either, Seldex does get near spot on with a few of the colors. Their Aquamarine is super close and Cornflower is probably the closest match to that Amparo blue yet. They don’t have anything close to the Aurora yellow, however, if you get creative and check out the highlight color in Butterscotch Iridescent you might get close. Just depends on how you choose to accent colors. The Seldex materials here represent their entire line so make sure to check that the material you like is available on that specific product.

That’s all for this week….and this year. We will see you again in January when I’m going to have a whole series of ideas to help gear you up for Valen-tease day. That’s right. It’s time to boost those boudoir sales and I’ll have some colorful ideas to make it happen. Till then,

Happy Holidays everyone,

L :l

Lisa Hoffman

Lisa Hoffman

Lisa Hoffman is Finao's official Image Enhancer for the Marketing Department. She makes stuff pretty...usually.

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Category: Fashion | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
| December 11, 2009
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BEACHY CLEAN | take your theme to the beach

Back again for another edition of the Fashion Blog. It’s cold here! I don’t know about you but I could totally use a day a the beach where the sun is warm so that is my inspiration for this week. Our imaginary client this week wants a Beachy Clean wedding so let’s take a look at some ideas on how to pull it off and what kind of materials & products you could offer. Let’s dive in!

1) Opaline (leather) 2) Lusterin’ Hot (suede) 3) Saffron (leather) 4) Willow Tree (leather) 5) Natural Blend (linen) 6) Iridescent Butterscotch (Asahi silk) 7) Faded Jeans (faux leather) 8) Element self mount album in PlatinumBlonde 9) Finao ONE 20×8 Flipbook with ICE cover and Fexy Bleu suede 10) Natural Timber Bookbound Art matted album

MATTED ALBUMS

With loads of new materials added to the mix this past summer, Seldex has some really nice beachy materials that can be used on the Bookbound Art and Gallery albums. Seldex re-introduced some wood covers and the Natural Timber (example 10) would make an excellent start. The spine is normally black on this cover, however, you could choose from a selection of leathers and leatherettes to better match your theme if you like.

Even if you are not doing a Timber cover, Seldex still has plenty of other leather options for the Bookbound Art that could work for our beach theme. Some of my personal favorites are Sandstone Outback leather, Mother of Pearl metallic leather and Ivory leather. Any one of them would be great options to consider as well.

If you are stepping down to the Gallery matted album for a portrait or guest book you have your choice of linen and other book cloths that fit swimmingly with our theme. My top two pics are shown: Natural Blend linen (example 5) and Iridescent Butterscotch (example 6). There are plenty of runners-up here, as well. Sandbank linen, Sky Blue linen, Fuchsia linen, Pink linen, Oyster buckram and even the Soft Blue Gold Asahi silk could easily transfer to our beach theme depending on what colors our client is choosing as the main colors.

FLUSH MOUNTS

Our top choices in the flush mount category for the Finao ONE are pretty much straight up leathers this time. Since these are mostly pretty smooth and plainer leathers, they make great candidates for our tooTone! Album styles. Match one of the colors in our primary beach palette here (examples 1-4) with a plethora of accent colors. Some of my top choice accent colors (not shown here) would be Optimism, ‘Shroom, Sunshine, Lobster, Aquadisiac, Wedgewood, Drifter, Baby Boi and Girlie Girl.

There are a couple of specialty covers that I would recommend trying for the beach theme, as well, since they are both directly tied to what image you decide to use. Top pic goes to the ICE specialty cover (example 9) with the Magical Mystery Glass cover (not shown) coming in directly behind. ICE wins out for the sole reason its a metallic print under acrylic and lends an awesome pearl-like sheen when the light hits it. Just seems perfect for the beach.

SELF MOUNTS

The beachy choices for self-mount albums is probably the most limited of the collections. Top pic here goes to Faded Jeans (example 7). Platinum blonde (example 8) is also a nice choice along with Mellow Yellow (not shown) or perhaps even Academy Award (not shown) depending on the client’s colors.

If you decide to upgrade to an Upper Element or Upper Element TXT guestbook, then you open up some more possibilities for yourself with the leather options and could make a nice tooTone! tie-in with a flush mount album depending on what colors you choose. Remember, that not all leather options are available on the Upper Elements lines so if you think this might be an idea you would like to pursue, make sure the leathers you would like to use are available options on both types of albums.

That’s all for this week. I hope we thawed out some of those creative juices and come back next week for another round or ideas and inspirations.

L :l

Lisa Hoffman

Lisa Hoffman

Lisa Hoffman is Finao's official Image Enhancer for the Marketing Department. She makes stuff pretty...usually.

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Category: Fashion | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
| December 4, 2009
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PUNK PRINCESS | an edgy (but girlie) theme

Welcome back from the break!

I hope everyone had a pleasant holiday. We return to Fashion Fridays this week with the look at recommendations for the Punk Princess. She may be a bit edgy and a bit rock ‘n roll so what would you offer her? How would you keep it fun? How would you keep it feminine? How would you match the album to the other parts of her wedding? Let’s look at some ideas:

1) Mardi Gras (fabric) 2) Willow Tree (leather) 3) Lusterin’ Hot (suede) 4) Ludicrous (patterned leather) 5) Mock Croc Steel (leatherette) 6) Aubergine (macrosuede) 7) Whitesnake (faux snakeskin) 8) Bullet cover with Saturday Night Special (metallic leather) 9) Sunday Shoes (patent leather) with Suspicion (ostrich pattern leather) 10) Something Wicked (patent leather) with Suspicion (ostrich pattern leather)

MATTED ALBUMS

Traditionally matted albums have been pretty conservative, however, this past year Seldex has completely revamped their material offerings and cover designs (like Too Tone options) and delivered a modern punch to the matted album industry. Try a Bookbound Art album in one of the new Wild Animalia leatherettes like Mock Croc Steel (example 5) with a plainer leather and Too Tone it. There are some wonderful combinations that can be made with these new materials.

For the simpler Gallery albums there are plenty of options here as well. Macrosuedes like Aubergine (example 6) work for both Bookbound Art and Gallery albums, making matching different styles of matted albums easy. The Shimmer collection is another excellent choice for our Punk Princess theme. We recommend Candy Pink, Purple or Gunmetal shimmer. Don’t forget, if you order blank mats, Gallery albums can easily be turned into fine art guest books.

FLUSH MOUNTS

Flush mounts tend to be the backbone of any major wedding photography package, and the Finao ONE album delivers just about any crazy combination that you can dream up to match ANY theme. For our Punk Princess we have selected a little something old and a little something new. For the something new we have FABRICS that come in fabulously funky patterns like Mardi Gras (example 1) and patterned leather like Ludicrous (example 4). For the tried and true there are plainer leathers like Willow Tree (example 2) and Lusterin’ Hot (example 3).

We would also recommend our Bullet (brushed metal) specialty cover for some hard-edged, punk appeal (example 8) or some patent leather like Sunday Shoes (example 9), Something Wicked (example 10) or Red Light District for some sleek & sexy appeal.

If your Punk Princess likes to take a walk on the wild side, why not consider adding some Zumanity accents in either Racing Stripes or Kitty Kitty for just the right purrrfect appeal.

SELF MOUNTS

My top pick for the self mount albums & guest books for our Punk Princess is Whitesnake. It’s a nice neutral color combined with a snakeskin pattern for a little extra oomf. The Happy Cow collection offers some nice, plain, leather-like materials and the Garbo collection offers some nice suede-like materials. With over 70 different non-leather choices, Elements make great package add-ons to any theme.

L :l

Lisa Hoffman

Lisa Hoffman

Lisa Hoffman is Finao's official Image Enhancer for the Marketing Department. She makes stuff pretty...usually.

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Category: Fashion | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
| November 20, 2009
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DAMASK DARLING | A black & white theme

Welcome back again, folks!

We are continuing this week with another theme for you. This time, what would you offer the Damask Darling who walks into your studio with a black and white theme? Sure you can do the same BORING black album or maybe even a BORING white album, but seriously folks, you are at Finao. You don’t have to offer the SAME stuff everyone else does. You can still set yourself apart even with the simplest of theme ideas. Let’s take a look:

1. SeldexGallery matted album in Ebony Saturn leatherette and designer image box lid upgrade 2. Seldex Bookbound Art matted album in black velvet with Ink jacquard 3. Finao ONE flush mount in Marsalis fabric & Miami Ink leather 4. Seldex Bookbound Art matted album in Cristina Re Tiffany canvas 5. Finao ONE flush mount album in French Quarter fabric & Miami Ink leather 6. Black Pearl brocade 7. Zydeco fabric 8. Something Wicked patent leather 9. Mystic Tea Leaves fabric 10. Ludicrous leather 11. Finao ONE flush mount album in Suspicion & Sunday Shoes (patent leather)

MATTED ALBUMS

Now if our Damask Darling wants a matted album, Seldex has enough blacks to make even the goth kids jealous: Apollo black metal, Black Pearl brocade, Matt Nepal leatherette, Ink leatherette, Black outback leather, Black leather, Black macrosuede, Metallic Croc Onyx leatherette, Black Buckram, Black linen, Onyx leatherette, Black Wildlife leatherette and Raven leather. Phew…that’s a lot of black. Shiny, matte, you name it, they’ve got it.

The Cristina Re boutique collection offered by Seldex for their Bookbound Art albums, however, hands down, has probably the best match for our imaginary Damask Darling with the Tiffany Canvas option (see example 4). This is a specialty cover upgrade available ONLY for the Bookbound Art albums. A close runner up is the black velvet & ink jacquard option. (example 2).

For the more DIY crowds out there who prefer the quick & easy options. The Seldex gallery matted album is perfect. You can choose from may of the plain black options listed above or try for something like Ebony Saturn (example 1). Add on a custom designed image box lid and VOILA, you have something completely unique for the Damask Darling.

FLUSH MOUNTS

While flush mount albums may not have as many shades of black to choose from as the Seldex Bookbound Arts, there are plenty of other unique options here as well. The whole new line of black & white fabrics from the Paraphernalia collection would work wonderfully as options for our Darling. Choose from Marsalis (example 3), French Quarter (example 5), Zydeco (example 7) and Mystic Tea Leaves (example 9). The fabrics are cover panel options only and require a leather spine. The top choice for the spine with these materials is Miami Ink.

There are some other great possibilities as well if choosing an all leather route. Add some simple white with Optimism. Add some high gloss flair with patent leathers Something Wicked (example 8) or Sunday Shoes (example 11). Add some subtle texture with leathers like Ludicrous (example 10) or Suspicion (example 11). While not as flowery as some of the other options presented to the Damask Darling, they could still be excellent additons to offset all those patterns.

SELF MOUNTS & PRESS BOOKS

For a straight up self mount album or press book for our Damask Darling, Black Pearl is going to be your best friend. It’s black and has a subtle flower pattern and great for an add-on guest book or self mount companion album. Some other good non-leathers to consider would be Black Gold (Garbo), White Downs (Middle Earth), Black Magic (Middle Earth), Obsidian (Haute Colour), Texas Tea (Happy Cow) or Whitesnake (Ecclectic Looks).

If you want to upgrade to a leather self mount (an Upper Element or Upper Element TXT guest book) you can choose from some of the same leathers mentioned in the flush mount section, however, not all leathers are available on the self mount series so make sure you double check your materials and the cover design guide to make sure the combination you would like to create is actually possbile.

That’s all I’ve got for this weeks folk. We will be off next week for the holidays so look for the next installment of the fashion blog on December 4th.

FIN!

L :l

Lisa Hoffman

Lisa Hoffman

Lisa Hoffman is Finao's official Image Enhancer for the Marketing Department. She makes stuff pretty...usually.

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Category: Fashion | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
| November 13, 2009
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THE URBAN COWGIRL | Working with themes

Welcome back again, folks!

This week I’m going to be doing something a little bit different and hope you like it. Up until now we have pretty much shown you ideas that involve just our flush mount albums. Well this week, we are mixing that up a bit and going to address how to work with a theme and how to make it work across product lines that don’t always offer the same materials.

I was inspired this week by a series I found in a wedding magazine that talked about hot themes in weddings. How do you currently deal with a client that comes to you with her theme? Do you work with her to create something special that fits her theme? Or do you simply offer her your standard options and let her decide? The proper answer is you should be working with her to create something special. Don’t panic if it’s a crazy theme. Chances are, Finao can save you and this week’s blog will show you how. Let’s take a look at what you could do if the URBAN COWGIRL walks into your studio. What kind of products and materials would you offer her? Here’s some ideas we could recommend:

1. Chiara (leather)  2. Bomber Jacket (leather)  3. Krumble (leather)  4. Ludicrous (leather)  5. Cedar (leather)  6. Earth (outback leather)  7. Whitesnake (non-leather)  8. 20×8 Flipbook in Painted Pony & Dulche de Leche  9. tooTone! flush mount in Sagebrush Lizard and Drifter  10. Armour flush mount cover with Junkyard Dog (suede)

FLUSH MOUNTS

We will start with flush mounts since they are the most popular options for weddings. What kind of materials would you want to present to our Urban Cowgirl? If it were me, I would start with the textured leathers, especially the All That Jazz collection (Chiara & Bomber Jacket). They have that rugged and worn feel that one might associate with the cowgirl lifestyle. There are also some nice patterned possibilities in the Fragments collection (Krumble & Ludicrous). I would also give some honorable mentions to Komodo Dragon (Accents collection), Bohemian (Accents collection) and Copenhagen (Urban Legends collection).

But there are other possibilities as well if you want to further spice it up with alternative sizes and upgraded cover options. A 20×8 Flipbook (example 8) is always a show stopper and mixed with a Painted Pony (Zumanity) cover is sure to please our cowgirl.

Another possibility is the simple tooTone! upgrade option. Combine 2 leathers for something with extra appeal (example 9). Mixing a lizard pattern with a plainer material are excellent ways to add visual interest to covers.

When many people think of the West, they think of a lot of earth tones and sepia imagery. Armour specialty covers work GREAT with sepia images and offer you a great way to truly customize your client’s cover with something wholly unique. Example 10 is one of our samples with photos from an actual working cattle ranch.

MATTED ALBUMS

What if your client doesn’t want a flush mount album? Would they prefer a matted style album instead?  Don’t worry, we can still help that cowgirl out. Seldex offers some gorgeous Outback leathers for their Bookbound Art line. Earth was picked here but the entire collection is loaded with all sorts of earth-tone goodness. The standard Seldex leather offerings also include some weathered gems like Cedar which would be another great choice for our western lass. It’s also good on the smaller matted Gallery albums.

SELF MOUNTS

Why a self mount? For one, our TXT lines make totally awesome guest books. Many photographers have literally added hundreds to their bottom line just by including a guest book. Many of the leather options we mentioned above (the All That Jazz & Urban Legends collections) can be used on our leather guest book, the Upper Elements TXT. This is an awesome upgrade for the money since it also allows you to coordinate or match a flush mount album in some of the same materials.

If cost is an issue, however, there is still the regular Elements TXT line which comes in our non-leather options like Whitesnake (example 7), Serpentine (not shown) or Sidewinder (not shown). Elements are easy-to-assemble yourself and a great personalized addition to your western themed (or any other) package.

VOILA!

So there you have it, some great ideas on how to customize ANY package whether it is themed or not. Come back next week for some more fun theme ideas

Ciao for now,

L :l

Lisa Hoffman

Lisa Hoffman

Lisa Hoffman is Finao's official Image Enhancer for the Marketing Department. She makes stuff pretty...usually.

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