ArtZ Donates 325 Book Kits to Local School

ArtZ donated a Book Cover and Presentation Boxe to every student at Hawthorne Elementary School (K-5) for their Book-A-Bration Festival.

Every year, Hawthorne Elementary School in Bozeman, Montana, has a festival celebrating an arts driven theme. This year the theme was to learn and celebrate the joy and art of books and bookmaking: including writing, illustrating and binding. ArtZ had the opportunity and honor to support this celebration by donating an ArtZ Bookmaker to every child at the school.

Each class, Kindergarten through Fifth Grade chose a subject for their books. Each child wrote and illustrated their books to their ability level. The event concluded with an evening Book-A-Bration with a display of over 300 student-made books, student performances, a scavenger hunt and activities with professional book illustrators. It was a wonderful experience for all!

ArtZ Insights from WPPI Tradeshow

Last week I was in Las Vegas exhibiting at the WPPI Tradeshow. Being able to visit with the attendees, customers and other vendors is always an invaluable experience for us. It allows us to find out what photographers are currently thinking and feeling; what is exciting and what is not; what is important and what is not. It is fluid and fascinating to have watched the industry over the past 15 years and to have experienced such change, yet the basic needs and wants of photographers and their clients remain essentially the same. It is a conformation for everything we do and where we want to be.                                                            

This year, Priscilla Foster of Priscilla Foster Handmade Books and I were there together exhibiting at this international tradeshow for professional photographers. We shared a booth and both promoted our own and each other’s business. It was really rewarding to be there with a fellow album maker and have our products compliment each other so well. We appealed to different photographers because some are more attracted to fabric and some are more attracted to leather, yet there was a definite synergy having both of us there together, it was really cool and I think most photographers felt that way as well.
We are doing a collaborative product line together using Priscilla’s fabric covers, with ArtZ’s matted album pages. So now you can order a custom fabric CoffeeTable Book or ZBook. ArtZ customer’s will be able to link to Priscilla’s fabric options and Priscilla’s customer’s will be able to link to ArtZ’s matted page options – hopefully within the next 10 days! Check-out Priscilla’s Handmade Books and Fabrics at www.priscillafoster.com

New Fabric Coffee Table Book for ArtZ by Priscilla Foster Handmade Books

 

 What makes ArtZ different:

 

 

Here is a ‘Talking Points’ overview of what we have learned, introduced, and found photographers could benefit from…

• Our Coffee Table Book and Boxes are made from leather cut from the hide, not from a roll.
• ArtZ albums are of post-bound construction, meaning you have the flexibility to add and remove pages.
• There is a visual and sensual quality, texture and elegance to presenting images in matted pages vs. printed pages.
• Fine-art presentations never go out of style.
• We have always prided ourselves in creating the highest quality products, made in the U.S.A., and I think that speaks for itself.
• Without jumping on the bandwagon, we have always (on many levels) made it our mantra to be eco-responsible: reduce, reuse and recycle.

Upcoming products and services:

• Handmade fabric covers for the Coffee Table Books and ZBooks by Priscilla Foster Handmade Books.
• Museum Quality Picture Frame with hinged backs that can easily turn your album pages into framed wall art – an innovative sales tool for creating repeat business to continue to fill and build your library of images in the album and on the wall!
• Specialized Fine Art Printing Service for those desiring fine art quality inkjet prints for all of our digital products.

What this means to photographer marketing efforts:

• Repeat business to add images year after year to their Coffee Table Book and Frame(s).
• Additional business when friends and family see the opportunity created by the post bound album to grow their heirloom page by page vs. album by album.
• Personal service to take the burden off the photographer and onto ArtZ.

Engraved Plates for the Cover

Engraved Cover Plates for the Coffee Table Book & Box 

One idea for customizing the cover of a book or box for your client, is an engraved plate. Some ideas include:

• Name of client and date of event
• A favorite quote
• A small photo and the client’s name

The plates are available in Brass and Nickel. Their finishes are: Satin, Glossy or a Glossy Black with the engraved metal showing through.

The most popular lettering styles available are shown below. Please note: letters that can be confusing or not work well in certain combinations are highlighted in red. We do not recommend the script style lettering for names and sentences that are all capital letters, the block style lettering will work better. If our engraver feels that your choice will not work well, we will contact you.

 

All plates come with high tack adhesive on the back that can secure to the leather. Typically all lettering is centered on the plate, unless specified differently.

 

 

 

 

Leave the Bride and Groom with a Memory of their Wedding Day

One of our customers, Chris Ramirez, www.ramirezpix.com has a great idea! He does not let the bride and groom leave their wedding reception without a memory of the day – he gives them a glimpse back to some incredible moments!

Chris brings not only his camera, but a portable printer and an ArtZ Accordion to his shoots. When he has a moment Chris prints five memorable photo’s from the day. Quickly and easily, he mounts them in one of ArtZ’s five panel accordions.

Chris’s clients can’t help but be surprised and excited to instantly have the precious gift of a few key images from the day to relish over that night and the days to come!

The ArtZ accordion can be found in the ZBox Product Section of their website www.artzproducts.com. The image was provided by Chris Ramirez, www.ramirezpix.com.

Welcome to the first ArtZ post!

We look forward to utilizing this creative and interactive tool in a way that allows ArtZ to communicate ideas, news, offers and advice on all aspects of our products. We will also pass on any relevant information relating to all of the “who, what, where, when and how’s” of creating the perfect album, book or box.

We plan on featuring some of our photographer/artist customers and getting their words of wisdom on business, marketing or how they use our products in innovative ways. We will also explain in detail the anatomy of our products – from the different grades and qualities of leather, to the different binding systems available, to everything you would ever want to know about adhesive or what does ‘archival’ really mean?

If you have any thoughts or questions related to our products or company that you would like us to expand upon– leave us your comment. Talk with you soon!