CMC corners - how to display

printmaker

CGF II, Certified Grumble Framer Level 2
Joined
Mar 4, 2003
Posts
356
Loc
Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada
Okay, oh wise grumblinos. This may seem obvious, and perhaps I can't see the forest for the CMC's, but:

Now that the new CMC is up and running, and most of the in-house bugs, thereof, have been exterminated, the task confronts us as to how best to recoup our investment :D :

1) Assuming the computer and CMC are not accessible to the customer, is there a dazzling yet compact way to display a cross section of matting samples, of the myriad possibilities now available?


2) How does one accomplish #1), without wasting too much time having to show each and every available creative possibility? It seems to serve no use to save time at one end, only to lose it + at the other?!? :(

Thank you all!

- printmaker -
 
2 ideas for the price of one:

I took 3 or 4 (I'm not in the shop right now, thank God) 32x40 sheets of matboard and cut a bunch of windows* in each to show off some of my favorite styles. I labeled each window with the # of the software template. This serves as much as a reference for my own use as a sales tool. They are on the wall near the CMC but, as I enjoy the "open concept" workshop, they are also visible by the customers. Depending on my mood, I'll sometimes tell them that I cut 'em all freehand with an Exacto knife.

I also cut a bunch of square mats in a neutral tone that are a convenient size and sliced them diagonally to give me two sets of samples. These are also labeled with the template numbers. I keep these in a separate rack, but in the general vicinity of my other mat samples.

I discovered, in the course of this project, that about 20% of the templates in the early version of the Mat Maestro software just don't work. Not only do the windows not cut properly, but the cutting head is inclined to take off like it's planning to leave the building. This was good to know, so I kept track of the ones that don't work and gave the most bizarre samples to John Ranes as a Christmas present in 2001. I know he appreciated it.

Honestly, I use one of these templates for maybe one out of every 400 mats I cut, but if somebody needs a heart-shaped mat, I'm ready.

*I started to capitalize "windows" as in Microsoft Windows. NOW who's pathetic. :(
 
I have a 5" D-ring binder with plastic sleeves. Each sleeve holds a sample on each side and a sheet of paper separating the samples with the style indicated to show centered in the window opening.

The samples include the basic openings, v grooves, and basic combinations of different openings that I like of stacked mats. That is, top mat - style A; center mat - style b; bottom mat - style C...........etc.

I also have a set of samples of widths of mats (1" through 6") so customers can see the scale of what I am designing for them. This set is cut in back mat and a light gray mat.
 
I cut 8x10 samples of the dozen or so most used styles, labeled them with the template number and keep them at the counter. While showing the samples, I recommend to the customer that "we use a nice rounded corner mat on this piece, or if you prefer we'll let Debra, who's really fantastic at picking out just the right cut, choose a different one when she's cutting the mat." The customer feels like they're even more special. I moved to a new location the first of January and purposely placed the cutter close to the showroom. I've sold many a specialty cut just because they saw the machine working.
 
We display 24 - 8 x 10 sample styles by placing them under a 1/4" sheet of plate glass which covers our entire POS counter. No need to drag out a loose leaf notebook.

They are impossible to miss while folks are picking out their corners.
 
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