Rob Markoff
PFG, Picture Framing God
One of my clients is the founder of a large telecommunications firm (they have naming rights to the stadium in San Diego). He and his wife have 4 kids and lots of grandkids.
I USED to frame (and re-frame) a hallway of family pictures as new events and photos replaced older ones.
A few years ago, he told me about advances in flat screen technology that will put all of the circuitry on the screen and they will be so thin that you could put them into a picture frame and they will wirelessly carry whatever you want streaming from your computer. So, with limited wall space, you could have photos that change depending on who is visiting, the time of the year, etc, and they could be updated with the click of a mouse. He has already installed some of the technology and I "lost" the framing and reframing that the displays have replaced.
We saw that technology begininning to happen for the Veteren's Administration (another big client) where flat screens were replacing framed photos in wall displays - without frames
.
At CES in Las Vegas last week, OLED displays were the rage. 55 inch flat panels are now 3/16" thick. Yes, the entire display is less than a quarter of an inch thick.
Another big advancement is 4K -extremely high resolution. While "content" is not readily available, the technology makes flat screen pictures 4 times sharper that anything currently available.
While the sets are very expensive today, it will not be long before this technology takes a BIG bite out of potential framing revenue.
It would appear that the relevance of needing "printed" one dimensional art and framing is facing some even more serious challenges. Unless framers make lateral moves to add other products and services to their product mix, their revenue stream will continue to decline. Digital output and scanning/photo organizing are two that immediately come to mind.
I had not intended this thread to be a shameless plug for Barbara's class but could not resist sharing something that led to last year being our most successful in years- adding dimensional art and unique ways of displaying art to our product mix that does not require framing.
This is the new frontier for us. We actually received a RFP (request for proposal) from a major corporation with 5 floors requiring art and the specifications state that NOTHING can be framed. (And we are not talking about a bunch of gallery wraps.)
Barabara is teaching a class at the WCAF and has a new article in an upcoming PFM issue called, "Thinking Outside The Frame" which shows and discusses advancements in digital output, dimensional art and sourcing art that does not require framing.
In the November issue of PFM, Greg Perkins (one of my heros and and incredibly talented person) wrote that a frame shop should NEVER display something that is not framed. I believe his message was to "be true to your school" meaning that if your primary revenue source is framing, commit your wall space to showing off what you do best. Of course, Greg also works for Larson Juhl, who with their fellow moulding manufacturers and distributors, are also faced with the challenge of a shrinking market, so naturally they would encourage framers to "stay the course".
I applaud PFM for not only including Barbara's class in their curriculum (after all it is the West Coast ART and Framing Show and a significant number of booths will be some of the sources Barbara has identified) but for also publishing a contrarian viewpoint to Greg's.
The times they are a changin'..........
I USED to frame (and re-frame) a hallway of family pictures as new events and photos replaced older ones.
A few years ago, he told me about advances in flat screen technology that will put all of the circuitry on the screen and they will be so thin that you could put them into a picture frame and they will wirelessly carry whatever you want streaming from your computer. So, with limited wall space, you could have photos that change depending on who is visiting, the time of the year, etc, and they could be updated with the click of a mouse. He has already installed some of the technology and I "lost" the framing and reframing that the displays have replaced.
We saw that technology begininning to happen for the Veteren's Administration (another big client) where flat screens were replacing framed photos in wall displays - without frames
.At CES in Las Vegas last week, OLED displays were the rage. 55 inch flat panels are now 3/16" thick. Yes, the entire display is less than a quarter of an inch thick.
Another big advancement is 4K -extremely high resolution. While "content" is not readily available, the technology makes flat screen pictures 4 times sharper that anything currently available.
While the sets are very expensive today, it will not be long before this technology takes a BIG bite out of potential framing revenue.
It would appear that the relevance of needing "printed" one dimensional art and framing is facing some even more serious challenges. Unless framers make lateral moves to add other products and services to their product mix, their revenue stream will continue to decline. Digital output and scanning/photo organizing are two that immediately come to mind.
I had not intended this thread to be a shameless plug for Barbara's class but could not resist sharing something that led to last year being our most successful in years- adding dimensional art and unique ways of displaying art to our product mix that does not require framing.
This is the new frontier for us. We actually received a RFP (request for proposal) from a major corporation with 5 floors requiring art and the specifications state that NOTHING can be framed. (And we are not talking about a bunch of gallery wraps.)
Barabara is teaching a class at the WCAF and has a new article in an upcoming PFM issue called, "Thinking Outside The Frame" which shows and discusses advancements in digital output, dimensional art and sourcing art that does not require framing.
In the November issue of PFM, Greg Perkins (one of my heros and and incredibly talented person) wrote that a frame shop should NEVER display something that is not framed. I believe his message was to "be true to your school" meaning that if your primary revenue source is framing, commit your wall space to showing off what you do best. Of course, Greg also works for Larson Juhl, who with their fellow moulding manufacturers and distributors, are also faced with the challenge of a shrinking market, so naturally they would encourage framers to "stay the course".
I applaud PFM for not only including Barbara's class in their curriculum (after all it is the West Coast ART and Framing Show and a significant number of booths will be some of the sources Barbara has identified) but for also publishing a contrarian viewpoint to Greg's.
The times they are a changin'..........
