Step One in a Fine Art and Photography Support System

Furthermore, based in Washington, D.C., is on its way to being much more than a print shop, thanks to the vision of its founder, Jose Ruiz, and Bridget Sue Lambert, Director & Digital Print Open house inkjet printingSpecialist for Furthmore Print, the company’s production studio. The goal is to make Furthermore an alternative incubator for comtemporary art in D.C., New York and beyond. The first step in that goal is to make printing more accessible to those artists.

Furthermore recently kicked off the concept with an open house at its studio, an event that drew hundreds of artists from the surrounding area. Though Furthermore opened its doors late last year, they took time to execute a creative printing project for the open house to show artists all the different possibilities they can explore with inkjet printing and the variety of printable media available to them.

“We recruited artists from New York and Washington, D.C., and we assigned those artists to work on a specific paper,” explains Lambert. “One artist used LexJet Sunset Photo Metallic Paper, another used Sunset Cotton Etching, and so forth, for 18 prints on 12 different papers and materials in all, including Photo Tex and LexJet 7 Mil Absolute Backlit film. We matched their work with the medium we thought would work best.”

Open house fine art reproductionUsing mainly LexJet materials and a smattering of Hahnemuhle papers, the work was produced on Furthermore’s Epson Stylus Pro 9900 through the ImagePrint RIP. The aim, says Lambert, was to show the broad spectrum of inkjet printing possibilities and how each artist’s work can be reproduced to either stringent specifications or into something completely new and different.

One artist, Patrick McDonough, reproduced his work as a windsock with LexJet Water-Resistant Satin Cloth. Another, Isabel Manalo, whose work is originally created on Mylar, had theirs printed on the 7 Mil Absolute Backlit film. The result was a wall of diverse, unusual and innovative work that was the highlight and focal point of the open house.

“The whole idea of the print shop is to provide more economical pricing that’s still high quality and archival on nice papers so that artists have a chance to experiment more and make this part of their studio practice, instead of just for exhibitions,” says Lambert. “Before we created this wall of art and photography it was difficult to demonstrate all of the possibilities with just stock samples. Now they can see everything and all the possibilities in a loose exhibition format.”

Artists and photographersLambert estimates that 200 to 300 artists and art appreciators attended the open house. MillerCoors donated about 20 cases of Peroni and Blue Moon to help with the event, underscoring the widespread community support Furthermore has for its overall concept of being a support system for the arts.

“We wouldn’t be in the position we’re in without the help of LexJet and our customer specialist, Rob Finkel. If I was having trouble with the software or the printer he was right there to help me get it set up. I’ll call him up and tell him what I’m trying to accomplish and he lets me know about the hottest papers and what will work best for the situation,” says Lambert. “I had a lot of struggles with the software I originally chose to use, because I didn’t listen to Rob. He kept telling me to use ImagePrint and I was against it, but then I finally came around and it’s been so much easier.”

Constructing a Legend out of Cloth

Lizza Studios designed and printed a banner on LexJet Water-Resistant Satin Cloth for each decade Sordoni Construction has been in business. Photo courtesy Sordoni Construction Services.

Sordoni Construction is an icon in the northeast, so it was only natural that it would select fine-art reproduction and printing icon Bob Lizza to help celebrate Sordoni’s 100th anniversary. Lizza was charged with designing and rendering a fitting photographic tribute to the company’s 100 years of excellence with something equally excellent.

As the photos that accompany this description attest, Lizza was able to exceed expectations and deliver a literal show-stopper for the big event. Held in a giant tent at one of Sordoni’s properties, Lizza decided to present a brief history of the company in photos on a backlit cloth.

“From the very beginning I thought it would be nice to either backlight or up-light the images since they would be displayed inside the big tent in low light,” explains Lizza. “We came up with a unique application on LexJet’s Water-Resistant Satin Cloth. I’ve used the material before, but never backlit, and it turned out fantastic.”

High Five: Profiting from Large-Format Printing

UPS Store owner Don DeSmet says that large-format printing gives his store access to additional markets and a larger potential customer base.

“Large-format printing is not a supplement to our business; it’s a necessity,” says Kyle Yeager, owner of two UPS Stores in the Atlanta area. “It’s a major part of our product line, and a piece of our business that we use to define and separate ourselves from most of our competition.”

Yeager’s UPS Store has something in common with photo studios and other types of franchise businesses, namely a built-in market ready and willing to buy large-format prints. Yeager’s stores have been printing banners, canvas wraps for photo enlargements and other display graphics on their 44”-wide Canon printers for almost four years.

“Banners are easiest for the consumers to understand and see the true value in, because banners are a focused product for anyone from small businesses to even residential clients,” says Yeager. “We print a lot of graduation banners during the high-school graduation season, and throughout the year we print banners for businesses and organizations that are having a grand opening, a product special or a special event… The possibilities are endless.”

Yeager has set aside a space along the wall for samples and signage product suggestions that works as a silent salesman to spark ideas with customers who walk in the store. Plus, Yeager’s outside sales reps are actively selling both stores’ large-format output.

“LexJet has been a tremendous help recommending materials for specific jobs. If I tell them the type of job I’m working on, they’ll tell me the best media to use, whether it needs to be indoor or outdoor, if it’s a high-impact poster or a volume job, or whatever the case may be,” says Yeager.

Big Photos

Allen and Autumn Thomsen, owners of Thomsen Photography in Eagleville, Mo., have had a similar experience. They added a 44”-wide Canon printer this past summer and found that the large-format printer not only added profit but also cut down on outsourcing costs.