Frames

After having several discussions about the display of the work we decided to stick with conventional frames. We didn't want to get too experimental with the display due to costs and the sheer number of images that would have to be produced.

We looked into acrylic prints, prints on metal etc after hearing about Karins AAA exhibition and decided the costs were too great for us to warrant doing it. I undertook some research while at the photography show and found that there were several printers and framers offering alternative methods of display such as prints onto wood, metal, plastic some of which were a very acquired taste. I can only imagine these methods will become much more popular and slightly less expensive in the near future as companies compete with each other.

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Here are some of the examples I was looking at during the photography show. It was a great opportunity to see the frames up close and get detailed pricing on them. I took some leaflets for companies I liked and in particular Picture Bloc stood out as the best quality frames for the money.

After returning and sharing my finds with the group we had a look into Picture Bloc. Everyone liked the styles of frames they offered and it was time to decide on which frames we would have so that we could price them into the budget.

We needed 60 frames in A3 size so we began with this in mind. The group decided that black frames would be best as we wanted a clean look in the gallery! We came across the 'Avondale Range' which were very well priced and I actually got my hands on one of these frames at the show and they were great quality.

I particularly liked the small depth of the frames, this meant they would sit on the wall nicely without extruding too much.

The price for this frame in A3 was £40 each. This meant the total frames for display would cost £2400 which is very reasonable.

Next up we had to decided on the frames we would use on the prints we plan to sell. Obviously the cheaper the costs, the cheaper we can sell the work at/the bigger the potential profit.

We decided it would make sense to stick with Picture Bloc, especially with us applying for sponsorship. We went through their brochure again and decided we liked the look and pricing of the 'wooden desk range' which are a budget wooden frame but again very high quality.

We decided to sell 5x7 prints at a low price at the event in order to bring some money back in and share the work with visitors. Realistically most people won't buy a huge print because it would cost a few hundred pound. Cheaper smaller prints seemed like a much better idea so we decided that each photographer would have 15 prints for sale at around £40 each.

The cost price on these 5x7 frames is £11 each or £1650 all in. With print costs on top (around 60p a unit) there's a potential return of around £4300 on the sale prints.