Elements of Design

What do you want your framed piece to look and feel like when you get it home? 

• Design comes down to a gut feeling, you can hear it in a person’s words “This feels right”, or “That feels wrong”.  I tell my customers that “your instincts are right 90% of the time — so trust them”.  It often when the brain and logic get involved that design mistakes happen.
• When the art and frame design are balanced and well thought out – the viewer  will first see the whole presentation as one piece, second the art and third the framing. It is custom and each frame package is designed and hand-crafted for a specific person — there is no mass production here.
• For instance:   the client wants to fit the art into a room where there are no colors in common with the desired artwork and wants to frame the art to match the room.  This person may get a few compliments on their art – they might hear ‘what a nice frame’, 'nice picture' or nothing at all.  No raves here!  So where is there somewhere else this artwork would show better?
• Another example:  the artwork and framing style are out of sync with the rooms design and feel.  The room is very modern and the art and framing is very traditional or vintage  This technique and the reverse can work but, it has to be done with care.  The boldness may be hard to live with for some of us.  If the framing is picked to compliment or enhance the art by using elements within the art—that customer will get multitudes of compliments on their artwork. 
  
• Most admirers won’t notice that it’s not the exact same shade of ‘blue/red/whatever’ used in the room.  It doesn't need to match, just go with.
• When art is bought because it resonates in the buyer, the art can then be the jump off point for the room's design and colors.  When done this way the art, the room, the furnishings, the accessories and the owner end up being comforted and comfortable within the environment they have created around their art.  If you absolutely love the artwork and don’t want to change your décor—you may have to find a new location for the art.  Then look for artwork that you may not love but that goes with your décor.
• Another strong reason to frame to the art is that you will generally change the wall colors, buy new furniture or rugs before you will re-frame your art— most art has a minimum of 10-15 years before you may outgrow it. When the art is framed to the décor -  re-framing to fit the new décor will become a necessity.  When you frame to the art it will always look good.   You may have to move the art to a new location or room—but you won’t need to re-frame. 
• So, you wish to match your décor, especially if you love to follow trends – frame using inexpensive, decorative posters and decorative framing or choose art that will compliment your decor and won't hurt as much when you get tired of them and want to dispose of them.  This art would be bet as filler or as an accent/trend piece.

After all you frame that expensive fine art to highlight your local framer, right? — OR is it to highlight your good taste in art!