One of the products we have been working on is a 'nested' Red Wing Digital Acrylic Print.

We have learned over the past two years is that a naked Acrylic Print seemed to be too contemporary for most Midwestern tastes. So we modified it by 'nesting' it in a framed box. It still has some striking high gloss effects, but the more traditional framing design makes the product more attractive to a broader audience.

Next month we are taking the Boxed Acrylic Prints on a West Coast road show to drum up some interest from the client base.

Wish us luck!

Happy spring!

Acrylic Prints have unique optical properties because of the underlying physics of visible light traveling through the acrylic layer.



A property of visible light (or white light) is that the light waves are slightly bent as the light passes from one medium (air) to another medium (in the above example; water). This bending of the light is called light refraction.



Light refraction has two impacts on the observed image:



1) Because of the bent light, the observed object appears slightly magnified, which gives the image added clarity. Light refraction is the underlying principle of optical lens technology you would find in a camera or a microscope.



2) The bent light will also experience a slight shift in the visible light spectrum, which adds vibrancy to the observed colors (explained below the prism image).

A simplified example of what is happening with the Acrylic Print can be see above. 

Incident light (the ambient light all around us) is slightly bent as it enterers the acrylic layer. 

The altered and shortened light path continues to travel until the opaque barrier on the backside reflects the light back up and out the acrylic layer.

The light is bent once again and travels to the eye of the observer.

Because the light is traveling a miniscule shorter distance, the image has a miniscule amount of magnification.  This is why the pencils in the water appear slightly larger.

This slight magnification provides an enhanced clarity to the image, which is subconciously perceptible to the human eye. 

It essence, the acrylic layer is behaving like a lens.

This example also points out the importance of the opaque barrier. If light is allowed to 'leak' out through the back of the print, the clarity impact is lost because the light is not reflected back to the eye.

A profile view of the Acrylic Print points out how the construction of the Acrylic Print both traps light within the acrylic layer and reflects light back to the observer.

Another consequence of bending the light is a slight shift of the visible color spectrum.

Every time the light is bent, the ultraviolet (UV) portion of the light spectrum becomes slightly more dominant and the infrared (IR) portion of the light spectrum becomes less dominant.

IR light has a longer wavelength than UV light and UV light has more energy.  When white light is bent, the UV portion of the light spectrum is more impacted.

Human eyes are especially sensitive to the UV portion of the white light spectrum and colors under a UV-dominant spectrum appear to be especially vibrant.

This is exactly why diamonds have a sense of luster. The light is bent multiple times within the diamond and the the spectrum shift becomes even more exaggerated and pronounced each time it is bent.

The net result of the these two principles of light is an Acrylic Print image that has both exceptional clarity and luminance.

It is really striking to see firsthand.

For the past six months we have been quietly, but diligently working on a new family of products that we call the Acrylic Print.

The idea was to have a premium family of products that would compliment the Panel Prints.

It took several iterations, but we are delighted to introduce the Acrylic Print. We are very excited about the sharp and vivid details this presentation package provides.

More details can be found at Red Wing Digital.

We have been very busy re-inventing here at the shop.

To begin with, we have been very focused on slowly unveiling Red Wing Digital. Red Wing Digital is a print-on-demand product that provides unique large-format presentation products, namely the Panel Print and the Acrylic Print. The Acrylic Print is slowly getting ready for production, but it has taken longer than hoped.

Secondly, we have a new business partner. Fine Art Prints on Demand is a United Kingdom company. This is a side of the business (printing and framing fulfillment) we have been quietly working and growing for a number of years. FAPoD is our third customer for this side of the business.

These two developments have driven our third initiative. We are moving our production to a larger facility. We have narrowed our options down and expect to be able to make some final decisions shortly.

It has almost been six months to the day that this blog has been updated. This is inexcusable and consequently here are the excuses;

1) It has been very, very busy at the shop. The crush began in August (the last blog posting) and has been unrelenting ever since. The simple solution would be to hire additional help to manage the workload and to some degree that was the solution. But as a business survivor of 2008 (remember Lehman Brothers?), you learn not to trust short term business trends. So you suck it up, put in long hours and satisfy each and every customer.

2) Contributing to this work crush has been the success of the new products at RedWingDigital.com. This is a new business model for us and it takes time to hammer out a smooth workflow. But if it were easy, everybody would be doing it. Look for new products soon.

3) It is supposed to be quiet in January so we closed the shop for ten days and took a long road trip to the most remote part of the United States that we could find. However, this January was the busiest January ever even with ten days removed from the calendar. It isn't fair to have a customer wait for my vacation, so it meant even longer days once we returned.

4) This stuff doesn't write itself, especially when you are tired and have convinced yourself you have writer's block.

That being said, I promise not to allow that kind of break in the blog pattern to ever occur again.

It took longer than hoped and it cost more than it should, but Red Wing Digital was finally launched today.

Red Wing Digital is a targeted business that provides products for fine-art and passionate photographers. The initial product is the Panel Print, with more products to follow. What is unique about this web site is the point-and-click selection of the products and the print-on-demand nature of the interface.

The most exciting part of the web site will be the guest contributors. Guests will contribute inside tips for their specific photography niche, with the goal that the web site will become a portal for photographers who are always trying to advance their skills. So far, this will include:

Stacy Bengs (Stacy Bengs Photographer) discussing sports photography and photojournalism,
Barbara O'Brien (Barbara O'Brien Photography), a talented animal photographer,
Clare Polencheck (Off the Cuff Photography), an especially skilled portrait photographer.

It is a privilege to work with such talented and creative individuals and this will be a lot of fun.

The above Panel Print is 'Red Wing Boathouses' by Dr. Jack Alexander and is on display at Red Wing Fairview Hospital.

Visit the new site at RedWingDigital.com.

Back in July of this year, there was a blog posting that discussed the first half of the year and what the second half of the year looked like (1st Cutting...).

Now at the end of the year, it seems overwhelming to look backwards. That being said, the point of this entry will be all about the forward.

If there is one lesson learned in this business, it is to trust your gut. If it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't. And if it does feel right, it probably is. 2011 feels very right.

The new web site is close (and late) to being rolled out. Products are being refined and some new projects are already in the queu. It will be very busy and a lot of work.

But it is still a labor of love and that is what really matters.

Thank for your support. We are very grateful for our customers.

Tentative arrangements have been made to host an art exhibit later this year that will feature the work of contemporary cartoon artists. Britt Aamodt is a friend and her book will be released at about the same time as the exhibit, which is driving this exhibit. Her book will be available at the Minnesota Historical Society Press and can be found at this link. The intention is to invite several artists, exhibit some large format cartoons, have a cartooning Q&A and a book signing in an event spread out over three venues (Best of Times Bookstore, The Sheldon Theatre mezzanine gallery and at our gallery).

You might be asking yourself if cartooning is a legitimate art medium. It is and I would suggest you keep the comment to yourself, lest you become the parodied target of an offended cartoonist.

Therein lies the beauty of cartooning. It can either lampoon or glamorize their subjects. It can be humorous or it can be brutally and uncomfortably frank. It can address real life or it can fabricate an entirely new universe with it's own laws of physics. In other words, cartoon art defies definition.

This exhibit promises to be a lot of fun. I grew up reading the comics and I still read the comics. I love the comics.

This is completely consistent with past exhibits, including the Brown & Bigelow Pin-up exhibit in 2007, the Cream of Wheat original advertising art in 2008 and the original pulp magazine cover art in 2009 (see the illustration trend going here?). Details as they unfold.

The fundraiser for the Sheldon Theatre this year was like last year; exhausting and fun at the same time. The small army of photography volunteers were a well-oiled machine of diligence and the clients were steady all evening. We raised about $500, which is a 30% gain over last year.

The theme was a bit different this year (early morning Christmas in the 1950's) and the better images were the ones in which the clients became engaged in the fun. Above, Matt (my carpenter in real life) re-creates his proposal to his fiancée.

See? Fun.

Introducing Frank the Framer. Frank is an interesting persona. To begin with, he is very friendly and is always smiling with a warm wink. He cares about his appearance, judging by the neatly tied bow tie and perfectly parted hair and he can be both abstract and exact at the same time and is very colorful.

Over time Frank's purpose will become clear, but today seemed like a good opportunity to introduce him.

Last year was the first year that we held a fund raiser for The Sheldon Theatre the Friday after Thanksgiving. The idea was to open the doors of The Sheldon to the public during the Downtown Red Wing Holiday Stroll and use their set and costume departments to re-create a family photo at a 1950's Macy's department store.

This year we are excited to work with The Sheldon again on another retro-Christmas family photo event. This year we will re-create the excitement of Christmas morning, circa 1955. To put it in proper perspective, think of the set of "The Honeymooners" (Brooklyn apartment, table, chairs and a table-top tree), throw on an old-fashioned robe (maybe with a night cap or hair curlers) and a few slippers. The photos will be printed using a very dated look (back and white complete with creases).

This will be way too cool for school. And all for $5.00!

This morning the Minneapolis Star-Tribune business columnist Dick Youngblood wrote a very favorable column about our business here in Red Wing. It was a lot of fun getting to know Dick over several conversations and meetings and I really didn't know what to expect. Needless to say, I was very happy and a bit embarrassed by the attention.

But it was the sub-headline on the second page of the hard-copy article that really made me smile. For many years I thought I was a "washed-up sales rep" when in fact I was only a "burned-out sales rep". Imagine my relief.

You gotta love it. :)

The article can be found here.

Thanks for the article Dick and thanks for the support Dave and Dean.

This time of year creates some beautiful opportunities for panorama photography. The light is becoming longer and the trees are just beginning to turn color. The Mississippi River in particular is a good panorama subject in this area because there are plenty of river bluffs to capture the wide expanse of the river.

The photo above was captured at Buena Vista Park above Alma, Wisconsin. It is a spectacular overlook. The weather was borderline inclement, which creates wonderful atmospheres for the camera lens.

This is a 4:1 print. Large format printing is ideal for a very narrow print like this. In order to really appreciate a print like this, it does require some height to the image, which means it will grow very wide, very fast. A 12" high print becomes a 48" wide print. Add some mat (typically 3" all around) and some moulding, the overall image is nearly 5 feet wide. This is a 'high drama' image that demands attention as soon as you walk into the room.

Red Wing is a company town and the name of that company is the Red Wing Shoe Company.

Red Wing Shoe (or 'The Shoe' to the locals) has been manufacturing shoes and boots in Red Wing for over 100 years. The company manufactures and sells purpose-built footwear. Some of their target markets include oil and gas, construction, iron workers, agriculture, hunting and hiking. Their largest manufacturing plant is in Red Wing, Minnesota. Almost all other footwear today is manufactured and imported from low cost countries, so a work boot made in the USA is unique.

The Shoe is paternal about the City of Red Wing. When The Shoe announced last year that they were going to purchase a blighted downtown building and create a flagship shoe store and museum, it was a major announcement, especially locally.

This past week The Shoe moved their World's Largest Boot (20x a normal boot) from a warehouse to the new store. It was an exciting event that garnered a lot of attention. As exciting as that was, the energy level is even higher inside the store as employees scramble to meet an aggressive deadline in opening the new store.

Red Wing Shoe understands the value of visuals and is an image-oriented company. We are proud to have provided the graphics and framing for this exciting new venue. The store opens August 3rd and the museum later this month.

People who invent snappy metaphors to describe business principles might say something like; a small business today is like a great white shark, always on the move, never resting, never sleeping. That sounds way too contrived, so it would be best to simply say that a business must constantly ask itself what it does for a living, and is it where it wants to be in doing that thing it does.

The name change is more a matter of acknowledging how this business has evolved. We frame and we print and we do anything in between. Also it was time to freshen up the logo; shine our shoes, so to speak. This was harder than you might think because the fonts used are fabricated for our needs. It isn't an off-the-shelf font, but it does have a basis in the history of this business. But it is too difficult to explain without hand gestures.

The new web site is another matter. The changes appear to be mostly cosmetic, but under the hood it is an entirely different animal. It would take a rocket scientist to explain the differences and unfortunately, one isn't immediately availible.

With any new web site, it is very easy to be driven crazy trying to chase down every image resizing requirement or some dropped html code. This is called 'overhead' and produces no income. Overhead bad. Income good.

But, you do what you have to do, when you have to do it.

Introducing the Red Wing Framing Gallery Panel Print.

It's a Panel! It's a Print!

It's a Panel Print!

It begins with any digital photo and ends with a full-print bleed, UV-protected, 1/4" thick hardboard panel print that is pool-table flat and rugged!

The Panel Print has a linen laminate finish and a 1" reverse frame mount. The mount lays flat on the wall and the print is an elevated surface that creates a modern 'drop-shadow' effect on the wall.

It can be printed at any size or aspect ratio (great for panorama photographs) and it has been especially popular with photographers who appreciate this very contemporary look. It also works great for commercial projects that are restricted from using glass or need to cover large wall surfaces, yet still need to project elegance and creativity.

Call the shop today at 1-651-385-0500 and create your own art from your own images!

Now, back to the regularly scheduled programming.

Clare Baker called last November for an interview for The Big Picture magazine, which is a trade journal for the wide-format printing industry. The gist of the article is about printers who have carved out a niche business of providing wide-format, fine-art printing. Wide-format printing is anything larger than 44" and fine-art printing is usually defined as low-volume, high-mix printing with tight duplication standards.

Over a period of weeks, Clare and I would occasionally talk, but I lost track of the publication date. I was pleasantly surprised to receive the article in my mailbox this week. Clare did her homework and did a terrific job of detailing the priorities in wide-format fine-art printing:

1) Invest in capture, calibration and proofing technologies.
2) Push the envelope in new applications and learn from the failures.

An electronic version is right here.

The Hometime episode we were involved with last year is being re-broadcast over the next several weeks, beginning this past Saturday (01-24-09). Locally it will be shown on Saturday. February 14, 2009 at 5:30 pm (TPT, channel 2).

What a terrific opportunity this has been for us and I am thankful for being so fortunate. We have met many people and we had a blast being involved.

One of the more interesting aspects for me was the challenge from an operational standpoint. Extremely tight (and rigid) deadlines and having to essentially close the shop for two days to conduct filming. If I remember right, it was six, 18-hour days in a row. There was a flub or two (or three) along the way, but nothing that couldn't be fixed (or reprinted).

The web traffic has been significantly heavier this year. I think it is because Hometime has a much better schedule this year on PBS (they typically block it right before "This Old House") and the search engines have had a full year to digest and sort relevant inquiries, consequently the search listings are more favorable.

For those so inclined to see the episode, here is the segment:

A contrast in projects.

Beauty:

The first project is for the new Norton's Downtown and Lucky Cat Lounge. This restaurant-lounge-fine wine store has some very large and high walls and it needed a tasteful image that befits the atmosphere of this white linen restaurant.

The image used is The Flaming June and was selected for its gracefulness, color and image impact. It is one of the first things you see when you enter the restaurant from the parking lot and walk towards the hostess station.

The final image size is 8' x 8' and it is printed on a satin fabric with an unfinished and unweighed bottom edge. Because of the 'hand' and drape-ability of the fabric used, the entire image has a beautiful waft to it as it moves with the air circulation, almost as if it were breathing.

Beast:

Right next door to Norton's restaurant, the new Red Wing Shoe Company store is being built. This store will be a showcase for The Shoe, which has their world headquarters directly across the street. Red Wing Shoes are simply the best made boots and shoes in the world. I wear my Model 414 boots for nine months out the year and I personally vouch for the high quality and ruggedness of their products.

This project is labeled the beast because of the conditions that these images have to tolerate...beastly. The weather was -15 F with snow and high winds when they were installed. The construction wall is literally 6 inches from Highway 61 and the images have to tolerate heavy truck traffic, rocks, dirt, grime and salt. And, of course the weather extremes.

Each image (there are two) is 6' x 15'. It is a reprint of the architectural concept drawing, with an opening date and The Shoe logo. A heavy-duty scrim material was deployed and it was further re-enforced with the thickest laminate available. The edges were treated with a super glue-like adhesive and 1/2" weather resistant, re-inforced nickel grommets were used every 2.5 feet.

Too much fun.

Last night was the 7th annual Red Wing Holiday Stroll. This event is hosted by the Downtown Red Wing Mainstreet organization and is meant to be an alternative to the enclosed mall exodus that typically occurs the day after Thanksgiving.

Anybody downtown can pretty much define whatever activity they want to do during the stroll and many merchants provide discounts and free snacks. We opted to work with The Sheldon Theatre to create a fun family event that is both corny and nostalgic.

It was decided to re-create an Eisenhower-era tradition…the family Christmas photo.

We settled on a fakey outdoor-looking Christmas photo set, obviously taken indoors, very much like you might find at a Macy’s Department Store in 1955. This allowed us to use period overcoats, hats and fake snow to re-create the era and move clients in and out of the set quickly. 15 minutes later they would stop by our shop to pick up a keepsake 5”x7” photo, printed in period fashion and in a stylish envelope. Most clients ‘got it’ and really became involved in the spirit of the event.

All for $5 and all the proceeds went to the Friends of The Sheldon, which is the fund raising arm of The Sheldon.

A small army of volunteers was recruited and it was a mostly-smooth workflow of production. There were a lot of laughs and there are too many people to thank here that made this work. Ideas are already brewing for next year.

Good times.