I am often asked how it is possible to manage custom orders from clients who live hundreds or thousands of miles away, conducted via chat or email, with people I will probably ever meet. In truth, the process is not without its challenges, but overall, connecting with people from different places continues to be a pleasure and a source of inspiration. A recent custom project I undertook is a prime example of how the custom-design-from-a-distance process can work.
It begins with an enthusiastic client. I was contacted through my Etsy shop by a woman from south of the border in the United States. She was looking for a suitable mirror for the entrance-way of her home. She had seen one of the smaller mirrors available for sale in my shop and wondered if it could be made in a larger size.
And the answer was, "of course".
The fact that she had been drawn to this particular design of mine had my attention already. It's certainly one of the bolder choices. When I inquired about colour, she went on to describe how her entrance-way led directly to her recently renovated kitchen. In the kitchen was a tile mosaic backsplash, which served as a foundation for her colour choices through out the main floor of her home. In short, everything matched and she was eager to provide me with some reference photos.
[This brings me to acknowledge the next important ingredient in a successful long-distance collaboration: communication technology. Attempting a project like this might have been difficult even 10 years ago. While the technology existed, the user-friendly, familiar interfaces that facilitate the management and dissemination of digital photography were more difficult for the average user to navigate. Now, in the age of the selfie, with hand-held technology and the convergence of communication software, the average user is comfortable snapping photos and sending them off wherever they need to go. Furthermore, cloud sharing technology, such as Google Drive, allows for the sharing of files between the parties through-out the process. All documents, photos, drawings, etc., are available in and can be referenced from one central location, without the need to comb through a series of emails.]
So, the client sent me a slew of relevant photos: the entrance way where the mirror would go, a photo of the table and lamp she had purchased for the area, photos capturing the colour of the walls and surrounding floor, and finally. a photo of the infamous backsplash that would serve as a colour palette.
I was truly blown away by the backsplash. It was a far cry for the garden-variety coloured tile job I had been anticipating. It was stunning. A palette of earthy, yet bold coloured tiles, combined in design that evoked images of an old-word mosaic.
The client explained that her backsplash was the product of previous long-distance collaboration and she had been pleased with the results. With respect to the mirror she sought, she was looking for a little advice, initially.
We began with size and orientation of the mirror. After seeing the table, over which the mirror would hang, my first thought that the mirror design should be landscape, rather than portrait orientation. The table was a long and thin and my inclination was that mirror that should be longer, as opposed to taller. This would provide congruence with the table. I indicated to the client that it would be quite simple to adapt the existing design for the mirror accordingly and she the idea.
Size involved a bit more thought, as proportions are often challenging to visualize. I had three unfinished large frame sizes in stock. I suggested starting with these and if none were suitable I would source some additional options. As the client had already furnished me with photos of the space and the other furnishings, I asked for the relevant measurements: height and width of the wall space as well as the dimensions of the furniture. From these, I could provide a series of sketches that would show the proportions of each mirror size in relation to its surroundings. In the end, the client settled on a 33.5"x27.5" mirror - which probably would have been my choice if our roles were reversed.
Colour was our next hurdle. Although it is sometimes possible to match colour from a photo, it's seldom reliable. Digitally captured colour is relative. It is affected by photographic lighting and its hue can vary enormously depending on how it is translated by each viewing screen. Having her own keen sense of colour, the client needed no convincing on that score. She offered to send a sample of her backsplash, together with a sample of the wall paint and flooring, in order to assist in colour selection. Once I had the samples in hand, and could see the true colours of the tiles, it was time to determine the dominant colour of the piece in order to anticipate the quantities of stained glass needed for each colour. Like dimension, colour combinations can be hard to visualize in a new pattern, so I provided the client with a series of colour mock-ups to illustrate the variations. The following are a couple of examples:
In the interest of projecting warm tones, the client ultimately selected the ochre/terracotta tone as the dominant colour. Now it was time for me to find just the right glass.
Matching stained glass is less like walking into a paint store than one would hope. What you see is what you get. Nor, due to the nature of the medium, is a piece of stained glass always a uniform colour. With a few notable exceptions, the tone often varies considerably on a single sheet of stained glass. Perceived uniformity can be achieved by the artist through blending, but how does one convey this in a sample?
So a visited a few suppliers and found some good matches. I thought my biggest obstacle would be the salmon/terracotta colour, but was able to find a solid opaque match in one of the fusible selections. The reddish-brown colour turned out to be the tough one, but with a bit of assistance from the colour-wise staff at Fantasy-in-Glass Toronto, I found a wonderful match - again in the opaques. (There was more red in that reddish-brown than I had thought.)
The next step was to get samples of the glass to the client. Certainly, I could send her some small cuts from each selection, but I'm not convinced this is always the best approach. For a pattern as elaborate as this, it can be a long journey for the eye from a handful of 'swatches' to the finished product. And, in the case of a mosaic, it doesn't begin to approach the issue of grout colour, which also has a great deal of impact, as well. So, I took a small segment of the pattern, miniaturized it to scale, and created a snippet of the mosaic a few inches in size. Not only would this sample include each colour in the palette, it would give the client a clear visual of what the final piece would look like, grout included.
This was a quick and useful exercise. It provided the client with something tangible from which to provide feedback. The glass proved to be a good mach all around, with the exception of the off-white, which was less "off" than "white". This was an advantageous discovery, easily rectified by finding a richer off-white substitute. And with that, all of the really tricky stuff was worked out in advance of executing the product.
The mirror was completed and ready to ship a few short weeks later, though curing times were somewhat prolonged due to an unusually hot and humid stretch of late summer weather.
At some point over the course of our many communications, the client asked if the time and attention to preparation for her mirror was typical for my custom projects. My answer was essentially, "whenever necessary".
Some clients have straight-forward customization requests. Colour substitution is a common one. "I I like this, but could you do the same thing for me in blue", for example. These kinds of requests are often executed with a minimum of back-and-forth. However, when a client commissions a "big" custom piece that needs to tie into several other elements from an interior design perspective, my best practice philosophy is to do the leg-work upfront - what some might refer to as pre-production. It reassures the client that they are getting what they want and reduces the likelihood of having to make costly changes once the project is underway. For both parties, this approach is a worthwhile investment. By making good use of communication technology to convey ideas and engaging in a collaborative dialogue, I've come to realize that custom-design-from-a-distance is the art of the possible.
Click here for a client review of this project.
It begins with an enthusiastic client. I was contacted through my Etsy shop by a woman from south of the border in the United States. She was looking for a suitable mirror for the entrance-way of her home. She had seen one of the smaller mirrors available for sale in my shop and wondered if it could be made in a larger size.
 |
| 'Art Nouveau' - Stained Glass Mosaic Mirror (12"x14") |
And the answer was, "of course".
The fact that she had been drawn to this particular design of mine had my attention already. It's certainly one of the bolder choices. When I inquired about colour, she went on to describe how her entrance-way led directly to her recently renovated kitchen. In the kitchen was a tile mosaic backsplash, which served as a foundation for her colour choices through out the main floor of her home. In short, everything matched and she was eager to provide me with some reference photos.
[This brings me to acknowledge the next important ingredient in a successful long-distance collaboration: communication technology. Attempting a project like this might have been difficult even 10 years ago. While the technology existed, the user-friendly, familiar interfaces that facilitate the management and dissemination of digital photography were more difficult for the average user to navigate. Now, in the age of the selfie, with hand-held technology and the convergence of communication software, the average user is comfortable snapping photos and sending them off wherever they need to go. Furthermore, cloud sharing technology, such as Google Drive, allows for the sharing of files between the parties through-out the process. All documents, photos, drawings, etc., are available in and can be referenced from one central location, without the need to comb through a series of emails.]
So, the client sent me a slew of relevant photos: the entrance way where the mirror would go, a photo of the table and lamp she had purchased for the area, photos capturing the colour of the walls and surrounding floor, and finally. a photo of the infamous backsplash that would serve as a colour palette.
I was truly blown away by the backsplash. It was a far cry for the garden-variety coloured tile job I had been anticipating. It was stunning. A palette of earthy, yet bold coloured tiles, combined in design that evoked images of an old-word mosaic.
 |
| Client Image - Backsplash |
The client explained that her backsplash was the product of previous long-distance collaboration and she had been pleased with the results. With respect to the mirror she sought, she was looking for a little advice, initially.
We began with size and orientation of the mirror. After seeing the table, over which the mirror would hang, my first thought that the mirror design should be landscape, rather than portrait orientation. The table was a long and thin and my inclination was that mirror that should be longer, as opposed to taller. This would provide congruence with the table. I indicated to the client that it would be quite simple to adapt the existing design for the mirror accordingly and she the idea.
 |
| Revised Art Nouveau Mirror Design (Landscape Orientation) |
Size involved a bit more thought, as proportions are often challenging to visualize. I had three unfinished large frame sizes in stock. I suggested starting with these and if none were suitable I would source some additional options. As the client had already furnished me with photos of the space and the other furnishings, I asked for the relevant measurements: height and width of the wall space as well as the dimensions of the furniture. From these, I could provide a series of sketches that would show the proportions of each mirror size in relation to its surroundings. In the end, the client settled on a 33.5"x27.5" mirror - which probably would have been my choice if our roles were reversed.
 |
| Proportion Sketch of Space with Proposed Mirror |
Colour was our next hurdle. Although it is sometimes possible to match colour from a photo, it's seldom reliable. Digitally captured colour is relative. It is affected by photographic lighting and its hue can vary enormously depending on how it is translated by each viewing screen. Having her own keen sense of colour, the client needed no convincing on that score. She offered to send a sample of her backsplash, together with a sample of the wall paint and flooring, in order to assist in colour selection. Once I had the samples in hand, and could see the true colours of the tiles, it was time to determine the dominant colour of the piece in order to anticipate the quantities of stained glass needed for each colour. Like dimension, colour combinations can be hard to visualize in a new pattern, so I provided the client with a series of colour mock-ups to illustrate the variations. The following are a couple of examples:
 |
| Colour Reference Mock-ups |
Matching stained glass is less like walking into a paint store than one would hope. What you see is what you get. Nor, due to the nature of the medium, is a piece of stained glass always a uniform colour. With a few notable exceptions, the tone often varies considerably on a single sheet of stained glass. Perceived uniformity can be achieved by the artist through blending, but how does one convey this in a sample?
So a visited a few suppliers and found some good matches. I thought my biggest obstacle would be the salmon/terracotta colour, but was able to find a solid opaque match in one of the fusible selections. The reddish-brown colour turned out to be the tough one, but with a bit of assistance from the colour-wise staff at Fantasy-in-Glass Toronto, I found a wonderful match - again in the opaques. (There was more red in that reddish-brown than I had thought.)
The next step was to get samples of the glass to the client. Certainly, I could send her some small cuts from each selection, but I'm not convinced this is always the best approach. For a pattern as elaborate as this, it can be a long journey for the eye from a handful of 'swatches' to the finished product. And, in the case of a mosaic, it doesn't begin to approach the issue of grout colour, which also has a great deal of impact, as well. So, I took a small segment of the pattern, miniaturized it to scale, and created a snippet of the mosaic a few inches in size. Not only would this sample include each colour in the palette, it would give the client a clear visual of what the final piece would look like, grout included.
 |
| Stained Glass Sample |
The mirror was completed and ready to ship a few short weeks later, though curing times were somewhat prolonged due to an unusually hot and humid stretch of late summer weather.
 | |
| 'Art Nouveau' - Custom Stained Glass Mosaic Mirror (33.5"x27.5") |
At some point over the course of our many communications, the client asked if the time and attention to preparation for her mirror was typical for my custom projects. My answer was essentially, "whenever necessary".
Some clients have straight-forward customization requests. Colour substitution is a common one. "I I like this, but could you do the same thing for me in blue", for example. These kinds of requests are often executed with a minimum of back-and-forth. However, when a client commissions a "big" custom piece that needs to tie into several other elements from an interior design perspective, my best practice philosophy is to do the leg-work upfront - what some might refer to as pre-production. It reassures the client that they are getting what they want and reduces the likelihood of having to make costly changes once the project is underway. For both parties, this approach is a worthwhile investment. By making good use of communication technology to convey ideas and engaging in a collaborative dialogue, I've come to realize that custom-design-from-a-distance is the art of the possible.
 |
| Photo Courtesy of Client. Used with Permission. |
Click here for a client review of this project.
No comments:
Post a Comment