It's the format that gives you a lot of wall for very little fuss, and the one that lets the recipient choose how it's presented. It's also the easiest to post, which matters more than it sounds when a gift is travelling to a house somebody moved into last week.
The paper
One paper, for every size: 250 gsm uncoated off-white archival. Uncoated means there's no sheen on it, so it reads under a lamp or a window without the glare a gloss stock gives you, and the off-white is warmer than a bright white, which suits ink and watercolour better. It's stiff enough to hang from a clip.
The sizes, and where each one goes
- A4: a shelf, a desk, a small frame in a hallway, or the one to post when you don't know the wall.
- A3: the usual answer. Big enough to read the brickwork on, small enough to fit almost anywhere at eye level.
- A2: for a wall that's already empty and waiting, or above a mantelpiece.
- 50x70 cm: a common frame size, so ready-made frames are easy to find.
- 70x100 cm: the largest we print, for a stairwell or a room with height. Worth checking the photograph is sharp before going this big.
Unframed, and when that's the wrong choice
An unframed print asks the recipient to do a job. If they've just moved in and haven't found the drill, that job doesn't get done for months, and a lovely gift sits in a tube behind a door. Give this one to somebody who frames things, or somebody whose walls aren't decided yet. Otherwise the framed version arrives finished and goes up the same weekend.
How the picture gets there
One photograph does it: the front of the house, in daylight, taken square on from the pavement rather than at an angle from the drive. Eight styles are open to you: fine line, soft watercolour, bold ink, blueprint, pen and wash, screen print, evening light and charcoal. The watermarked result is yours to approve before we print. Your email unlocks the free preview allowance in the studio. The sheet carries no lettering at all, so no name, date or address appears on it. The untouched photograph can be printed exactly as taken instead, and sixteen painted houses are ready if you'd rather pick than commission.
This is the first page of on the wall. The alternatives are the canvas for a big bare wall, the metal print where there's no glass wanted, and the mug if there's nowhere to hang anything yet.
