WHEELING, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As consumers utilize their phones more and more for photography, they turn to increasingly customized solutions to display their work. According to Chris Hosey, General Manager at Bitterroot Studios, the world of framing is changing.
“What’s changing is that in this age of the customer," Hosey says. "The consumer is now walking into a frame shop and telling them, ‘This is what I want’ instead of the framer showing what they have available. We think this is an exciting time to be in the business, because we are limited only by the consumer's imagination.”
Besides managing Bitterroot Studios, Hosey manages a company that supplies a large selection of Pre-Cut, Decorative and Die-Cut mats to the wholesale industry, Diamond Die and Bevel Cutting. “Our customers supply the framing industry, and offer some of the widest selection of colors and choices in the country,” he explains. “But in a growing number of instances, the consumer wants to dictate the choice. And that’s where we come in to help the framer AND the customer and why Bitterroot was created.”
Hosey points out television as the example. “In television, you had three, then hundreds of stations. Now you have ‘watch on demand’ so you are unlimited by any station programmer. You can even buy a film from the cable company! In mat board – which is one of the secrets of good framing – it’s the same thing. We have thousands of color variations, but sometimes, it’s not the one the consumer is looking for. So now we make them.”
Hosey uses the “baby feet” mat board as an example. “One customers wanted a unique mat board using images of their newborn’s feet right off the birth certificate,” he explains. So Hosey manufactured them. “Other people saw it and it became a standardized item on the Bitterroot line,” he said.
Consumers are limited only by their imagination, according to Hosey, and he works closely with his framers, wholesalers and consumers to achieve unique, formalized presentations of their vision.
“You’re not going to want to frame every photo you take, but it’s good to know that when you have a shot you want, there are many alternatives to deliver the right framing effect, and mat board CAN make the difference.”
For more information, visit: http://bitterrootstudios.com.