To wrap up the first phase of the Tru Vue® brand campaign that featured our employees, we wanted to showcase all of the great ads that we have published as well as give a gift to each employee for participating in this campaign.  Below you will find more on how a framing veteran created these pieces that captured a memorable aspect of each employees career.

 

 

The Moment

 

The framing project for the 70^th Anniversary print ads which celebrated Tru Vue® employees was along the lines of the old saying, “Great minds think alike.” Just as custom framer, Tim Franer, was getting in touch with a couple of old friends, who were featured in these ads, to offer his framing services, Tru Vue approached him for the project to frame all 11 of the employee ads included in the campaign.

 

 

“I had worked at Tru Vue many years ago and knew some of the people in the ads,” said Tim, who owns Tim Franer & Company in Corning, CA. “There was a sentimental aspect to this project that brought back many good memories for me.”

 

 

The Design

 

The images from the ad campaign were all black and white photographs, and Tim chose a uniform look for the design that used subtle elements of tone and texture to enhance the ads in their 11”x14” frames.

 

 

“Whenever framing anything, especially photography, simplicity is the best design approach,” he said. “This helps put the focus on and complement the subject matter. That should be the ultimate goal of framing.”

 

 

Tim chose a gray-washed maple frame with one-inch cap moulding that was two inches deep to accommodate the layered design of the matting and mounting. The ad was mounted on a black foam mat with a reverse bevel and positioned within a window cut into a backing mat to create a floating effect. The outer mat provides a generous four-inch border that he upgraded with a hand-wrapped linen fabric finish. Layering the semi-transparent linen fabric over a black mat board resulted in the specific soft grayish-white color Tim wanted to achieve to complement the photography, while also providing texture. The back mat Franer chose has the same texture and finish as the linen, giving the impression the ad is suspended within the frame.

Drawing Attention to the Photograph

 

“For me, dimensional framing creates a space within the frame that highlights the subject,” said Tim. “The width of the outer mat gives the photograph breathing room, and the depth of the piece draws the eye toward it.”

 

 

The piece is glazed with Optium Museum Acrylic®, which eased the process of working with layered design elements because of its anti-static properties. The clarity enables the viewer to experience the full effect of the textures, layers, and color gradations, while the 99% UV protection ensures these treasured pieces will be protected for a long time.

 

 

“All of the design elements were created around what the image needed to draw the eye straight to the photograph,” said Tim. “It’s the minor details that make a design come together and bring the focus on the subject of the frame.”

 

 

Like Tim, we were excited for the employees, who were a part of the 70^th Anniversary campaign, to be able to be able to capture what had become their  Tru Frameable Moment™ .