Hi All. I came across this site whilst doing my normal Sunday morning browsing session before having to take the boys swimming and then onto football (

) and after having to do extensive research in the past for the company I work for
My place of work, I feel I am highly placed to post a brief summary of my findings and experiences with some of the Canvas Art companies on the web.
As we are predominantly Property Furnishers, for Developers and Private Individuals alike,in Prestige Developments all over the UK and Europe, we have a huge need for artwork, in various formats, to finish and compliment our Clients Investments.
When I was given the task of sourcing the Artwork, the amount of different companies on the web all offering Canvas Art, Perspex Art, Framed Prints etc, made it seem a little daunting, given that I had to find that happy balance between quality and affordability, I decided the best route to follow was getting samples from a few of them that I liked the look of and then working from those to make my decision. I must point out that whilst I had to find these products, the client had to accept the product before it could be part of the Interiors package we offer them, so it wasn't really my decision, I just got the products, so they could decide.
I got all the samples sent to my home address, so as to limit the possibility of people "Googling" the company and then making an "Extra special effort " on the Artwork, a simple tactic that enables us to separate the good from bad almost immediately after receipt. I have to be honest here, at first glance they all look the same, it is only when the cost is analyised, that the differences between them become apparent.
As a company, we look for a few things before we even consider using a supplier, such as VAT registration, Business address, contactability etc. I know these things won't have as much bearing when looking for a supplier as an individual but are important factors nonetheless.
Outward image. Do they look like they could handle any sizeable orders?. Do they show any evidence that they have dealt with large companies before?. These things are all relevant because it shows that someone has taken "the risk" before and emerged unscathed.
I ordered 10 Canvas samples, 4 Perspex samples and 5 Framed Art print samples. Of the 10 Canvas samples, 5 were dismissed immediately because of the frame, all 5 had " Diy shop " timber frames, not what a client wants in their exclusive development. The remaining five all had a similar make up and build quality, so we decided that print quality, durability and price would determine the 3 we would show our clients. The three companies Canvas prints' we decided on were
Canvas Prints and
Canvas Prints, the attention to detail on these prints was something else, the reverse of the prints looked as good as the front!. Aswell as
Canvas Art, this company was chosen on quality and price, they had the balance down to a tee.
The Perspex companies we chose were
Perspex and
Perspex, these were chosen because the Perspex was 10mm and one piece and we were assured that because the Perspex was cast, it wouldn't "craze" if cleaned with an aggressive cleaner sometime in the future.
The Framed art prints were quickly decided,
Framed art, simply because of the speed of delivery and the Vast range available.
The companies we now use on an on-going basis are
Canvas art purely down to the range they keep, the price and the quality.
Canvas prints, for when the client wants to pay a little bit more for the attention to detail.
Perspex art for ability to cope with large numbers and
Perspex art for an extensive range of designs.
I hope you find my little review of some help when making your decision.
Many thanks Sam.