First off, I did have fun at the Hester Street Fair.  I was at the {NewNew} tent and my fellow members were very sweet and I had a lot of fun sharing the tent and talking to them.

Both of them are much more established out in the world than me, vending every weekend, sometimes both Saturday and Sunday, every weekend.  So, it made me feel better when they told me that yesterday was not a good day for sales.   I didn't lose any money, but if I had bought myself lunch, I would have - that's how small my profit margin was. *sighs*  So, I do want to go again (hopefully on a day where it doesn't rain for like 3+ hours), and I didn't lose anything, so that's fine then.

Aside, I do want to talk about why I took down the DA Prints I had.  So, Saturday, I finally got in the sample print I had ordered from DeviantArt.  Yeah.  I'm not buying any more prints from them and I won't sell my work through them either.

The print quality, in and of itself, was lovely, so don't get me wrong there.  It's a beautifully executed print.  But I'm *picky* and I live in NYC where there are dozens and dozens of print companies I can go to and yell at in person.  

First, I do not like the weight of the paper.  I like a nice, heavy paper.  In my memory, when I was a kid who covered my wall with posters and only had a couple of prints, the difference in prints was the weight of the paper. (Obviously, there are more differences, but that is what stood out in my child's mind as the difference between the cheap $5.99 poster you bought in a tube from Wal-Mart and the special print you paid $25.00 for and had shipped to you, flat.)  The DA print is much closer to the weight of a poster, it even came rolled up in a tube.  - Hey, DA, even Cafepress ships flat, not rolled, they also have a lovely heavy-weight paper, sadly, it's glossy, and the print quality is probably a *little* lower, though it's hard to compare when I had two different images printed as tests between you two.

Lastly, I had examine the "proof" online before ordering my Fantasy Map from DA. . . they claim that their prints are checked, one by one, to insure quality, one reason it takes so long to ship. . . then how come, upon closer inspection, 0.5 inches was cropped off the top and bottom of my original image?  If I had seen that in the digital version, I would not have ordered.  1 inch off the vertical doesn't matter in all images, but on my map, you clipped off the damn desert!

So, highly disappointed, considering the amount of money I paid for the DA print (over $10!!, and no discount for the original artist! BOOOOO) and it's still unsatisfactory.

There is a print company in Manhattan I've talked to.  They will do my prints to exactly the specifications I want, point by point, and guarantee satisfaction with said product, and only charge me $8.00 a print for less than 10 prints at a time.  $8 is a little steep, but still cheaper than DA considering they'd be using my preferred 100lb or 14pt paper, in a matte finish, cut down to any dimensions I want at no additional charge, and are professional Museum-quality printers.  

I do have some smaller prints tested from another company that I am pretty happy with now listed at my Etsy shop (they are 80lb paper, matte finish, and just a fraction off the 9x12 I asked for (though, if I go back, I will be telling them that if I ask for 9x12, and I do not actually *get* 9x12, I shall be most displeased)

I'm picky, but I'm picky because it's my art, I want it done right, and I want my customers to be as happy as possible with their product.  


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Izile's Oddities on Etsy

Izile's Oddities' Blog

Cafepress Designs


Clubs:
and