I’d like to be able to print onto acrylic as well as canvas. When hung this would stand out from the wall slightly to give the impression of being backlit. This strikes me as being particularly suitable for digital art as you are used to seeing it on the screen. I first saw this type of thing at the following link http://www.acrylicize.com (although it probably doesn’t have to be that thick)

Actually, books might be an interesting direction. Coffee table books, artist collection books?

What about sets of images? I mean like 2, 3 or 4 very similar and related images, framed and matted the same.

Printing on acrylic is very niche and expensive and it doesn’t lend itself well to a lot of art. A friend of mine does it with abstract vector images which it does suit. I love the idea of a high quality portfolio book. I’m studying art at uni and if I could upload all my pieces and get them made into a portfolio book to show off and hand out, it would be great. I also like the idea of having my images used to make a high quality calender. I know all my family would want one containing my art (and not of fluffy cats like you always see, lol)

I’m not sure how viable this is, but I’d also like to be able to use more then one artists work for a single framed piece of art. I’ve done this before with four of my pieces, each one taking up a a square when the page is divided into quarters.

I agree with Sarah: I think coffee table books would be a neat idea! We could either design our own, or maybe have the option for the buyer to pick a certain number of images to appear in the book (from a selection, of course). I also think mugs and cups would be a neat idea. People this day in age love coffee, tea, and water!

I also agree with the idea of more than one piece in a matted frame.

I don’t think that IK should get into mugs etc – stick to high-quality printing of fine art

Please do not become another Cafe Press, Zazzle, etc. We really need POD that is Art orientated.

I like the idea of printing Art books and presentation booklets artist can use.

Totally agree with Dicci. Do fine art products well and don’t water this down by diversifying in multiple directions to become a Cafe Press clone. Too many sites feel they have to do everything and end up spreading themselves too thinly.

I would pay a premium price for the Art books. I’m looking into getting my work in a gallery and having a portfolio book to show would be great.

Absolutely agree with Dicci and Mark !!!

We also would like Art Books of our work and agree with those who don’t want IK to become another Zazzle, Cafe Press etc.

I love Teresa’s idea of letting the buyer choose which images for their coffee-table books.

In fact, taking it a step farther, maybe the buyers could select images from multiple artists? Develop their own theme? Match their decor?

This is digital art, so how about selling art screensavers? Or art for photo-displaying devices?

Also, what about video? I use a program called ProShow Gold (from Photodex) to string together still images in the “Ken Burns” manner with panning, zooming, wipes, fades, and captions. My son Al is a composer so I used ProShow Gold to make a video with my abstract digital images in motion, set to his jazzy music. Other shows feature my garden photos.

Please, as Dicci says, stay with fine art and don’t do mugs and all that.

Fine art postcards are a wonderful size for those without a lot of wallspace and are collectable. I’ve seen them in just about every museum gift shop, I’ve seen them collaged and also individually framed and hung in groups.

Not Cafe Press or Zazzle quality…..MUCH BETTER IK QUALITY INSTEAD.

I also like the idea of having an art book of my own images. Or even a Booklet for display at shows.

Calenders would be wonderful, I have been wanting to have them done but could never organize everything including the cash layout to have them printed.

Art Cards would also be a big plus. They could be sold in packs of a dozen with different images or all the same.

I don’t feel that Books, Calenders or Art Cards fall into the same catagory as mugs, etc. It still retains the sofistication of high end art.

But then again are we here to make money or to be snooty?!?

Richard’s idea of art cards is great. I am interested in both postcard style and the envelope with folded, blank inside art cards. I have bought some from the museum store long ago, but have’nt seen recently.
No site I know of sells assorted art card of either style in a choice of mix and match. I have been printing my own as gifts. This might turn out to be a popular customer option, especially if you are able to guarantee quality at a fairly low price.
I would also like the option of having a mini-masterpiece gallery. These pieces would be no larger than 8″x10″. This would give me the choice of offering some of my smaller pieces at a higher quality than cards, for example, a 6″x6″ on canvas.
Personally, I love art mugs, coasters and mousepads. It would be exciting to be able to beat cafepress both with higher quality and lower price–but maybe we can wait until you’re very established as a company.

Absolutely, no questions, you have to offer high quality post cards and/ or notecards and calendars.

The key is to have them be of the highest quality. Those items, I imagine, would be an extremely popular way to display and distribute and sell art and photography that’s worthy of the label fine artist. And really, each of those extensions are so much more accessible to people that might not want to go the full print/ framed option.

They key really, is to do it high end. For calendars, have a really good calendar section with pro design level fonts and boxes, and stylistic touches the scream quality. For the notecards, build in all the quality and textures and weight that it appears (I just discovered this site today) you already carry. My guess is these would be your most popular products right out of the shoot if done correctly and priced fairly.

BTW, Apple’s iPhoto provides some wonderful looking templates for cards and calendars. in particular, they allow small images to be use to call out a special date within the calendar.

Thanks for all the good work you already do.

ML