Posted by Ed Baile on September 11, 2009 at 10:12 AM
Now about 6 months have passed since the passing of Artists Showcase and I'm wondering what some of you're thoughts are on Duraplaque and Picture This.
Posted by Erik Stensland on September 11, 2009 at 10:35 AM
Don't have much time to post right now, but Duraplaq has been top-notch! I am very, very impressed and I do quite a few each week.
Posted by Jesse Speer on September 11, 2009 at 11:58 AM
Duraplaque has been a very pleasant experience for me too. Quality is a small step above others I've tried and they are very personable. Ask them about labels for your prints, and drop shipping directly to your customers (saves some good $$$).
Posted by Brett Deacon on September 11, 2009 at 12:04 PM
Forgive my rather long response, but I have strong feelings on this topic!
I've worked extensively with Duraplaq since Artist Showcase went out of business. I really enjoyed working with Sam Noyes and was sad to lose that relationship. Since the beginning of summer Tim Emerson at Duraplaq has framed about 30 prints for me in a number of styles. I can't speak about Picture This, but I can offer some detailed thoughts on my experience with Duraplaq and how it compares with Artist Showcase.
Words cannot express how happy I am to be working with Duraplaq. The quality of their work is incredible. Others I've spoken to who worked with Artist Showcase agree with me that Tim's work is in a completely different league. I am a perfectionist when it comes to quality and was frequently frustrated with issues like laminate streaks, bunches in the edging material, nicks and scratches, bubbles under the print surface, etc. when working with Artist Showcase. I came to begrudgingly accept some degree of these problems on all my pieces as I believed that it was inherent to the process. My experience was that between 1/3 and 1/4 of my plaque mounted prints (on average) had problems sufficient for me to deem them unsellable. The remaining framed pieces had varying degrees of these problems. Sam from Artist Showcase is a really good guy and a friend, and I was always concerned about striking the right balance between requesting a do-over on problematic prints vs. appearing to be an excessively perfectionistic complainer with unrealistic expectations. On rare occasions I'd get a piece that was almost completely free of any visible defects. I don't think I ever had a plaque mounted print from Artist Showcase that was completely, 100% free of any nicks, cuts, or imperfections, even very small and barely noticeable ones.
After looking over approximately 30 plaque mounted prints from Duraplaq, I can say that the *worst* piece I've received is better than the *best* piece I ever framed at Artist Showcase. This is not an exaggeration, nor an intended jab at Artist Showcase, but highlights the incredible workmanship and quality control at Duraplaq. The laminate is perfect and, unlike what I obtained with Artist Showcase, is completely invisible and shows no streaks even when viewed at extreme angles. The native color of Duraplaq's plaque is black, and pieces Tim has done for me in double plaque style look much, much better than those I had done at Artist Showcase. Despite the superior quality, Duraplaq's pricing is slightly less expensive than that of Artist Showcase. I would describe Tim's customer service as perfect. He is an extreme perfectionist regarding the quality of his work and will inform me if a piece has any imperfections before shipping it so I can send him a replacement print. This has only happened once or twice. His work is so good that I don't feel any need to inspect the pieces I receive from Duraplaq, whereas with Artist Showcase the process of inspecting my framed prints was drawn out and frequently involved a lot of cursing and hand wringing.
Working with Tim almost feels too good to be true, in that it's hard to believe the quality I'm getting for the price I'm paying. It should be obvious that I give Duraplaq my highest possible recommendation. If I can provide any more details, please let me know.
Posted by Jack Garrett on September 11, 2009 at 1:16 PM
That speaks volumes Brett! I had similar experiences with A.S. and while they tried to get it right, it was frustrating to say the least. I had gotten away from plaques and back to framed work but I will try Duraplaq out. I know Erik likes them a lot and for my business customers, a lot of them prefer plaques to frames.
Posted by Phillip Noll on September 11, 2009 at 2:44 PM
Anyone have a URL for Duraplaq?
Posted by Jesse Speer on September 11, 2009 at 2:48 PM
Just saw this. Ditto what Brett says. I have used all of em in town and have representatives of all on my walls. I have actually been replacing work I had done at others in town with Duraplaqs since IMHO the quality difference is that extreme. Also, Tim E is one cool guy, easy to work with and willing to try new creative ideas too.
Discussion
8 repliesI've worked extensively with Duraplaq since Artist Showcase went out of business. I really enjoyed working with Sam Noyes and was sad to lose that relationship. Since the beginning of summer Tim Emerson at Duraplaq has framed about 30 prints for me in a number of styles. I can't speak about Picture This, but I can offer some detailed thoughts on my experience with Duraplaq and how it compares with Artist Showcase.
Words cannot express how happy I am to be working with Duraplaq. The quality of their work is incredible. Others I've spoken to who worked with Artist Showcase agree with me that Tim's work is in a completely different league. I am a perfectionist when it comes to quality and was frequently frustrated with issues like laminate streaks, bunches in the edging material, nicks and scratches, bubbles under the print surface, etc. when working with Artist Showcase. I came to begrudgingly accept some degree of these problems on all my pieces as I believed that it was inherent to the process. My experience was that between 1/3 and 1/4 of my plaque mounted prints (on average) had problems sufficient for me to deem them unsellable. The remaining framed pieces had varying degrees of these problems. Sam from Artist Showcase is a really good guy and a friend, and I was always concerned about striking the right balance between requesting a do-over on problematic prints vs. appearing to be an excessively perfectionistic complainer with unrealistic expectations. On rare occasions I'd get a piece that was almost completely free of any visible defects. I don't think I ever had a plaque mounted print from Artist Showcase that was completely, 100% free of any nicks, cuts, or imperfections, even very small and barely noticeable ones.
After looking over approximately 30 plaque mounted prints from Duraplaq, I can say that the *worst* piece I've received is better than the *best* piece I ever framed at Artist Showcase. This is not an exaggeration, nor an intended jab at Artist Showcase, but highlights the incredible workmanship and quality control at Duraplaq. The laminate is perfect and, unlike what I obtained with Artist Showcase, is completely invisible and shows no streaks even when viewed at extreme angles. The native color of Duraplaq's plaque is black, and pieces Tim has done for me in double plaque style look much, much better than those I had done at Artist Showcase. Despite the superior quality, Duraplaq's pricing is slightly less expensive than that of Artist Showcase. I would describe Tim's customer service as perfect. He is an extreme perfectionist regarding the quality of his work and will inform me if a piece has any imperfections before shipping it so I can send him a replacement print. This has only happened once or twice. His work is so good that I don't feel any need to inspect the pieces I receive from Duraplaq, whereas with Artist Showcase the process of inspecting my framed prints was drawn out and frequently involved a lot of cursing and hand wringing.
Working with Tim almost feels too good to be true, in that it's hard to believe the quality I'm getting for the price I'm paying. It should be obvious that I give Duraplaq my highest possible recommendation. If I can provide any more details, please let me know.
Call Tim at the number listed on the home page.
RichieV