Sue Colbert (front row, far left)is pictured with ASID interiordesigners and industry part-ners following the Colberts'presentation of a continuingeducation class.

ing. They are simply wired to search for the “perfectpiece” rather than having it created for them.

Another encumbrance we found to creating a busi-ness relationship between interior designers and framers iscost. Custom framing can be expensive, but I’ve alwaysbeen puzzled why designers and their clients don’t seem tobat an eye when it comes to other expensive items such asfurniture and fixtures yet consider custom framing toocostly. We found this to be a twofold issue.

First, designers (and thus their clients) are unaware ofthe value of quality framing. If they don’t understand theimportance of properly mounting art, the use of preserva-tion materials, and using UV-filtering glass to protect and

32 PFM May 2017

For years, when my husband, Kevin, and I tried tofind ways to establish connections with the interiordesign community, we followed the idea that cus-

tom framing and art printing should make a great, naturalpartnership with designers. When we encountered severalbarriers to that relationship, we set out to overcome them.

One of the obstacles we discovered was that fram-ing—especially custom framing—is not covered in interi-or design school. “We learned about things like Louis XVIfurniture, dentil moulding, and gothic architecture,” saidour friend and interior designer, Nancy Anderson ofNancy Anderson Design. “But never did we learn any-thing as designers about matting and framing other thancutting our own white mats in art class.”

Because of that lack of exposure, Kevin and I foundthat interior designers often urged their clients to defaultto a white mat and black frame. Our daughter, Stephanie,who now runs the business, says she finds that design cus-tomers and other clients tend to ask for white mats andblack frames simply because they believe that is a neutralchoice. They haven’t been exposed to all the other optionsor been told how distracting black and white can be to theart. Many established designers also attended designschool before the digital age exploded, ushering in nearlylimitless possibilities for altering and stylizing customer’sown or public domain images through custom art print-

Kevin and Sue Colbert talk to an interior designer at one of themany events they have attended to forge relationships in the designindustry.

HOW WORKING WITH INTERIOR DESIGNERS HAS BENEFITED OUR CUSTOM FRAMING BUSINESS

By Sue Colbert

GAPBRIDGING THE GAP

34 PFM May 2017

ensure the longevity of art, they won’t be willing to makethe investment. Designers may also see a project just aftercompletion and may not be aware that a few years laterthe artwork has faded, the matting has warped andchanged color, and the bevels have turned brown. Theresult is a cheap-looking piece of art hanging over a fabu-lous expensive sofa.

Second, designers often earn commissions or haveaccess to discounted or wholesale pricing through vendorsin the design industry. If there is not a personal financialbenefit to them with custom framing, they may see it asan unnecessary expense or at least not a profitable part ofthe project. Nor do many designers have a relationshipwith a custom picture framer, so they don’t have a trustedsource for advice and creation of quality and beautifullydesigned framing. So, how can picture framers developbusiness partnerships with interior designers?

Several years ago, our shop, Colbert Custom Framing& Art Printing in Naperville, IL, joined the Illinois Chap-ter of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID)as an Industry Partner at the suggestion of an interiordesigner we met. Not knowing a lot about the organiza-tion, our first thought was that membership would give us

36 PFM May 2017

a listing in the organization’s directory and, hopefully, adesigner needing custom framing services would call.Over time, however, we found that ASID is much morethan a directory of designers and industry partners. Infact, as its website states, “ASID inspires and enriches itsmembers by promoting the value of interior design, whileproviding indispensable knowledge and experiences thatbuild relationships”.

Soon after becoming a member, I started attendingmeetings and events, which range from peer group meet-ings to networking events, continuing education classes,social events, and tours of other industry partner facilities.These include everything from furniture and lightingstores to tile manufacturers, cabinetry companies, quartzmanufacturers, a toilet showroom, paint stores, and othercompanies.

Before long, I found myself on the Industry Partnerplanning committee and realized I was not only develop-ing relationships with designers but also with a host ofpeople from other businesses related to the design indus-try. I gained a wealth of knowledge about their fields. Wealso gained visibility within the organization, which gaveus an opportunity to host an event—an evening of wine

The Colberts hosted a continuing education class and store tour forinterior designers in their Naperville facility.

38 PFM May 2017

and cheese and a tour of our facility.We have 5,000 square feet, whichincludes a warehouse, productioncenter, design center, galleries,graphics studio, and offices. Sincethen, several interior designer peergroups have asked to hold one oftheir monthly meetings here.Designers are thus able to get aglimpse of the entire printing andframing process and begin to devel-op a better understanding of customframing. Getting those potentialclients in the door was an importantstep.

Another opportunity has beento raise awareness about our busi-ness—and digital art printing andframing in general—through con-tinuing education. Licensed interiordesigners are required to fulfill a cer-tain number of continuing educa-tion units every two years. We tookadvantage of this to develop ourown accredited course, “CustomFraming 101: Beyond White Matsand Black Frames.” It took severalmonths to write the course, producethe visual aids, and submit it forapproval. Since then, we have pre-sented the course a number of

times. It’s easier to do that at ourown store, with sample mats andframes at hand as well as a widerange of examples in our galleries,but we’ve also taken the show on

Sue and Stephanie Colbert explain mattingand frames to designers during their "BeyondWhite Mats and Black Frames" class.

Stephanie Colbert is the third generationowner of Colbert Custom Framing & Art Printing.

the road. The response from design-ers has been very positive. In addi-tion, designers are by nature veryvisual learners. When they see thetransformation when proper matsand framing are placed on art, orwhen showing how to colorize andreformat images, a lot of “light-bulb” moments are created. Thecourse also covers the importance ofarchival framing as well as art place-ment and hanging methods.

Once we began to develop rela-tionships with designers and indus-try partners and learned the types ofincentives other vendors offer, wedeveloped our own designer incen-tive program. It took a while fordesigners to begin taking advantageof the program, but more designersare now referring their clients to usor coming in with them. Raisingawareness just takes time, but oncedesigners start using our services andreceiving those commission checks,they get the idea.

Another way we’ve tried to getthe word out about our business isby attending ASID events anddonating framed giclée prints asdoor prizes. Often we have a chance

40 PFM May 2017

to describe the piece, which offersa superb opportunity to explainwhat we do. We also post picturesof the winner with the framedpiece on Facebook, further increas-ing visibility, as we are now beingfollowed by a significant numberof designers. In addition, our storehas donated printing and framingof awards for various ASID Illinoisevents, giving us status as a yearlysponsor, which includes placementof our logo on the chapter’s web-site home page as well as on dis-play at ASID Illinois events.

The interior designer whooriginally encouraged us to joinASID recently provided us with alead that resulted in several largecorporate orders, and we have beencontacted by ASID chapters inother states with an interest in thecustom-designed ASID awards.

PFM May 2017 41

And a corporate client referred byone of our designer connectionsspent $45,000 in the past eightmonths for custom framing andinstallation. Another designer hasbrought in over $12,000 in busi-ness over the past two years andintroduced our services to residen-tial clients.

My position on the ASID Illi-nois Industry Partner PlanningCommittee has also led to the for-mation of a new committee, ASIDIllinois Gives Back, which was creat-ed for “facilitating charitable proj-ects through the coordination ofinterior designers and industry part-ners, while demonstrating the good-will and talents of ASID Illinois andits members.” Last year, the com-mittee completed a pro-bono faceliftof the reception area and kitchen atthe non-profit organization Little

Friends of Naperville, IL, whichserves adults and children with devel-opmental disabilities.

What started as a way to getour name on a list has turned intomany opportunities to connect notonly with designers but also withmany wonderful people from allaspects of the design industry. I havelearned so much from all these rela-tionships; it has definitely been animportant avenue for business andpersonal development. I’m gratefulfor all the doors our involvement inASID has opened. PFM

Sue Colbert and her hus-band, Kevin, are owners ofColbert Custom Framing &Art Printing in Naperville, IL,an award-winning, third gen-eration business. Sue holdsa BA in French BusinessTranslation from Northern Illi-nois University. The Colbertshave three grown children and one grandchild.