Tips for Transporting and Shipping your Portfolio

You've spent countless hours and a nice chunk of change putting together the perfect portfolio presentation and now it's time to show the world what you have to offer.  At this point the last thing you want is to have your portfolio mishandled and damaged in it's travels.

Fortunately this has only happened to one of my clients (that I know of) but it was devastating enough that I felt it was important to share some tips to ensure the safe delivery and return of your portfolio.  While this post focuses on the shipping of portfolios, it also applies to transporting your portfolio to face to face meetings.  Accidents happen and while you probably feel confident hand carrying your portfolio to visit potential clients, you can't always prevent unexpected events. It could be bumped around in the car on the way to the meeting or someone could brush your arm the wrong way and cause you to drop it.  For this reason it's always best to overprotect your portfolio.

damaged box

Treat your portfolio as you would the art that it holds.  Our portfolios are extremely sturdy and well built but they are presentation pieces that need to be protected.  For this reason I recommend that your portfolio is packed with extra care and more padding than you think it needs.  UPS and FEDEX do a great job but they don't know or care what's inside the boxes they are delivering and Handle with Care tags do little to change the way that packages are treated.

perforated foam

One of the simplest and least costly ways to create an appropriate shipping container is to start with a basic cardboard box that is at least 4" larger than your portfolio in all directions.  Since you are trying to make a good first impression be sure to use a clean, new, unmarked box.  Purchase some heavy duty foam from a shipping supply company or a foam company.  The Foam Factory sells perforated foam sheets, called Pick and Pluck.  The perforation allows you to create any sized cutout in the foam. Use this in combination with solid foam pieces to create a form fitting nest  around your portfolio.  Choosing foam over paper or bubblewrap is preferable for a few reasons; it makes it easier for your potential client to re-pack the box for return shipping, it looks much cleaner than bunched up pieces of paper and it prevents the portfolio from shifting during shipping.

If you have a bit more to invest, there are many companies that offer standard and custom made hard shipping cases.  Many of these are marketed as computer or instrument cases but can be used for just about anything.  Take a look at Janal Cases, Quick Cases and Pelican Cases for some possibilities.  Many of these are crush and waterproof and come with a lifetime guarantee.  You've invested a lot in creating your portfolio so it's a good idea to invest just a little more to protect it.  If you have any questions or would like further recommendations please don't hesitate to call.

Quickcases

Janal Cases

3 New Colors

While I was disappointed to have to remove Metallic Aqua from the color chart a few months ago, I am very excited to be adding 3 new colors to the covering options for custom portfolios and boxes.

There are now 37 colors to choose from so everyone is sure to find a color combination that is suitable for their project.

The new colors are Avocado, Orange and Metallic Midnight.  If you'd like to see swatches of these or any of the other colors please call or email with your request and they will be sent out the next business day.

Printing on Bookcloth

photo album with printed cover

Many years back I did a personal photo book project in which I printed onto a grey bookcloth and really liked the results.  The process and it's possibilities have been in the back of my head ever since.

Another, more recent, personal project allowed me to do some further testing.  I designed a CD cover for a friend who really liked the look of the foil stamping that I do onto bookcovers and so requested that I somehow incorporate that look into the design.  Again I loved the printing, particularly how the softness, created as the fabric absorbs the ink, contrasts with the sharp saturated marks of the foil stamping.

photo book with printed cover

The past couple of weeks have been particularly busy here at the studio but I was determined to find time to create a donation for my niece's school auction.  I'd been wanting to experiment more with inkjet printing onto bookcloth and this was the perfect opportunity so I made a scrapbook style photo album with a tree design printed on the cover.  It is a fairly low contrast design, with a dark brownish grey printed onto a light brown cloth.  To me it feels very atmospheric, like I'm standing on a mountain looking down into a misty forest. I also made a clamshell box to hold this album.  The box is covered in the same light brown fabric but it's brightened up a bit with burnt orange accents. In the bottom of the box I created a well that can hold a 1" stack of the photos that don't make it into the album.

CD artwork printed on bookcloth with yellow foil stamping

In each of these cases I printed onto Iris bookcloth which is a linen style cloth with very little texture so I'd like to move on to some other textures and incorporate some color.  I also addressed the issue of the ink running if it gets wet by coating the fabric with a spray varnish.  It didn't affect the color, texture or gloss but did prevent the water from reaching the ink.  As soon as I find some time, I will move forward with some experimenting. I'll report back, hopefully soon, with the result and if all goes well I hope to add this option for portfolios and boxes in the online store and for custom projects as well.

the printed cloth

album block and album case

uncovered clamshell box tray

finished clamshell box with album

finished clamshell box with well and ribbon lift

Introducing Hinge Strips

Another item that I've been getting a lot of requests for is hinge strips.  Many of my clients print their own portfolio pages and use the templates that I include with all portfolio orders to punch the holes for the screw posts.  This works out great but in the case where a client wants to use a heavier weight paper the issue of page turning always comes up.  Lighter weight papers turn just fine on their own when put into screwpost books but when you get past about an 80lb paper the page will want to spring back which makes the portfolio viewing less than a perfect experience.  Scoring the page where it will fold is a good solution to this but it isn't ideal.

The hinge strips that are now available in the online store are essentially like my hinged pages only without the page attached.  I start with a strip of 100lb paper and adhere a 1" strip of thin starched fabric to that.  Then, leaving a 1/4" gap or gutter,  a 1/4" wide layer of adhesive is laid down along the outer edge of the fabric.  The paper strip gets hole punched and bound by the screw posts.

There is a release paper on top of the adhesive strip that gets peeled off so that the printed page or photograph can be securely attached.  When the page is turned, only 1/4" of the back of the page is covered by the fabric hinge and the pages turn with ease and lay completely flat.

Hinge strips are available in both black and white and in 8 1/2", 11", 12", 14" and 17" lengths.

See hinge strips on the kdbooks website.

Slipcases are here

Over the past year I've received many requests to add slipcases to the website and now, with the launch of the new site,  they can be ordered online.  As with all of the portfolios and presentation boxes available online, the slipcases can be covered in any of the 35 linen or metallic fabrics.

At the time of ordering, it is important to know the thickness of the stack of pages going into your portfolio otherwise the slipcase will not fit properly.  To get an accurate measurement, stack up the pages along with anything being mounted to them and place your ruler at the thickest point of that stack.  You will choose this measurement from a drop down menu when you place your order.  This will be added to the thickness of the portfolio itself to ensure a proper fit for the slipcase.  If you are ordering either the hinges pages or the polypropylene sheet protectors along with your portfolio you should just measure the materials that you'll be inserting or mounting.

You can find more information about slipcase here: http://kdbooks.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=40_46

NEW WEBSITE

The new site has officially launched. It's a more lively and user friendly site.  Have a look and please send us your feedback.  www.kdbooks.com

That extra punch with 2 Color Foil Stamping

To add a bit of extra pizzazz to your portfolio consider a 2 color foil stamping of your logo.


This is a portrait format 11 x 8 1/2 hidden screw post portfolio with a spine cover.  This portfolio is a great example of a very simple design that delivers a big punch.


The logo really makes a statement on the red fabric cover because of the splash of light blue next to the white.  


In order to do a 2 color foil stamping using just 1 logo die, the blocks of color need to have at least 1/16th of an inch between them.


This option will be available in the new online store soon.