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220 S. Wabash Ave. Chicago, IL 60604
(312) 431-9588

Corporate Framing:  For Businesses, Non-Profits and Government


Due to the proximity of many businesses, non-profit institutions and government offices in the Chicago Loop, we get a lot of projects to work on that have to do with creating a framed keepsake that co-workers and colleagues wish to present to someone who is leaving the organization. This could be someone retiring or being promoted. It could be a thank-you to a donor. It could be a winning person or winning team. It could be someone who is exemplary and their peers wish to honor them. It might even be a newspaper or magazine article about a person or organization that needs to be displayed in the office. Sometimes it is a presentation piece being given to a valued client. Whatever it is and to whomever it goes, we will frame it in a way that'll make you proud to give it to the intended recipient. It won't look like something thrown together without careful thought.

Printing Services
If you have a project that may require printing, we've got it covered. We have a number of outstanding print shops within half a block of our frame shop, so we partner with printers who understand what we need for our clients. You can send us digital files, jpegs, drop box access, whatever the format you may have so that we can take your files and have them printed for your framing projects. It's that easy. We do it all the time, so we can provide turn-key service.

Custom Mats for Signatures
For (what we call) "going away" frames, where everybody in the office needs to sign the mat before it goes into the frame, we can create a mat very quickly that you can pick up and bring back to the office for signatures by all the co-workers. Then, you can bring it back to us and we will incorporate it into the framing project that will be given to the colleague who is leaving. Here are a couple suggestions, though, for when the matting gets signed: Tell everyone not to sign it within a 1/4" of the edge or part of their signature or message will be covered up by the lip of the frame. Also, use a Sanford Sharpie or a Sakura Pigma Micron pen. Sharpies are permanent, oil base fine point markers. Pigma Microns are fade-resistant pigmented, water-base fine point markers. Regular ballpoint ink tends to fade more easily with time, especially Blue ink. No matter which frame you select, don't cheap out on the glass. Get what we call Conservation Clear glass. It filters out 99% of u/v light that fades printed items and inks. Fortunately, Conservation Clear is the least expensive type of glass we usually recommend.

Again, if you need for us to print an image to put in the primary opening of the mat, we can do that. We need to have the image first, though, to determine how large it can be printed and how to integrate it into the matting design. That is, we cannot cut the mat opening until we know how large the photo or item to be matted will be. If we are doing a signature mat, this is an important consideration.

Engraved Metal Plates
Should the project require an engraved or lasered metal plate, we partner with several expert engravers who can do plates with logos as well as verbiage. You do not have to send us camera-ready, finished typography. Just send us an email or bring us a laser print of what you want your plate to say, whether you want the plate to be gold or silver colored and a pdf of any logo that may need to be incorporated (lasered onto the plate ). We will type set it following any instructions you may require us to follow (such as a particular type font, which letters to capitalize, the position of a logo, etc.) or we will use our expert graphic design experience to create a tasteful typographic composition. If you leave it to us, you won't be disappointed. One caveat:  Please don't use the wording " Given In Gratitude for...."
Read quickly, someone will see the word "ingratitude" and that is, well, just plain wrong. How about: "Given With Gratitude for.....". Much better.

The metal plates can, sometimes, be attached to the frame, but we prefer to inset them into "keyhole" openings within the matting. That way, the glass is not sitting right on top of the plate and we can integrate them into the design of the mat. They always look better that way, rather than appearing to have been slapped on to the outside of the frame as an afterthought. Please note that we need 5-7 business days to obtain an engraved or lasered plate. It can, sometimes, happen faster, but you will pay a real premium for it. And, at certain times of the year, our engravers are going out of their minds with heavy work flows, so a rush plate may not even be possible.

Laser Printed Inscriptions
For those projects where there simply isn't enough time to get a plate engraved, we can typeset and laser print an inscription that gets shown in a keyhole opening, either at the top or bottom of the mat composition (like we would do for a metal plate). The cost for this is fairly minimal and we can do it quickly.

Newspaper & Magazine Articles
We get plenty of newspaper and magazine articles to frame for the office. Usually, the matting collage includes the "Masthead", which is the name of the publication and the date on the front page, along with the actual article, whether it is a whole page or just a segment of a page or pages. We dry mount them onto black, acid-free board so that the type printed on the other side of the page does not read through when mounted. Because we use a computer-guided mat cutting machine, we can cut layouts in mats that follow the contours of a newspaper article that may meander across a page and reappear on a later page in the same publication, kind of like a jigsaw-puzzle. If you wish to frame articles in print, please bring us the whole publication. Please do not cut out the articles in advance.

Contact Brian Flax or Dana Fisher to discuss your project. Call 312-431-9588 or email: info@flaxartandframe.com