Nov 11 2008

Art, Bagels and LTLprints

Category: Designadmin @ 12:05 pm Comments (3)

Before an attempt at a witty explanation of the title, let me start with an even more daunting endeavor by-introducing myself to the world! My name is Kwan Howard and I do marketing for the coolest company ever, yes better than Google LTLprints. Outside of work I’m totally submersed into music and indpendent art worlds. When the weekend comes around I’m usually found in a local tucked away art gallery or either at a concert. Music has definitely played the role as the soundtrack to my life. Even deeper, I believe the band Pavement can change your life and Roy Ayers, your soul. I strongly encourage the preservation of vinyl and can often be found rummiging through crates and crates of vinyl as well as djing in my room to imaginary sold-out crowds. 

In regards to art…I must admit, there were a few days in my college Art History class where the only colors I would see were the deep shades of black in the back of my closed eyelids. These moments of severe sleepiness were probably more an indication of my high starch diet rather than a disregard for art. Simply put-I love art, design, and a variety of starches. As the latest addition to the LTL family, I feel really lucky to work in company that lets me enjoy 2 out of 3 of my passions.

Painting by Stuart Davis

Painting by Stuart Davis

Scott Hansen prints

Scott Hansen prints

Upon learning more about LTLprints and their plan to create an alternative platform for artists to sell their work, I knew this was something I wanted to be a part of. As a strong advocate of local art communities I have seen first hand the hurdles artists must clear to gain exposure. With LTLprints I truly believe they have created a platform that affords artists one less hurdle and ultimately a perfect marriage between art and commerce. I’m totally looking forward to working with artists and transforming walls from simple to stunning! To that end, if you are a graphic designer, photographer, or just an individual with cool prints you’ve made feel free to contact me: kwan at ltlprints.com. Be well.

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Oct 15 2008

LTL = little vs. LTL = Larger Than Life?!

Category: Design, ThoughtsCarsten @ 2:44 pm Comments (0)

I have been approached by customers and friends questioning the name of the company. In particular some mentioned they thought LTLprints should be read as ¿little prints¿. Well, we say ¿el ¿ tee ¿ el¿ and it clearly stands for Larger Than Life since ‘large’ can be life size or even larger. For instance I am 6¿ 5¿¿ tall and my cutout wouldn¿t even fill the largest print (7¿) entirely.

That said the comment about ¿little¿ really made me think. LTLprints allows you as a customer to place many small cutouts on one large print. Cutouts are parts of pictures being ‘cut out’ from their original background. As long as those cutouts don’t overlap you virtually can place an unlimited number of cutouts on one print. So with this functionality LTLprints provides in all actuality the opportunity to print ¿little¿. A whole bunch of ‘little’ combines to become something ‘Larger Than Life’.

Now your creativity comes into play. Possibilities for ¿LTL = little prints¿ forming ¿LTL = Larger Than Life Prints¿ are endless. Create as many cutouts¿ these ¿ and combine them on one canvas! Here a few ideas:

- Birds Flying

- Butterflies

- Balls jumping around

- All your friends at once

- Save The Day cards

- Name Tags for a larger Event

- You design it!

Check back after we¿ll have launched our catalog end of this month. Based on many interesting designs you will be able to customize and arrange your over-sized wall décor exactly as you want with as many cutouts as you want. Stay tuned!

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Sep 30 2008

“What do you use them for? Who buys them?”

Category: Design, Events, General, Good TimesTrisha @ 3:15 pm Comments (3)

This past weekend I had the opportunity to participate in a great event - the 2008 Parkway Run/Walk for children’s cancer research. Despite the light rain that drizzled down the entire morning, over 1200 people still filled the Parkway with their running shoes and rain attire, and even more did the 2K walk. I participate in a lot of charity 5Ks, triathalons, and road races, but this was the first time I had run in this specific race. A big thank you and a job well done goes out to the race planners and the Four Seasons for the volunteers and delicious breakfast following the race. It’s great to see Philadelphia come together for such a great cause!

After the race on Sunday I ran into some old colleagues and co-workers of mine who I haven’t seen since I joined LTLprints.com. We huddled under umbrellas and canopies to catch up and chat between bites of scrambled eggs and bananas (thanks again, Four Seasons!) As I described what I was doing, one of the gentleman I was talking to asked a question that I get a lot when I am talking about wall graphics and our product;

“What do you use them for? Who buys them?”

This might be my favorite question to answer. The possibilities of this product are endless. I turned to my colleague and started my speel. If you’re a parent or an aunt or uncle, it’s a great idea to take a picture of your child doing their favorite activity (playing sports, an instrument, drawing, or just smiling at the camera) and have a print made for their bedroom (great gift idea!.) You can edit the picture to add other people in, such as a celebrity, athlete, or a relative that lives far away. If you’re a creative person, you can submit a design or graphic as a great solution for decorating; it’s removable and reusable without leaving any mark or residue on the wall. Plus, it adds a personal touch that you can’t get in a home store. Businesses can use LTLprints for company publicity too -they travel so easily and are a great answer for trade shows or expos. When you need to bring a poster or billboard of some kind but don’t want to deal with the hassle of tearing or ripping the paper in transit, take LTLprints instead!

I found myself going on and on at the race, talking about some of the prints we did for other companies at IgnitePhilly and IndyHall. Before I knew it I was chatting to a group of about 5 or 6 people who had crowded around me to catch what I was talking about. I answered questions about the service, described how durable the material is (it can even go through the washer!) and laughed about some new ideas people were shouting out (the Kelly Kalpalski - Saved By the Bell cut-out idea came up quite a few times.)

As a friend of mine and I walked home after the race, he was teasing me for being a walking, talking advertisement for LTLprints. I defended myself by saying that as the director of PR, it IS my job after all:) But it’s also easy to talk about, because LTLprints is a great product that really is going to change the way people decorate. What other product allows people to add a personal touch to anything they put on their walls? I invite anyone to leave a comment with a creative idea of how to utilize LTLprints.com - it’s fun to see what people come up with!

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Sep 23 2008

Lina installing her LTLprints

Category: Customers, Design, VideosCarsten @ 12:50 pm Comments (4)

The other day we saved some shipping cost on a print. Instead of shipping it to our customer we went for a short walk and handed a unique larger than print to Lina Moysis. Lina is a graphics artist and designer. She came up with this wonderful design. Not sure what the name of her wall art is - maybe ‘Autumn field with birds’?! Anyhow the wall graphic turned out great and totally fits Lina’s room. We at LTLprints like the decor particularly because it nicely displays our capability of producing multiple ‘cutouts’ in one print. Did you know that having multiple cutouts in one print gives you the opportunity to increase the size of your design when installing it? Just stick the pieces of your print slightly further apart and you make an ‘oversized’ print a ‘larger than life print’.

The catalog is not ready yet but will be launched in October. You can for sure expect Lina’s print to be included in our selection of available prints. If you’d like to purchase Lina’s design immediately just send an email to cpe at LTLprints.com and I will personally take care of your order!

PS.: If you are in Philly - let us know and we save you some time on shipping with your order.

PS.: If you have a great design and want to get it featured in our catalog (starting October) or on the LTLprints blog - let me know!

Art, Wall Poster, Wall Print, Design, LTLprints, Larger Than Life Prints,
Wall Decor, Wall Art, Wall Poster, Wall Print, Design, LTLprints, Larger Than Life Prints

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Sep 18 2008

AI Institute of Philadelphia - Web Design Senior Portfolio Show / Job Fair

Category: Design, JobsCarsten @ 8:56 pm Comments (0)

In search for a web designer [We are Hiring] i just went to the Art Institute of Philadelphia. Graduates from both the graphic design and web design programs were showing their portfolios.

I talked to a lot of the graduating students and was truly impressed with the quality of work. With a wide array of styles and skills everyone showed really great talent, passion for art and dedication in seeing projects through. These are excatly the traits we are looking for. I’ll reach out to everyone I talked to tonight individually. On a general note: Good job and Congrats on your Graduation!

Are you interested in working as web/graphic designer for ltlprints.com?

As a ground-floor member of the LTLprints team, you will play a key role in the design of our next-generation design and art décor platform. Our environment is fast-paced. Our product is exciting. And, most importantly, we respect and appreciate talented ¿go getters¿.

Responsibilities:
* Graphic Design Work (WebDesign, Ads, Communication Materials)
* Enhance Corporate Style
* CSS
* Creation of Artwork for Wallprints

Education and Experience Requirements:
* Outstanding Web2.0 Style Portfolio
* Strong creative and strategic skills.
* Self-starter with the ability to meet tight deadlines for multiple tasks.
* Team Player

We will exclusively consider full time applications for on site employment in center city Philadelphia only. Benefits will be available after a test period of 2 months. Part time work is possible initially. Please send your application and portfolio to jobs at ltlprints.com.

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