It’s great to work with suppliers who care about photography and understand its importance. Recently I’ve built a great relationship with one particular supplier, Italian based photography album maker Graphistudio, who produce fantastic photography products that have lots of customisation options and allow photographers like myself to make albums magical art pieces that you’ll never want to put away.
They have now become my album supplier of choice and this week I went to visit their UK office to learn more about the products they produce and how to get the most out of their products and offer the wedding couples who book with me a special experience unique to them and their wedding. Keep in mind that Graphistudio only deal with professional photographers so the products you see here aren’t like anything you would be able to get elsewhere.
Apologies for the poor photo quality. This was a bit of an impromptu blog and I shot these on my phone so excuse the rough looking shots below!
After arriving at the office (a lovely converted barn in the Hertfordshire countryside) I met the other photographers who had come for the day’s workshop and had a chance to look around the showroom which has samples of the products that Graphistudio offer. It was great to get to handle the products and see the quality that they can produce. Their choice of materials and album styles and sizes allow each album to be made specifically to each customer. Everything they produce is handmade to order and the album bindings come with a lifetime guarantee. One of the many reasons I’m trusting them with the important job of producing my wedding albums.
Above is an example of one of the design options you can choose in the album box. Inside the lid you can have an image or choose your own fabric to truly make your album box your own. Materials, sizes and paper types can be chosen for each album with millions of combinations available. Below is an example of the lay flat albums Graphistudio offer.
Jeremy and Martin gave us a session in the morning, explaining the idea behind each of the product ranges and the possibilities each of them offer. It was great to learn how other people use the customisation options that Graphistudio offer to make truly one of a kind albums for their customers. Some of the examples included using fabrics from the weddings and incorporating them into the interior of the albums as the inner lining or ribbons for pulling the albums out for that special touch. They also offer laser engraving, colour overlays and the ability to print photographs or even put video screens on the inside of album boxes so you can have the wedding video or a slideshow of photographs playing from the album box!
Some of the many samples they have on show. Below is one of my favourites of the range. The storybook is a leather bound album with handmade amalfi art paper (named after the region in Italy that it is produced) note the rough edges to the pages for that unique feel. A truly special way to enjoy your photos.
We were given a session on the customisation and ordering process and after lunch we had a session on marketing and pricing which was really helpful and gave me some great ideas on how to improve the business side of things. Next up is arranging some samples so I have some great examples of my own work to show you all when you come for a meeting! I’m so excited to show you what is possible as it’s only when you handle the products for yourself that you truly understand what makes these so special.
I want to thank Jeremy, Martin, Aimee, Charlie and the Graphistudio family for showing me around and making the day really worthwhile. Also thanks to Lisa Derevycka (go follow her on Instagram here) who’s introduction to the Graphistudio team at the Photography Show back in March started this whole thing going! Finally it was great to meet some of the other photographers at the workshop. It’s always a good thing to meet others in the industry and learn some new things. Below is a photo of us all and I added some more of the product range below too.
