‘Thinking outside of the box’ may be a phrase too readily used by consultants and engineers, but I often find myself having to abandon all common practice when faced with more interesting items to frame.
This was apparent on Saturday when I called on a customer with some textiles to frame. My desire to maintain good framing practice was being compromised by the demands of the customer, whose choice of frame and preferred style of presentation was going to cause me some challenges.
But instead of just saying ‘No’, I found myself saying ‘I will have to engineer a solution but Yes’.
Over the years we’ve had many items in for framing that have required some engineering to complete. From the relatively frequent sports shirts, medals and ceramic poppies, through to more obscure items such as rifles, Chinese emperor’s coats, and parts of Concorde (all of which can be seen in our Framing Showcase), each job needs some thought and consideration as normal framing procedures cannot be followed.
So, whilst I will consult with the customer as to the best practices that need to be followed, these often need some engineering to carry through to a conclusion. I guess this then makes me a consultant and an engineer, so gives me the right to use the phrase ‘thinking outside of the box’ in order to get such items into the frame!