There is a prestige that comes with working with high-end, luxury, designer brands. But it's a prestige that has to be earned through hard work, diligence and continual exceptionally high standards of output. We've paid our dues enough by now to write an article about it. It's certainly a sector we don't take for granted, but one we have been afforded a place within.
There are a few brands we can openly discuss such as the department stores Harvey Nichols, Liberty and multiple projects within Selfridges and Harrods; designers such as Halfpenny and Sunspel, Vitra; and hotels such as Edition, London. There are others we are sworn to secrecy with, including a couple of well-known watchmakers, fashion brands with Bond Street abodes, and jewellery designers. We say this to show we can keep a secret when needed.
The Cambridge Dictionary describes the word luxury (n) as –
'something expensive that is pleasant to have but is not necessary,'
and,
'something that gives you a lot of pleasure but cannot be done often.'
In an interview with The Branding Journal, luxury brand management specialist, Philippe Mihailovich, says brands who are considered 'to produce 'luxury' goods, such as Hermès, have always avoided using the term ‘luxury’, choosing to speak of quality instead.'
Which begs the question, why shouldn't you experience quality too with your graphics? We think you should. Because of this philosophy, we only use select quality production media to make sure every job is as good as it possibly can, yet we are honest with our pricing and believe in providing a quality product and service. We also offer a personal service from start to finish, to make sure that you feel looked after and your brand will be well represented with the graphics you have commissioned us with.
To produce graphics to the level an established luxury brand expects, or to help elevate your brand to its highest potential, whether you want it to be considered a 'luxury' brand or not, is something every founder, CEO and marketeer would want. And good use of a marketing budget for quality graphics can do just this. Though this isn't a new phenomenon, having discussed quality in a previous journal post here.
We believe that to work with high-end luxury brands and retailers we need to offer the same service, one that can be related to, and one of quality, trust, honesty, reliability and of course, professionalism. For us, this is something we initiate as part of the whole journey, from initial contact, NDA's and briefing, to quoting, project management, production, installation, right through to social media and online sharing. A further quick read is a post we wrote to describe the essence of being a good graphics company.
And how about the graphics themselves? We've come to recognise that luxury visual merchandising comes in many forms including boldly elaborate to stylish simplicity. Part of the service we offer is in the suggestion of media and substrates to produce and print from, as well as techniques we believe will give us the best end result for a set of graphics. These could be for mouth-watering window displays that make it impossible for passers-by not to stop and look; centre-stage product podiums showing off garments like they're celebrities at a film premiere; or even in-store signage pointing you in the direction of changing rooms to try something gorgeous on.
For all the brushed and mirrored gold vinyl, there are beautiful matt artist papers including the ones we use in our giclée series. If a brand is looking to produce its graphics using sustainable materials, (and we hope it considers it at least) then we have a range of eco products to use too alongside the environmentally friendly inks we already use as standard.
For further examples of our high-end luxury project work take a look through our case studies, and if there is anything specific you would like to talk to us about please get in touch. We would love to share the quality of our service and work with you too.
You can email us here ~ print@thegraphicaltree.com
Call The Graphical Tree on ~ 020 7580 4405
