I’d thought I would add a post about how my orders are packaged up. I often get message about the materials I use and how do I send my orders across New Zealand and overseas.

A5, A4 and A3 art prints are printed to order in-house. I have an Epson fine art printer that uses seven pigment inks (vibrant inks that won’t fade) printed on Epson archival fine art paper that won’t yellow over time. A2 prints are printed by a Auckland fine art printer that do an amazing job matching colours to my digital files. A2 prints are hand signed and sent out in a clear plastic sleeve and rolled in a hard cardboard tube for ease of shipping.

Today I am packaging up a order , an A4 print of ‘Flamingo’s Friend’ for a customer, so I thought I would go though the process. Once it has been printed, inks are dry and has been hand signed, it is placed in a plastic sleeve with a backing board to protect it from, dust, fingerprints, moisture and to keep it flat. I recommend keeping the print sealed in the sleeve until it is ready to be framed.

With the print, I include a business card, (I have couple of different designs), a little Meerkat sticker and a ‘How to care for your print’ card which goes through how to look over your print before it is framed. Together they are wrapped in tissue paper to add another layer of protection but also to dress up the print and items in the order. I don’t include any invoices as some orders are gifts so the tissue paper is a nice touch. No invoices are sent out with the orders, customers receive a email confirmation of their order once it has been ordered online.

I love using stickers with my orders . They are great to dress up your order, to say thank you , add some extra branding or just as a little freebie. I update the designs of the round stickers frequently as these don’t ‘stick’ around long in the studio.

Once the order is wrapped up in tissue paper, I sandwich it between two fluted cardboard pads. These are about 4mm thick and are very durable and keeps everything flat. And of course another sticker on the outside, ‘Do not bend’, just to remind the courier to look after the precious order and plenty of packaging tape to keep everything snug.

I can’t forget David, my reliable Aramex Courier who’s always in my neighbourhood ready to pick up my orders. Aramex Couriers have a great booking system all done on their website, so easy and I’ve never had any issues with orders being damaged or missing which is great.