About Breathing Color, Inc .
Breathing Color, Inc. is a leading designer and supplier of digital inkjet media and post-print protective coatings. Breathing Color is focused on the art and photographic markets with products that maximize color and longevity. Breathing Color's customers benefit from the highest quality at competitive prices by buying direct.
Background
In the present-day, rapid-growing business of printmaking, substrate (paper/canvas and ink) buying decisions are of critical importance and are a prime determinant of long-term success.
Extensive market research through out the printmaking industry has clearly conveyed the two most important customer demands that serve as the chief catalysts in enhancing and maintaining a printmaker's level of success: print quality and price (a distant second). A focus on these aspects ensures fulfillment of an ever-changing marketplace by the continual pursuit of the highest standards of fine art printmaking, and the consistent refreshment of competitive pricing. As a printmaker, if you plan to be successful, then you should plan to serve the most current needs of the marketplace.
Since substrates determine actual print quality, and substrate costs influence price points of reproductions, substrates are the core foundation of every printmaking business. Therefore, printmakers must choose substrates that serve the specific needs of their market. In order to do this effectively, the substrates must allow for the finest quality printmaking at the lowest cost to the printmaker .
With the introduction of low-cost width varying Epson printers, competition amongst printmakers is rigorous and is becoming increasingly intricate with each new day. In the printmaking industry, everyone offers the same service of printing which in turn creates difficulty when attempting to differentiate ones niche from another.
When severe competition is embedded in any given market, one must find a niche, utilize that niche to adapt to the demands of that market, while protecting it at all costs. This inability to separate one from the masses results in an ongoing battle to uphold a position of substance within an industry .
Substrates are the basis of a printmaker's legitimacy and reputation . The bottom line -- if your prints cannot serve the competitive demands of quality and price, your customer base will be at risk.
The Opportunity
Breathing Color™ w as founded on the principle of offer ing printmakers three direct points of value –
- Substrates achieving the widest color gamut, highest Dmax values, and archivability, allow the printmaker to offer customers the finest quality available.
- Buying direct from the manufacturer at competitive prices ensures that the printmaker is getting the best possible quality at the lowest possible cost.
- Substrates that contribute to a print's visual appeal will in turn contribute to that print's saleability.
Substrates achieving the widest color gamut, highest Dmax values, and archivability, allow the printmaker to offer customers the finest quality available.
In the most basic terms--your images will have the best color attainable if they are printed on Breathing Color™ products. Breathing Color™ products achieve the highest Dmax values (maximum density of all colors) and the widest color gamut in the world. This is an undisputable fact supported by industry standard testing of methodology and technical data. In turn, represented by Breathing Color™ products, your business will be maximizing its quality potential.
In the business of printmaking, quality can never be compromised nor ingnored. Here is a real-life example.
Your customer decides to drop by your competitors' studio, or happens to come across a reproduction from your competitor that is of noticeably higher quality. Your customer notices that the black coloring in the image is significantly darker, or that the detail is much finer, or that the texture of the canvas is more natural – whatever it may be, bottom line; the quality of printing blatantly surpasses yours.
Your competitor has put your relationship with your customer in jeopardy simply by displaying a better quality product. If the client can achieve a better looking print they will follow that route of production every time. You are now 0/1 on fulfilling customer demands of quality, and price (a distant second).
Buying direct from the manufacturer at competitive prices ensures that the printmaker is getting the best possible quality at the lowest possible cost.
Breathing Color™ progresses through three distinct phases that allow it to create industry-leading digital papers and provide them to the market at unrivaled competitive prices. These are development, manufacturing, and direct-selling distribution . In contrast to Epson and other big name manufacturers, we develop, produce, and sell premium products directly to end users and eliminate the inefficient layers of distribution that drive costs upward. This leaves us with extra space to compete aggressively with regards to price. Strictly as a result of this model, we are able to provide unparalleled, unquestionable product quality at the most competitive prices on the market.
Let's relate this to our example.
Now, assume your customer inquires one step further with your competitor: “So how much do you charge for a print on this nice canvas? From the looks of it, I'm sure it is quite expensive.” Shockingly, the price is more competitive than what you offer to your customer. Your competitor is able to do so because his media costs are lower.
You are now 0/2 on the quality/price test. History has proven that you are in real trouble if you have let it go this far. Regardless of any existing relationship you may have, industry research shows that there is a 90% chance that you have already lost this customer. It can happen that fast, and it will if you are not prepared.
Substrates that contribute to a print's visual appeal will in turn contribute to that print's saleability.
The better your art looks, the more it will sell. This is precisely why quality is by far the top driving market force in this industry, and why it will always trump price. Consumers are always willing to pay more for a piece of art that looks that much superior This is exactly why the artist is always willing to pay a premium for a higher quality reproduction. To sternly reiterate: the better you're art looks, the more it will sell.
Now, does this embody everything that is significant in the industry? Probably not. Is it extremely pertinent? Definitely. If you were to compare the same image printed on a industry standard canvas today, to one printed on a canvas from five years ago, the differences would be almost appalling. Clearly inferior to even the novice eye, you would not believe that the industry standard canvas from five years ago could even be sellable. Needless to say, at the time, this old canvas was the best of its class and prints sold just fine. Now take today's canvas and ask yourself this question: How many more prints do I think I could sell if I used today's canvas vs. the canvas from five years ago? 10% more? 20% more?? 30% more???
Now it would be quite ambitious to say that the differences between Breathing Color™ products and other products on the market are of a similar five year comparison. That would be far reaching. However, in almost all cases, a two year advancement difference is very reasonable, and in some cases the discrepancy in advancement is even more extreme. There will be an unmistakable, guaranteed difference when comparing color and Dmax (maximum density of all colors). There will also be other advanced features such as scuff resistance, longevity, flaking, textures, water-resistance that will clearly stand out. Taken as a whole, the value is that all of these features contribute to the end goal of selling more art. As we questioned earlier – Does this embody everything? Probably not. Is it extremely pertinent? Definitely.
In Conclusion
The moral of the story is this – listen to the market. When the market research tells you that quality and price are the two to main customer demands – cater to them. Prioritize your strength of meeting these demands before all else. .
Breathing Color™ was founded on the idea of offering and maintaining unrivaled solutions for the quality/price market factors. We have listened to the market and we have built a business model around it. We are here for you.
We look forward to working alongside more and more printmakers in this rapidly evolving inkjet world.
Get in contact with us today!
