Each reminisart we create is an elegant work of art honouring a beloved person. We strive to provide not only a collage but also a customer experience that is compassionate, empathetic, and fully bespoke. Everyone who reaches out to us is treated with care. Their stories move us; we become invested in the loved ones they seek to celebrate. It's why I started reminisart. It's why we do what we do.
The proof is in the process
One of our customers, Andrea, recently moved her father, Frank, into long-term care in Ontario. As is the case with many who are in such a situation, it was a hard decision to make, and even harder to do.
A friend suggested to Andrea that a reminisart might bring some joy to her dad in his new room.
After going through our website, Andrea reached out to me to learn more. I was able to walk her through the process and reassure her that we would make a beautiful collage for Frank. She was convinced and got started right away.
The creative roadmap
Andrea and her husband nailed the scanning, which can be one of the more technical tasks. They provided high quality, uncropped and uncompressed images — just how we like them! All captions clearly identified the corresponding photo. We had everything we needed to work our creative magic and were ready to dive in.
From there, the digital team got to work. The smallest photos were optimized to print large without pixelating. Next, the colours and tones of all images were balanced, while respecting the eras in which the photos were taken. There was some work to do before the graphic artist could take over: counteracting the fading on black-and-white shots, adjusting the tone for reproduced images, punching up or muting specific hues as necessary on colour photos. After a few other touch ups, the pictures were ready for the designer.
The graphic artist assigned to Frank’s collage was Phil Babcock, a seasoned designer and photographer with many years of experience in senior care marketing, who was (and is) deeply, wholeheartedly invested in the work.
To compose Frank's collage, Phil distributed both black-and-white and colour photos in a way that would be harmonious. He straightened some images, cropped others to enlarge the subjects, and arranged all the pictures together. (For a challenge, see if you can spot where he had to do a little doctoring to fill a gap created from straightening a photo.)
When I reviewed Frank’s collage, we worked out how to shorten one of the captions that wouldn't fit. Before we sent it to Andrea, I found a picture of a room in the care setting and mocked-up the collage in situ to make sure it would work with the wall colour when installed.
Midway through the creative process, Andrea sent me a photo of her Dad listening to music. I had been working with photos of Frank as a boy, in his youth, and as a robust dad and husband. Seeing his sweetly smiling face in his golden years moved me. It reminded me, again, of the incredible journeys behind every soul in care.
The finished product
Our customers' enthusiasm upon seeing the final product is our best advertisement. We live for our customers' happy reactions. Here is Andrea's:
I followed up with Andrea this week and she reported that she did ask her Dad “about the pictures on his wall. He mentioned that he liked them, and that people were getting a kick out of them.”
They’re stopping to take a look at his story, and see the loving son, the brother, the father and husband that he was and always will be.