Catalog Critique:Florentine Craftsmen

For Catalog Success Magazine
by Sarah Fletcher Creative Director Catalog Design Studios

October 2006

Florentine craftsmen’s catalog’s greatest strength is the extraordinary merchandise. To find a group dedicated to their craft with such talent and depth is remarkable. Every piece looks like it could have graced one of the Newport mansions or been seen in some Hollywood movie still with Greta Garbo whispering into Clark Gables’ ear.

Brainstorming words that evoke the merchandise, I came up with: elegant, classic, timeless, artisan, gilded-age, wealthy and beautiful. The current catalog does not live up to the standard of the merchandise it sells.
The catalog as it exists now is the classic B2B catalog of a company that has been selling the same merchandise for years and who has not allocated enough time, attention and resources to keeping their catalog fresh and up to date. Because the merchandise is extraordinary it keeps working well enough that it isn’t a failure, but it never does well enough to justify spending more. This is a common problem for smaller catalogers.

Because of an article reprint that was included in the catalog I know that the old 80/20 rule applies. (80% of the sales come from 20% of the products) The current catalog strategy is that since Florentine Craftsmen has the molds to make the pieces that don’t sell and the items don’t have to be re-shot—into the catalog they go. Pages never meet their hurdle rate, sales stay stagnant and the brand never gets the cachet it needs to thrive.

Redesign:
There are several ways to make this catalog work better. The first and most expensive way is to re-shoot all the items in the catalog so they have the upscale look of the Grand Acanthus Leaf Fountain on page 35. A more cost effective approach would be to do a smaller catalog with the best sellers and callout the extended inventory online. The least expensive way to go would be to do a four-color cover wrap and make all the images inside black and white. To tie the look of the catalog together, I would recommend using typography from the gilded age (think The Great Gatsby). This keeps a consistent look and keeps the newer color images from making the black and white images look like an afterthought, as they do in the current catalog.

Organization:
The catalog is not well organized and would benefit from well articulated product lines. Once the items were regrouped, I would make sure that the best selling items get the most space and are on the right hand page, top right. I would put the web address and phone numbers on the bottom where people expect to find them.

Photography:
One inexpensive way to improve the existing photography would be to add drop shadows. The Star and Dolphin Chaise Lounge on page 3 uses the natural shadow which is the most elegant way to do a drop shadow. Drop shadows help explain the shape of the product and give it depth.
An inexpensive way to improve the outdoor photography would be to make the background go out of focus. It is best to do this in camera because you get the most natural results but it can be done in photoshop. This helps separate the product from the background and can make a busy background less distracting as well as an uninteresting background less prominent.

Versions:
For small catalogers who need a wholesale and retail catalog, a price list may be the only cost effective option. One workaround for this is doing a black plate change (the prices are run in black type and only the black plate is changed to produce the same catalog with multiple pricing structures).

Ease of Shopping:
Ease of shopping is always a problem when you have a price list rather than prices printed in the catalog. This means designers need to pay extraordinary attention to making the price list easy to use with the catalog. Florentine Craftsmen’s price list is organized by item numbers. Unfortunately not all the products have item numbers. This creates confusion for the customer and will often end what could have been a positive shopping experience. Customers will never reward you with more time, they just move on to the next vendor.

Copy:
The copy is too sparse for such expensive items. There needs to be both romance and salesmanship. Most of these items have a history which would add interest and brand awareness to the catalog. The article reprint that was inserted into my catalog mentioned that one fountains had been sold to a Saudi Prince. I would bet that there are fabulous stories about estates, museums and famous places where these products appear. These kinds of stories are what create the brand image for the customer. This applies to both consumer and B2B customers.