Metal Memorials
Product ideas to create a unique and personalised tribute!
Project 016: Metal Memorials
Overview
A memorial will represent something different for each individual or loved one. It could be to remember someone who is sadly no longer here, from celebrating a life at a funeral, reminding people of another person, to remembering a particular event and a very popular one…to commemorate that very special loved pet ;-(
Our shaped products can allow customers to create a unique and personalised tribute as a lasting memory for many years. We have an array of shapes , letters and words to browse, so memorials can therefore reflect the name, favorite hobby or sport of a loved one as well. Especially in these uncertain times, many of us are unable to see our loved ones.
A special gift, such as one of our Wallet cards or Pocket hugs with special messages or photo of shared missing loved ones will mean the world and can be treasured til you next meet!
Highlight- Honouring Memories
Memories deserve to be treasured and our variety of products can each offer something different dependent on the individual. Our Memorial Plaques with integral spikes are lovely tribute pieces. Available in 4 sizes, they are ideal for marking precious memorials, for pets or loved ones and displaying dates and details visually. Wall Art signsare also a great way to honour special memories. Whether they are personalised with photos, quotes or poems they are beautiful pieces to have in the garden or house as a special tribute to someone dear.
Sell It To Them!
Memorials are something that customers buy all year round. These are the 3 key areas:
1. Marker Memorials that last for many years are what customers are wanting! We have a variety of markers/plaques, hearts and the classic remembrance cross.
2. Jewellery is a great product which always markets well. Our Pandora beads and pendant settings are always popular and can hold photos of loved ones (or even hair or ashes of pets) you’ve lost to keep close to you at all times.
3. Signs/plaques: Metal signs or plaques in A4 or A5 are a great way to celebrate memories. They can be used outside, as they will withstand the weather, but may fade over time. Our Cut Above range allows a unique touch and allows customers to put a photos or favorite poem?!
New Items
Wreaths:
Our new Wreath shape allows customers to create their own wreath . Supplied as a basic ring, you can then choose to have the wreath hook options cut out in sets of 12 regular spaced hooks, or 6 regular or irregular spaced hooks. The hooks are flat, but bend into shape once the wreath is printed. These then allow you to add various layers and other shapes to your product dependent on someones interest or the occasion. You can create beautiful decorations for walls or doors themed to the season and they are also perfect to create a very special memoir or funeral keepsake. Paired with our Poppy flower shape, an everlasting remembrance wreath would help remember those who have fallen. Available in A4, A3 and A2 sizes.
Charms & pendants:
Beautiful Tiny and Small love themed shapes which will make perfect necklaces, earrings, bracelets and key rings. The shapes include Angel Wings, Angel, Classic Cross and broken heart bar charms. A special gift or remembrance of a loved one which can be kept discretely close to you forever.
A3 WORDS:
SIS, BRO, NAN, GRAN, GRANPA along with our already popular MUM, DAD and LOVE can be printed with a photo montage of memories of the missing loved one for coffin or home display These have been particularly popular for displaying memories of loved ones at funerals as alternative or extra to floral tributes.
Existing Items
We already have a selection of memorial products ready to be personalised and create that special tribute.
Our Classic Cross is already a popular product! It is perfect for religious or remembrance related occasions. Photos, quotes, poems and remembered sayings could all be added to give a special individual touch. Hanging options can be added to display on the wall or a circular stand if you want to keep around the house or on an office desk.We recently introduced a lovely traditional Angel shape to our range and this is a beautiful way to create a testimonial for someone, since Angel means ‘messenger of God’. Available in Tiny to A5 sizes, therefore can be personalised and used in many ways from jewellery, and brooches to being treasured on the wall or tree.We also have a majestic ‘flying ‘ Angel that can be used as a beautiful keepsake hanging or magnetic decoration.
On the subject of outdoor use, it is a little more complicated. Although our sublimation metal will weather fine – being aluminium it will not rust etc, none of the standard aluminium we sell is guaranteed not to fade in sunlight over time outside, except for the expensive Chromaluxe EXT – as that is the only metal we sell that has been certified UV resistant. Unfortunately how long the print will still be bright without fading is a ‘how long is a piece of string” question with many factors affecting it – including amount of sunlight exposed to (ie is it in full sunlight all day) image type (does it include dark / black text, full blocks of colour etc?) ink type and printer type used as well!
We normally say standard metal, as tested (non scientifically) by us, our customers and anecdotal evidence is fine outside for up to a year – even exposed to bright sunlight – for longer than a year it would then depend on how much exposure it got (ie. was it part shaded etc.) We have personally seen some of our own gate signs (printed more than 3 years ago) fade in less than a year but more recently subbed our 0.5mm white aluminium for a 1 metre local shop sign as a favour for a friend (with a colourful logo and text back on white) and is still perfectly useable (and still proudly displayed on her shop) after 2 years! The way we used to deal with it when retailing printed items on a market 15 years ago, is to supply for outdoor use (we used to sell a lot of grave markers – pet and human!) and offer to reprint for half price if noticeable fading is seen within a year – over 2 years of this policy, we never had any returners take us up on the offer 🙂
Other options to help protect against fading are to coat the printed sign with a UV film or UV protection spray (Subli glaze – formerly Digicoat – make a good one that has been recommended by customers who have run trials with it) and the another option would be to use outdoor vinyl for dark text over or with sublimated backgrounds or photos.
For this project we used: