Anything new?

Nope...the last email I got said this.

"It looks like the book is currently in the binding stage, so my production team may have taken a look at the images and went ahead with the book. I’m going to get us a better status on it, and will let you know ASAP"

That's reassuring.

Well, it's a good thing I don't have a client waiting. I would not be impressed about the timing.

hmmm...it has only been 4 weeks though.....I wonder what the hold up is.

Four weeks on a supposed 10 day turn around is not good.

He said there was a hold up, on the imported paper. He also said this doesn't usually happen.

Just an update....

Here is the email I got today.

I wanted to give you an update, and let you know that we will be shipping out your sample pages later today or tomorrow.

Once you get the samples, if everything looks good, let me know and we’ll get the book started.

Also, I wanted to let you know some news about the cover. Our original supplier for the cover material for the books has discontinued carrying the Nepalese paper we were using, however we have found a new supplier of handmade Lotka paper.

The new paper is just as nice, and has an even better finish to it! The color is slightly different, so I’ve attached an image of the paper to this email. Take a look, and if you’re ok, we’ll get the book rolling as soon as we hear back from you on the sample prints.

Talk soon!

This frikking erks me. Number 1...Couture Book supposedlty revolved around Nepalese paper. FWIW, Nepalese paper is VERY easy to be had, and Lotka paper...what the hell is he talking about...I thought they were the same! Nepalese paper grows from the Lotka Bush!

So now they are switching to Lotka paper, which is the same as Nepalese paper?

This pisses me off. I was really looking forward to doing business with Couture book, but we're already at 6 weeks since you ordered your album, with a supposed 10 day turnaround.

IMO....I think he's stalling.....something doesnt add up..

Yep...the last email he sent made me believe that the book was already being bound.

Now we are still at the sample stage. I'm annoyed too. I emailed him back telling him that I am disappointed with how long this process had taken and that if I had clients waiting for this, I would not be happy. I'm not really sure what to do now.

We'll just wait and see what happens. You have quite a few people here in the community standing by and watching. Whatever they do, and however long it takes will only hurt themselves. I think if they knew that A LOT of photographers were in on this with you, then they would hurry.

Eeeww, I'm glad that this is a sample album for you! Odd that so many things are going wrong and that they don't appear to be clear regarding the stage your album is in! Thanks for keeping us posted!

Looks like DJ is getting in with them as they are a sponsor or partner on his tour, this will be interesting. the books look good, I hope it is or turns into a quality product

One thing I will give Dave, is he's great at communicating with me.
He just sent a reply...so here it is:

I’m so sorry about this delay.

Your book was one step away from completion, so you’ll be getting the guts of the book in this mailing. I thought we’d have it all ready to go, but then our cover material was discontinued. Once I heard that, I decided that we should get you the inside of the book just to make sure the printing looks the way you want it, and if so, we can get this taken care of right away.

Once we have your ok on the calibration and printing, we shouldn’t see anything like the turn around time we have had on this one. Our normal turn around time is three to four weeks, and almost all of our books are shipped out within that time frame.

Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help, and please let me know what you think of the prints when you see them.

By the way, thanks to everyone who's waiting with me.

Hmmm....at least it appears that they have pretty outstanding CS....thats an added bonus. Curious to see how this will play out now.

Ya know...it would be pretty easy to get a handful of folks here on OSP to get sample albums from everywhere, then post the pics on the forum. $300 divided by 150 people is better than $300 divided by one person....we could call it....the Album Exchange....hmmm....

Yeah..you mean a new forum topic...where we all post our experiences with the albums we've ordered?
I think that's a great idea.

Not only that...but maybe if we had several OSP members (the more the better) chip in and buy several different sample albums, with the rest of OSP watching every move....testing CS...album quality...communication.....talk about pressure! Does this sound really confusing? Ughh...more coffee....

Well, if it could work..it sounds awesome. Like a consumer report...

This really upsets me..
http://dolphinsafeblog.blogspot.com/2007/1...n-fox-news.html

I just got the samples today (wow...talk about fast). They look great. The last few pages are a little bent, so I will see what Dave says about it, but they look really good.

I'm excited again.

pictures please

Ya, I lost interest after the , anyone can make their own album comment.

Cheers
Richard

Wow I'm impressed the the follow through of this thread concerning this product.
I love OSP.

Sorry guys, they have been sitting in the Fedex box ever since. Apprarently finding a fedex around here (since I don't have a fedex account) is more difficult than I anticipated.
Anyway, I still need to ship them back.
I didn't take any photos yet, but when the book comes back fully done, I will.

One thing that did strike me about the book is that although the paper is gorgeous, it will bend super easy, so if you have many clients looking at them, they will likely not withstand a whole lot of abuse. They are very delicate. (at least in my model of the book)

To add to this last comment, this is the same problem I had with my books. Took one sample to a show and in 3 days it was toast. It was not abused or viewed by hundreds of people either. Just did not hold up which was really unfortunate!

How unfortunate that it's not going to be a pro only to make it more exclusive and more valuable for the client. That does leave a bad taste. They seem to have gorgeous books.

From another thread...

just pasting what Jenna said for convenience...


hey all -
i asked dave about this personally - sending him this link - and Dave sent back a thorough response...obviously we don't want to sell products that are available to the everyday consumer - but couture feels the same way. every company goes through growing pains - as will couture...and every other company.

so here is some information for all straight from the source


Hi Jenna,

Good question!

Our primary focus has always been the professional photographer, but when we
first released the books (back in October), they were also available to
consumers. We figured the consumers we were going to attract were not the
brides looking for a deal, but more the families with lots of images that
wanted a beautiful, high-end, heirloom book.

Shortly after we started, we got a lot of feedback from folks like you,
telling us that they were also uncomfortable with us potentially selling
directly to their brides. Since professional photographers have always been
our main focus, the decision to close the site to consumers was a no
brainer. We switched off the consumer login and setup a registration
process to act as a gateway.

Now to gain access to the pricing or any of the juicy behind the scenes
details, you have to be approved (personally by me). Basically I check for
a professional web site, a site that is linked to the name and email address
of the person registering.

Also, we have put a form on the site for consumers that may have seen some
of our original, local, promotions like the one you link to. When we get
these inquiries, we direct them to photographers and studios that we know
and work with, local to their area. That way these early promotions can
actually help send more work to everyone we're associated with

One other nice benefit of starting the way we did is now the homepage of the
site is very consumer friendly. I know the sites of a lot of book companies
are not so pretty. With our site, you can send customers to the homepage
knowing they can check out the all of the options and details of the books
without seeing the pricing, and have it happen on a beautiful site that will
hopefully compliment your studios high-end image.

Sorry for the long winded email, and please let me know if there is anything
else I can help out with.

Best!

-Dave

I just signed up with Couture and it's just as the last post states: it is now closed to consumers and open exculsively to professional photographers. You must be approved to get in...this is what finally won me over.

I LOVE the new site design (very ShowIt Sites-ish ) and totally agree that it can do nothing but enhance the high level of quality and prestige that photographers want to partner with. I am stoked about Couture and can't wait to get a sample album.

We make it a point of not selling the album, anyone can buy an album, we sell a custom design and we sell our photographs completely retouched.

And yes, we are in love with Couture book because they are totally different. Also, we're promoting green weddings, and they offer a GREAT/AMAZING option for going green!!! 100% post consumer recycled paper bound in a factory powered by 100% wind energy!!!

But, we don't sell them as a primary album, more of a fine art option.

JAC, whats the status of this. Please tell me that it arrived by now.

Ok....It's finally arrived. About three months after ordering it (and remember, some of this was my fault), my book is here.

Upon first impressions, it's lovely. It's not as thick as I imagined it would be, but I suppose that's because of the type of pages in this style of album.
My other thoughts are that as lovely as it is, it's also very fragile (in the sense that the pages will bend quite easily). Also, the style I chose.

For a wedding album in a clients home, I think this will be fine, but as a sample in my studio, I'm not so sure.

I opted for all black and white images and I think overall it shows very well.
Here are some images of the album up close.

is that the full 100 pages?

They are doing a cool thing where you can pay $45 and they'll print up two of your layouts on every paper sample they have. They look okay, the papers are all a little thin, but it's nicely done.

I think ultimately i've decided to stick to thicker pages after showing a few trusted clients and getting feedback. So I'll be sticking with graphi, visionart and fineao. and of couse asuka for guest books and proof books.

That's about 97 pages.