Show your true colours with WhiteWall

Spruce up any space with WhiteWall’s bespoke frames, made in collaboration with Studio Besau-Marguerre

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The days of displaying your images in black, brown or silver frames could be over thanks to WhiteWall. Its new Design Edition frames, produced in collaboration with Studio Besau-Marguerre, offer a refreshing alternative in three vibrant colours: yellow, green and purple. 

The interdisciplinary studio, manned by Marcel Besau and Eva Marguerre, combines clean, contemporary design with high-quality craftsmanship. It brings a holistic, intuitive approach to each project, be it product or interior design, and capitalises on every client’s strengths. For WhiteWall, that’s premium products, in-house manufacturing and innovative printing technology.

Design Edition prioritises the frame in a photograph’s display. During the late 12th through to the 16th centuries – the Gothic period – frames were considered works of art within themselves, and their makers would include their initials on the final product. Frames held a higher value than they may today; artworks were often designed after the fact to match the frame, rather than the reverse.

Frames have a symbiotic relationship with what’s within, guiding the eye and subtly altering the way a picture is perceived. Similarly, photography and design elevate one another as forms of artistic expression. With Design Edition, customers can enhance any photograph with a pop of colour, while still letting it speak for itself.

“Giving frames colour might initially seem like a rather mundane task,” laugh Besau and Marguerre – but the creative process relied on an applied understanding of colour theory and how multiple aesthetic elements interact in a given space.

According to Studio Besau-Marguerre, building the frames was an iterative and challenging operation. Firstly, the designers researched the history of frames, using their findings to inform a modern solution. Then, they tested each frame ‘prototype’ with various types of photography – travel, nature, architecture, portraiture – as well as photos in colour and monochrome. Finally, they fine-tuned the technical aspects of the frames and settled on three colour schemes.

Each scheme is derived from a single shade of yellow, green or purple. No two sides are the same, with each frame creating a colour gradient – or ‘family’. “Green is restrained, purple is strong and loud, yellow is trendy yet contemporary,” Besau and Marguerre explain. All three manage to be bold yet neutral, complementing an image and drawing attention without ostentation. The dark-to-light gradient creates an optical effect where each frame comes alive.

Customers can choose from the three colour families, as well as a range of sizes and styles. Frames start at just 15x15cm and go as large as 180x120cm – well-suited to both tight and open spaces, and ready to be mixed and matched. Photographs can be set behind acrylic glass, for example, or as a classic matted frame. Each measures 20mm deep, creating a three-dimensional effect. 

Display photos three ways and shift the mood of any room. Each frame can create harmony between light, furnishings and other interior elements. Brighten up your space just in time for spring and summer, or keep it cool with a more muted palette. “The frame is intended to become the hero, a special piece that engages in an exciting dialogue with the photograph,” Besau and Marguerre explain.

The WhiteWall x Studio Besau-Marguerre collaboration, Design Edition, is available both in stores and online. Frames start at £59.95 and will deliver in an estimated 12 working days.

Winner of the 2021 Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) award for best photo lab, WhiteWall offers a range of other products and services, including canvas and giclée prints, coffee table books, calendars and more. Visit whitewall.com
or email [email protected] for additional information.

Originally featured in Issue 105 of Photography News.