"It feels like the only people who understand the artistic mind are those who also have it."

Have you ever been baffled by people who don’t understand the creative mind? All of us have our unique experiences, yet professional creatives share a few almost across the board: We’ve all experienced the frustrations of clients expecting work for free or at crazy deep discounts either on the promise of future work or for “the exposure.” Find any artist or photographer and it’s likely they have heard something like: “$500? There’s maybe 10 bucks in paint and materials there!”, “What camera do you use?”, or “I could get that at Costco for $20!”. Spoken as if the creative spirit and the required skills are somehow embodied in the materials and tools — not within the artist. 

Then there are the companies we artists use for some of our services – the ones that treat us like we’re buying a car wash rather than reproductions – as if the details don’t matter to them. They behave like they don’t understand the passion, emotion, practice, and growth that goes into every work we create. They expect everyone to get the same car wash. Line ’em up, push ’em through the machine, dry ’em off and maybe mutter a thank-you. If you want attention to detail: Sorry bud, that’s extra.

It feels like the only people who understand the artistic mind are the other artists who also have it. These other artists understand us because they intimately know the drive, the passion, and the emotion that pushes us to improve, to share our works, to embody our ideals, our thoughts and our opinions into what we do. Other artists understand our desire to inspire change, understand the physical, and emotional sacrifices that can go into every painstaking detail. If you’re an artist, you may have sensed that only other artists understand that side of you.

Over 4 decades ago a young family whose patriarch was a professional creative,  moved to Colorado and made one of many very serious sacrifices to create something they knew other artists needed.

Bob Reed’s greatest desire was to create something very different, something that could bring about changes and successes for the betterment of other creatives. That desire materialized into a growing group of artists who bring their own drives and desires for success through the doors of a historic theater building in Lakewood, Colorado with one thing on their mind: Help other artists succeed.

Every member of Bob’s team has been hand-picked and further groomed to manifest those ideals – to partner in the success of like-minded individuals, to share their excitement in bringing forth that artistic vision, to feel privileged to be in another artist’s creative process, and to fully realize the artistic equity from the investments already made. Bob’s team of in-house artisans insist that helping other professional creatives grow their careers is the most exciting part of what they do. It’s why they come to work and why they work at Reed. That mindset of success is very rare in today’s mindless and sometimes heartless internet-driven business models.

In a world where “print-makers” run their businesses like car-washes — pushing your files through a robotic software-based system that has no capacity for understanding art or expression, Reed is very different. Every work is respected for its individuality because that’s the only way to get to the best representation of your work. We believe we both succeed when we make you the perfect print. Would we make more money by pushing out volumes of prints? Perhaps. But money is not always the measure of success. For us, success comes about by respecting you and the art-form.

A print should never be viewed as just a print; it’s the embodiment of the your efforts and your spirit, and it’s an important vehicle for your success.

We call it “Artists Working for Artists.” We hope you can call working with us the best decision you ever made.

Regards,
Your fellow artists at Reed Art & Imaging.