The Scoop - A Sneek Peek at Some Colors

Hello Everybody. I was wondering how many of you would get excited about these colors? It's a big possibility that these are a sampling of some colors Oracal MAY release. I've got the swatches. I scanned them in to my computer. So keep in mind that your monitor may display them differently than mine, and my scanner may not be 100% true, but you get the general idea. There were also 7 more colors that were (are) considered possibilities, but these were my 8 favorites. I've got to be honest. I was a little disappointed. While definitely an improvement to their current color offerings, they weren't all I that had hoped and dreamed of. They're definitely BRIGHT. :)So give me some feedback. I'd like to continue communicating with Oracal about these colors, but I wanted to know what you all feel about them. I might as well just tell Oracal to go for it if everybody else likes them just fine. (Not like I'm not boss, or really have any say one way or the other, but at least I might be able to influence them a little bit - especially if I have your voices behind my own.)
One way or another, none of these are a done deal, and may never come to fruition.
(FYI: The colors from left to right are: Tiffany's Turquoise, Rich Rose Pink, Sky Blue, Soft Baby Pink, Warmish Grey, Pale Celery, Bright Olive, and at the bottom, Soft Pale Yellow.)
So what do you think?

Latest Color News

Here was a suggestion from one of you:
Post the contact info for the people I've been talking to at Oracal, so I'm not the only one being a squeaky wheel. (Brilliant!) So the main person who can influence the changes over there is the VP of Marketing - who's name is David Grant. His email address is: david.grant@oracal.com. Feel free to drop him a line with a (respectful, professional) request for interior colors.
Something else I've been mulling over:
Why do the custom colors we choose have to match Uppercase Living's? So~ if I can find enough of you who are willing to branch out, I was thinking we could request some great interior colors that would match the current trends found in the most recent Pottery Barn catalog. (Starting, of course, with a great sage-y green.)
I've just ordered a Color Fan Deck from Pottery Barn, made to coordinate with paint colors from Benjamin Moore. It was only 2 dollars per deck, and I got both decks that they offer (the other one is for "PB Kids"). Once I get my Fan Decks in the mail I'll choose a starting color to send in to Oracal for them to match.
In the mean time, anybody who's interested in future group buys should go online and order their own Pottery Barn Catalog and fan deck for comparison later on. (Find the Color Fan Deck here). You can also pick them up for free at any Pottery Barn store.
By the way, the Sage Roll count is up to 60 (assuming everybody is still on board with a different choice of color).
Also- I'm meeting with Oracal's Regional Manager for my area next week, and I plan to bring him the swatches of the muted colors I choose from Pottery Barn's Fan Decks. Because they'll be different than Uppercase Living's colors, we may be able to convince Oracal to release some muted colors after all (and wouldn't we rather match Pottery Barn than Uppercase Living?)
Anybody who's interested in the cause should get a fan deck and vote for the colors you'd like me to push for.
Sorry everything is so scattered here- you can tell this has been a time consuming project. (I was up until 4 in the morning last night tossing and turning because I couldn't shut my mind off. Thinking about colors. Strange.)
As always, I'm interested in any feedback or advice. Posting comments within the blog helps others to see what's going on in this community as a whole, and not just what I'm dealing with. So feel free to post! Thanks-
Emily

Frustrations at the ISA Expo

I feel defeated.
My main goal in attending the ISA Expo was to talk to someone from Oracal who could give me a straight answer about their plans to produce better interior colors. Apparently, I'm infamous at Oracal: after introducing myself at their booth, the man I was speaking to started pulling his colleagues aside and saying, "Hey, remember that email we got in January about getting the new 631 colors? This is the woman who sent it!"
Basically I asked for information about their plans with the 631 colors, and he pretty much said that companies like Uppercase Living and Stampin' Up had gotten the proprietary colors that we all want, and they want to keep these big companies happy (don't bite the hand that gives you all their money), so they pretty much decided that it would be better not to release colors similar to these in any way.
I also found out that when you get a custom color, you need not 90 rolls, but 300. (You can get your 300 rolls created in 90 roll batches, throughout the span of up to a year- but you need to commit to getting all 300).
The man I was talking to (the Sales Manager for my Region - we'll call him RM) had said we could get a very close variation to UCL's Sage Brush, with just a slight adjustment to it, but his colleague looked a little taken aback and said "No, this is too close. You would need to make it several shades different." Then RM said "Oh, well. Let's just ask Uppercase Living if they would mind if we use this color for somebody else." Then said colleague looked at RM as if he was being foolish, or saying something he shouldn't, then shrugged it off gave RM a placatory "Sure. Sure."
While I was there I felt a little foolish. Like they were not really interested in working with me at all- why would they want to work with me when they can get much more business from the large companies that I'm competing with?

Plus I'm still stuck at 55 rolls - am I the only person trying to spread the word about the group buys (Except Ashley)?

So my next step was to talk to Signwarehouse.com. I was told that the people at Sign Warehouse were looking into ordering a custom run of Sage, and just distributing them to whomever, but apparently Oracal denied their submission, saying it was too close to a proprietary color.
So I think I'm giving up.
Unless any of you have some suggestions or ideas, or are willing to call/email Oracal to beg for these colors- I think it's a lost cause.

Sage Group Buy-Updates

First things first: as of today, we have 55 rolls accounted for. That leaves less than half to go! Spread the word, people! (and if you haven't already signed up, better hurry, we want to get the show on the road)

Also- I've got some new information from Oracal about the custom color process. We can either send a swatch of something to match (for example, UCL's Sage Brush), or request a specific Pantone Number. They can't run a color that has "Proprietorship" to another company, (like, UCL has a kind of "patent" on their Sage Brush), but if we make it a touch different, (maybe a shade darker, or slightly more yellow, that kind of thing), then it's no problem. So I've used a Pantone Book (labeled "Solid Uncoated") to find some variations of "Sage Brush" and their Pantone Numbers. I recommend printing this out and going to a local print shop to check out their Pantone books, if you don't already have one (call ahead, not all print shops have them). You can also buy one online, but they cost a small fortune. At any rate, my point is that a Pantone Book is much more "standardized" than what you could see on your computer screen, so don't base your judgement solely on what you see on the monitor.

The UCL swatch I have didn't have a perfect match- but these were the colors that came closest.

1 and 2 had a little more blue, so they looked a little "greener" than Sage Brush. The shade was in between those two colors, a sort of blend. 3 and 4 were slightly more yellow, so they look more olive. Again, I would blend those together to get the exact shade (light to dark-wise). 5 was pretty close shade-wise, but it has a little more grey, so I guess it looks a bit smokier than Sage Brush.
I could be happy with any of these colors, or the blend of them, and my main goal is to just get a very close match to UCL Sage Brush.
If you feel you can live with any of these choices, then we'll probably be able to make you happy. If you have a strong opinion against one specifically, I'm happy to hear your advice.

Please everybody just keep in mind that because we're working with so many of us, we all need to be a little flexible. Otherwise, you may just have to get your own custom run and spend the $8000 to have your perfect version of Sage Green. :)

Once I get the all-clear from all of you for the colors above (likely to be a blend of colors 1 - 5), I'll contact my distributor to get the process going. From there, expect a week or two to get the exact color perfected and finalized, and after that Oracal said it will take 3-4 weeks to process the entire order. I'm not sure when we'll be expected to pay in this process, I'm guessing it will be after we give the final approval, but before they run the whole batch (the 3-4 week process).

If you're new to my blog, check out the post below for more information about the group buy for Sage, and how to get involved.

No Colors from Oracal - Update

So this is a copy of my last email to the VP of Marketing at Oracal:
"You had mentioned that new colors were likely to be available before the ISA show. Since that's only one week away, I was wondering if there are any updates as far as how many new colors, and what they might be like, as well as when we could start purchasing them?
Thanks!"

Here's his response:
"At this point we have no plans to introduce any new Series 631 colors at the upcoming 2009 ISA show. I will, however, continue to keep you informed of any pending changes. Thanks again for your ongoing interest."

Sooo-Time for (yet another) change in direction, I'm going to try to set up the group buys again. The starting color will be sage- very similar to the sage color our good friends at Uppercase Living had commissioned. They call it "Sage Brush". At any rate, I think it will be hard to find enough companies who are willing to go for this (my last attempt brought about 10 responses- almost all of them from people who only wanted 1 or 2 rolls. Which is not nearly enough to get an order together.) So I think it would be a good idea to have a minimum order of 4 rolls of 24" x 50 yds. The price for each roll is $86.25 - We'll be allowed to each pay separately (on the same day) and have it shipped to us individually (yay)! I've included the shipping information below.

Some notes:
I think it will be a good idea to get the four rolls, even if you don't think you can use that very fast, because once people see how attractive this color is, it will be one of your best sellers, - plus you'll want to be able to offer it for a long time, and I'm not sure if we will be able to repeat this process. (Even this goes well, I think I'd want to move on to new colors- so there's no telling when the sage could be available again)

Secondly- I own my own business, have a couple babies, and a husband who misses me. I'm sure most of you out there are in the same boat, but my point is I'm short on time. I can't be sending everybody a sample of the potential color before you agree to do this. I don't even have a sample of it! Just know it will be much like what Uppercase Living calls Sage Brush, and that I have good taste. I'll pick something good. I'm happy to forward any communication I receive from Oracal during the process, such as Pantone numbers and whatnot, to everybody who gets involved, and am happy to hear your input, but I'm not going to be mailing samples.

Lastly- there weren't enough people in on this last time we tried it. So we really need to spread the word, people! I'll be sending a link to this blog to any vinyl lettering companies I can find, and I ask anybody who wants in on this to do the same.
(I'm hoping to get enough people together to get the ball rolling before the end of April. From there, I don't know how long the process takes, but I'll keep you posted when I get more information.)

If you're interested: Send an email to interiortypography@gmail.com with your:

• Name
• Phone Number
  
• Email address
• How many rolls you'll be able to get

You'll also need to send a link to this blog to as many interior lettering companies you can find. Otherwise, we may not be able to get this off the ground.

Shipping info:
The supplier use UPS, and charge what UPS charges for shipping. So- if you want to see how much shipping would cost for you,

• go to https://wwwapps.ups.com/ctc/request?loc=en_US&WT.svl=PNRO_L1 (or, if you're from Canada, start by going to UPS site, and click "Canada" to get started, instead of using the link above)
• check "quick time and cost (package)"
• input Ship from: USA, zip code: 75021
• Ship to: [where ever you are]
• The shipping weight for 1 roll of vinyl is 18 lbs, for 4 rolls is 72 lbs.

Update Oracal Colors

Okay- so after being informed by the VP of Marketing for Oracal that new colors should be released around April, I figured: hey, why go to all the trouble to organize a group buy if all I have to do is be a little patient? So that's what I'm doing. (Owning a business, raising 2 kids and keeping a house are already taking a bit of time - I'm sure most of you can relate.) So, the plan is to wait and see what Oracal turns out. If they leave something to be desired (either by not bringing out new colors at all, being super delayed in doing it, or having them be too limited), then I might go ahead and organize the group buys in the future.

On February 25 I emailed said VP asking for an update. His response:
"I don't have any specific updates to offer you at this point, but the project is still active. I'll keep you posted."

I'm not sure if he'll really keep me posted- unless I keep badgering him, poor man, but I plan to attend the ISA Show in April and if I see the new colors there, or find another company who has them, I'll be sure to let you all know.

If you'd like to receive updates on this topic, send me a note, and I'll have you signed up so whenever I update the blog, you can get an email.

Newest news from Oracal

I sent a quick email to the Vice President of Marketing at Oracal:
"Any chances of more colors coming in the next month?"

His response:
"Not likely, as the ramp-up time is usually 6-8 weeks due to the need to purchase new pigments and produce the master rolls. A more likely time frame is before the ISA show in April.

At least the topic is now in active discussion. If the timetable moves up I'll let you know."

DEEDLE!
Can you imagine new colors in APRIL?!
How exciting!

Also, for those of you following this whole process, be sure to check out the comments left on each post, I've posted comments for the emails I've been getting, so you can sort of see the process I've experienced. If you send me an email, I'll post it here as a comment, but I'll leave the personal information out, so you can remain anonymous.

I also just want to thank everybody for being supportive of this! I'm glad to see all the positive responses!

Update: Group Buy for ... SAGE?

Okay, I've gotten a few responses for the last post, and so far, I've had a UNANIMOUS request for Sage or Olive. So.
How about we'll do this based on which post gets more interest. If the Sage wins, we'll do sage first, if it's Cream, will start there. I had just figured that the neutrals sell better, so it would be good to start with cream. I had a (very nice) woman point out that because of the trend of having beige/cream walls to make homes more marketable, most of her customers were going for darker vinyl colors. An excellent point.

So for more information about what the group buy for Sage would involve, check out the post below about Group buy for Cream. Then just let me know which you'd be more interested in, or if you want to do both.

For people who are interested: I need your:
name
email address
and how many rolls (24" x 50yds) you'll be wanting in each color.

That's it! Either post it as a comment here, or send it to my email: interiortypography@gmail.com
Thanks!

ALSO- I figured I could post several color choices on this blog, and every body could vote for a favorite. (they'd all be pretty similar, just slight variations of Sage or Olive)

Custom Color Group Buy: Cream

I've had some feedback on this blog from other businesses in this industry, several of whom want to "go in together" and get some nice colors of the Oracal 631 Exhibition Cal series vinyl. (I use this kind because it's matte, and removable. It's also fairly easy to weed.)

The first color I'd like to get would be a really pretty Cream color. (If this goes well, I'd love to get more colors, but we'll see how it goes with just this one.)

(I'll be happy to choose the exact color, but if there are any suggestions for a specific Pantone Color, I'm pretty flexible. Once we get the ball rolling, I'll of course let you know the exact Pantone Color.)

So here's the deal. I contacted my supplier who told me the requirements:
The total order needs to have a minimum of 90 rolls of 24" x 50 yds. (of one color)
We'll be allowed to each pay separately (on the same day) and have it shipped to us individually (yay)!
So the price for each roll of 24" x 50yds is $86.25. (if any of you have a supplier who would be cheaper, by all means, I'm willing to go through somebody else.)

Obviously, the more people willing to go in together, the less we'll each need to order. I think a reasonable goal is to have each company order 4 rolls (at least), and then we'll need about 22 companies to do this. 4 Rolls! That's just about $400 after shipping, people. Which sure beats $8,000.00 for 90 rolls!

So if you're interested, please pass along this info (our link is interiortypography.blogspot.com ) to as many interior vinyl lettering companies you know of, and we might be able to make it work. If your budget won't allow for 4 rolls, you can still get 1 or 2, but it will just take a lot more companies.

So if you're interested: Please post a comment below and include your
· Name
· Email address
· How many rolls you'll be able to get
(or if you don't want your info displayed on the web, you can email all that information directly to me at: interiortypography@gmail.com)
I'll then send any updates to this process to your email.

The timing will depend on the response. If we have a lot of interest right away, then we could start it this week. It may take a couple weeks to get the news around, so do your part to spread the word.

Shipping info:
The supplier use UPS, and charge what UPS charges for shipping. So- if you want to see how much shipping would cost for you,
go to https://wwwapps.ups.com/ctc/request?loc=en_US&WT.svl=PNRO_L1
check "quick time and cost (package)"
input Ship from: USA, zip code: 75021
Ship to: [where ever you are]
The shipping weight for 1 roll of vinyl is 18 lbs, for 4 rolls is 72 lbs.
They usually use UPS Ground, but I think that you can choose whatever shipping option you want.

My Letter to Oracal

To whom it may concern,

As you may be aware, the Interior Vinyl Lettering industry is booming. The trend of applying vinyl words and phrases to the walls in one’s home is very popular right now. As a small business owner who manufactures and sells these decorations, I’ve found that your Oracal 631 Exhibition Cal vinyl is the best for the job because of its removability and matte finish.

I have a (very real) problem, though, with your color selection. I’ve contacted the Territory Manager for my area, Shawn Adams. Shawn told me that I can order custom colors, and to do so I would need to communicate with a local distributor (he recommended Regional Supply in Salt Lake City). He also said that to order custom colors I would need to place a huge order of around 90 Reams of 24” vinyl. At $83-$110 (depending on the distributor) per ream, that would cost between $7,000 and $10,000 per color! He told me the reason for this minimum order requirement, is because there are 90 reams per batch, and one batch per color. I understand the need for this, and am in no position to order any custom colors because, as I mentioned before, I have a small business.

However, offering the best selection and quality products to my customers is very important to me, and I’m sure I’m not the only one in this industry (Interior Lettering) who would say the same. Doing a quick Google search of “vinyl lettering” or “wall quotes” goes to show how many companies are out there like mine, many small, some quite large, but all who need to supply our customers with home décor to fit their wants and needs. I’m sure the demand for more colors would make it worth your while to expand your color selection.

My plea is this: Add some more muted colors that would work better in home décor. The colors available now are great for businesses and outdoor signs, but don’t work as well with the softer colors that people prefer to have in their homes. At the most basic level, a neutral cream color would be amazing. I would also like to see muted, softer, and/or richer versions of a few basic colors (tan, red, yellow, green, blue, purple, and pink) as well as a muted metallic color option. If these were made available, I’m sure your company would be able to dominate the Matte Vinyl market.

Below I’ve included some examples and color suggestions, (chosen because of their versatility and saleability).

Please let me know if there is any possibility of expanding your color selection for the Oracal 631 series.

Thank you.

If you agree with this post, please leave a Comment below. Include your name and company, and if I get very many names on the list, I'll include them as a sort of petition to Oracal. Thanks!