Motorbike posters
A poster is the flexible option, and the reason isn't price. It's that you keep the framing decision. Hang it in something you already own, build a set over time, or swap what's in the frame when you get bored of it.
The paper
One stock across every poster size: 250 gsm uncoated off-white archival stock. Uncoated means no gloss, so there's no reflection coming back off it under a garage strip light or a window. Off-white rather than bright white means the cream-ground ink drawings sit on paper that agrees with them instead of fighting them.
The five sizes
A4 and A3 are the close-up sizes, for a desk, a shelf or a narrow gap in a hallway. A2 is the safe default when you are guessing, and it holds a wall above furniture. 50x70 cm and 70x100 cm are the ones you buy when the print is meant to be the thing anybody walking in notices first.
Two things people get caught by. 50x70 cm is not an A size, so it will not fit an A2 frame and cannot be trimmed into one: is 50x70 cm A3 has the figures and a source. And the exact centimetres, with hanging heights and the gaps for a set of three, live on the sizes and framing guide rather than here.
Which artwork suits paper
Fine line work is at its best here. The cafe racer ink drawings and the blueprint machine studies were drawn for paper, and they hold detail on it that a woven surface loses. Bold flat colour, meaning the race-day posters, works on anything. The road landscapes are the ones that genuinely gain from canvas instead.
Framing it yourself
Buy the frame to match the print rather than trimming the print to match the frame, because trimming means cutting into the picture itself. There's no version of that you'll be happy with. If you would rather it arrived ready to hang, framed prints come at A3 and A2, and canvas hangs without a frame at all. The sizes and framing guide covers hanging heights and the gaps for a set.
Written by Craig Fearn, Throttlefolio. Last updated .
Workshop notes
Questions, answered
What paper are the posters printed on?
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250 gsm uncoated off-white archival stock, at every poster size. Uncoated means no gloss and no glare, which matters in a garage or a room with a big window.
Which poster size should I choose?
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A3 for a shelf or a snug wall, A2 above furniture, 50x70 cm or 70x100 cm when the print is meant to be the thing you notice first. Cut a sheet of newspaper to size and tape it up before deciding; it takes thirty seconds and it settles the argument.
Do posters come framed?
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No, that is the point of the format. Framed prints arrive ready to hang at A3 and A2, and a canvas hangs with no frame at all.
From the journal