An easier way to custom frame your posters, prints & photos
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Josh Hubball

Level - An easier way to custom frame your posters, prints & photos

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Level is online custom framing for posters, prints photos and more. We're making custom framing more intuitive, convenient and affordable so that you can enjoy more artwork and photos in your life.

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Josh Hubball
Maker
The origin of Level is my experience trying to frame a few pieces of artwork and running into all kinds of frustration. The frames I came across in stores were either cheap looking or the wrong size, and the custom frame shops were quoting me 10x the cost of the art itself. Level is a website where you can customize a picture frame to fit any poster, print or photo. The frames and mats are the same quality you would find at the custom framer, but for half the price (or less). After you make your selection and purchase, we ship the finished frame right to your door. Look forward to any thoughts/questions, and to helping everyone get more artwork up on the wall!
Erik Torenberg
@jhubball neat! what channels are you focusing on to market levle?
Josh Hubball
Maker
@eriktorenberg the ideal time to get in front of someone is the moment they take a poster/print out of the shipping tube and have the "uh oh, now I have to frame this thing" moment. I'm working with artists who will refer their customers to Levle for a really rich experience, e.g. - https://www.levelframes.com/arti... Other channels to focus on are search, content marketing, and soon integrations with other sites and apps (e.g. - a "frame this" button on Flickr or a site that sells concert posters).
Andre Plaut
@jhubball Working directly with artists and art merchants is a brilliant idea. I've been struggling to find the right frame for one of my favorite photographs for a while. Can't wait to make my first purchase on Levle later tonight.
Josh Hubball
Maker
@andreplaut thanks, Andre! If you email me or use the chatbox on the site, I should be able to get a nice preview image of your photo inside the frame as you customize.
Ryan Hoover
Get the Glasshole Kitty, on your wall:
Josh Hubball
Maker
@rrhoover I'll seriously make this poster in any size - would come free with the frame, or we can set a price and send proceeds to charity :o)
Ghost Kitty
Comment Deleted
Josh Hubball
Maker
@jongold thanks Jon, hope to get to the UK soon! That same experience (the build up of art trapped in shipping tubes) was what led me to start building this.
Nick Schwab
This solves an incredibly real problem and the UX is spot on. Great work! Excited to use Levle the next time I need a frame :)
Josh Hubball
Maker
@nickschwab Thanks, Nick! FYI - we are working on ways to get the images of your artwork inside the frame as you customize. Right now you can contact us directly if you have something and we'll set it up.
Derek Skaletsky
Awesome job! I love this. Interested in who does the fulfillment (not talking shipping, I mean the actual framing)? Do you partner with local framers or do you run your own operations?
Josh Hubball
Maker
@dskaletsky thanks, Derek! I am working with a wholesale framer who has been at this for 30+ years. They do work for restaurant, hotel, retail chains, etc. So set up for efficiency and no retail overhead. However, I am sourcing the wood profiles for the frames directly - also reduces cost, and allows me to specify the finish options and the source (all sustainably-harvested forests in the US). I also came up with some unique ways to flatten out your artwork before mounting and line it up correctly in the frame, so the frames have some extra touches.
Derek Skaletsky
@jhubball all sounds good. I think this is a really great opportunity. Congrats! I will definitely be a user soon...
ED
I've never understood why custom framing had to be so expensive. Really excited to bring all the beautiful concert posters I have out of hiding in my closet.
Josh Hubball
Maker
@aten most custom frame shops outsource a bunch of the work (hence the delay), have the high retail overhead, and are geographically limited in terms of their business. But for that $30 concert poster you don't need a master framer to spend 4 weeks on it. And by removing the overhead and need to handle the art, the prices can be much lower for the same (or better) gallery-level frame.
ED
Actually, @jhubball why are all the dudes down the street do damn expensive? How do you do it cheaper? How is your quality comparatively?
Josh Hubball
Maker
@aten Frames and components are as good or better. Everything is top quality and meets archival standards. More on the frames here: https://www.levelframes.com/our_...
Erick Schonfeld
great design
Chris Carella
Can't wait to use this. Framing stuff goes old school way is such a pain.
Josh Hubball
Maker
@ccarella Thanks, Chris! The old school way still works if you have the budget, patience and need something very specific. Levle is a much better alternative when you just need a gallery-style frame that will fit your artwork and look great on the wall.
Josh Hubball
Maker
By the way, in the "Related Links" above these comments, you'll see a Medium essay I wrote on the origins of Levle and how I set out to build it. Thanks for the comments and feedback so far, keep 'em coming!
Allan Zhang
This is such a neat thing, and I know that a lot of my "art" could benefit from framing :)
Ross Rojek
My wife will love this. As a suggestion, also look into doing printing as well. She does photography, orders large prints and then gets them framed. Take out one step and you'll get even more biz.
Josh Hubball
Maker
@SacBookReviewer thanks, it's in the works!
Josh Hubball
Maker
Thanks for all of the comments/feedback so far! In case it wasn't apparent, there's a 20% discount applied to your first frames order using the link above.
David McKinney
I'm really into this. Adding artwork and your own touch to your house is such a normal thing, but it's always been so crazy expensive. This is a great example of taking a real-world product and doing it in a better way. Bring on the custom hanging system!
Troy Osinoff
This is great. You should post in the Mondo print groups on facebook, sure you can get a ton of business. And http://expressobeans.com/ of course
Nabeel Hyatt
I just wanted to add, if you didn't already know, that Josh Hubball is the man. :)
Josh Hubball
Maker
@nabeel no, you da man :o)
Spencer Bryan
Just ordered 4 frames with pictures and can tell how much thought went into building this experience. Well done.