The technology relates to picture frames and artworks, and more specifically to magnetic print artworks.
It is common practice for people to hang items such as pictures, paintings or any artworks on walls. Typically, a picture is inserted into a picture frame and the picture frame is mounted on the wall. When they want to change the picture to a new picture, they typically buy another picture frame, install the new picture into the other picture frame and replace the old picture frame on the wall with the new picture frame. In some cases, the existing the picture frame can be reused to display the new picture; the picture in the existing picture frame can be replaced with the new picture, provided the dimensions of the new picture is compatible with the picture frame, and the picture frame can be mounted back on the wall.
There are some disadvantages with the above methods for displaying a picture and/or switching the pictures. For example, to switch a picture by reusing the existing picture frame, a person may have to dismount the picture frame from the wall, open the back of the picture frame to remove the existing picture and install a new one, lock the back portion safely and mount the picture frame back on the wall. A person has to perform these steps while ensuring the glass portion of the picture frame does not fall off from the picture frame, the person does not get his fingerprints on the glass, and/or manages to switch to the new picture without accidentally damaging the picture, e.g., tearing the picture or folding the picture and therefore, creating a crease. Not only this method is very tedious and cumbersome, it can also have the potential to damage the picture. The person may alternatively replace the picture frame with a new picture frame, that is, install the new picture into the picture frame and replace the existing picture frame with the new picture. This approach still has some of the problems that are associated with the earlier method—the new picture has to be still installed in the new picture frame, the method of which, as described earlier, has the potential to cause an accidental damage to the picture being installed. Further, buying another picture frame costs money and many not be viable every time the picture is to be switched, especially if the person's taste towards the artworks change too often. Also, if the new picture frames mounting mechanism is not compatible with the old picture frame's mounting mechanism, new mounting hardware may have to be bought and new holes may have to be drilled in the wall, which can all be cumbersome, inconvenient and not preferable.
One or more embodiments of the disclosed techniques are illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references indicate similar elements.
Disclosed here are methods, systems, paradigms and apparatus for discovering, visualizing and facilitating the installation of magnetic prints. In some embodiments, a magnetic print is an artwork printed on a flexible sheet that can be magnetically attached to a magnetic frame. The flexible sheet is made using one or materials, including a specified amount of a metal that is attracted to a magnet. The flexible sheet has an artwork on one surface and can be removably attached, e.g., magnetically, to the magnetic frame on a second surface. In some embodiments, the technology provides a magnetic print art kit (“kit”), which includes one or more magnetic prints and a magnetic frame that facilitates the display of a magnetic print. The kit allows a user to install a magnetic print and/or switch between magnetic prints conveniently. The magnetic print is installed on the magnetic frame by laying out the flexible sheet on the magnetic frame. An artwork can include a picture, a painting, a poster, an art print, a drawing, an illustration, etc.
The user can install the magnetic frame on a supporting structure, e.g., a wall, using the necessary hardware and tools, and lay the magnetic print on the magnetic frame. In some embodiments, the kit can also include the necessary hardware for installing the magnetic frame. The kit allows the user to switch art, that is, replace the existing art with a new art easily. A new art can be installed by peeling off the existing magnetic print from the magnetic frame and laying the magnetic print of the new art on the magnetic frame. Switching the art is that convenient. The user may not have to bother about buying or installing a new frame for switching the art, instead the user can just focus on buying the new art. This saves time, effort and costs involved in switching the art. Further, unlike with the conventional picture frames, the user may not have to be concerned about breaking the glass of the picture frames while switching the artwork.
In some embodiments, the technology provides various tools for discovering, visualizing and buying the magnetic prints. For example, the technology provides an application (“art application”) using which a user can search, view and/or buy magnetic prints. The art application can be implemented in various configurations, e.g., as a website, a mobile app. Users may access the art application from a variety of computing devices, e.g., a desktop, a laptop, a smartphone, a tablet. The user can search for the magnetic prints based on various criteria, e.g., dimensions of the magnetic print, a genre of the magnetic print, a color, an artist, a finish type. The genre of the magnetic art can be a category of the artwork, such as, contemporary, classic, vintage, modern, eclectic, romantic, traditional, etc. The finish type can include glossy, matte, etc.
The art application supports various methods for obtaining the magnetic prints. For example, the user can buy a magnetic print on an ad hoc basis. In another example, the art application can provide a subscription model where the user can subscribe for buying a specified number of magnetic prints on a regular basis. In yet another example, the art application can provide a subscription model where the user can subscribe for renting magnetic prints. In the renting subscription model, the user can rent a specified number of magnetic prints for a specified period, and at the end of the specified period, new magnetic prints are delivered to the user, which the user can switch to. After switching, the user may return the older prints to the provider. The magnetic prints would be delivered to the user specified address automatically. Further, the art application can be personalized based on user preferences to send magnetic prints that match the user preferences.
In some embodiments, the art application can be adopted by an art merchant who sells the magnetic prints as well as the kits. In some embodiments, the art application can be adopted by a third party service provider who can collaborate with a number of art merchants and facilitate selling of their magnetic prints through the application. In some embodiments, the third party service provider may sell the kits in which case the magnetic prints sold by the art providers may have to be compatible with the kits sold by the third party service provider. For example, the sizes and shapes of the prints have to be compatible with the sizes and the shapes of frames sold by the third party service provider. In some embodiments, the third party service provider can be an interior decorator.
The magnetic frame 100 can have different types of borders, e.g., a wooden border, a metal border, a plastic border. The borders, e.g., border 135, can be of different colors, different materials, different patterns, or different shapes. For example, the borders of the magnetic frames in
In the
In some embodiments, the flexible sheet 205 can include a magnet, which is attracted to the magnetic frame 100.
In some embodiments, the artworks are printed on the flexible sheet 205 using printers that support printing on such flexible sheets. In some embodiments, the artwork 210 can also be painted onto the flexible sheet 205. The flexible sheet 205 has the artwork 210 on a first surface 215 of the flexible sheet 205 and is attached to the magnetic frame 100 on a second surface 220 of the flexible sheet 205. The magnetic prints can be available in various sizes. The magnetic print 200 is typically of a size compatible with a magnetic frame, e.g., magnetic frame 100, it is installed on. In some embodiments, the magnetic print can be made according to a user specified dimension.
In some embodiments, the magnetic prints can be installed on magnetic surfaces other than the magnetic frame provided in the kit, e.g., on a refrigerator which has a magnetic surface. The magnetic print 200 can also be printed in custom sizes, e.g., in a size that covers an entire door of a refrigerator.
In some embodiments, the magnetic print 200 is a single layered flexible sheet. That is, the magnetic print 200 can be attached to the magnetic frame 100 directly without any other backing or supporting structure between the magnetic print 200 and the magnetic frame 100. The magnetic print 200 does not require an additional layer of supporting structure, such as additional metal sheets, between the second surface 220 of the magnetic print 200 and the flat surface 105 of the magnetic frame 100, to attach the magnetic print 200 to the magnetic frame 100.
The environment 600 includes a storage system, e.g., storage system 625, that can store various data, e.g., representations of the magnetic prints (artworks), information regarding the artworks, such as dimensions, genre, etc. The storage system 625 can also include data regarding users, e.g., user profile information of users interested in buying magnetic prints, users interested in subscribing to the services provided by the art application 610, such as the rental and/or subscription service discussed above. The storage system 625 can also include data regarding art merchants 630 who wish to sell their artwork through the art application 610. For example, the art merchants 630 can connect to the art application 610 from their corresponding server devices 635 to communicate with server 620 for selling their artworks through the art application 610. In some embodiments, the art application 610 can include a component (not illustrated), which the art merchants 630 can install on their servers 635, that facilitates selling their artworks via their corresponding websites, apps, etc.
The client device 605 communicates with the server 620 over a communication network 615. The communication network 615 includes wide area network (WAN), local area network (LAN), Internet, or such other similar networks. The connection between the client device 605 and the communication network 615, and between server 620 and the communication network 615 can be wired or wireless.
The art application 610 enables the user to search, visualize, buy and/or rent magnetic prints such as the ones discussed above at least with reference to
The users can also visualize how the artwork looks in a setting, e.g., a room. For example, the user can upload a picture of a setting, e.g., the room where the user intends to install the artwork, and the art application 610 can render the user selected artwork in the setting uploaded by the user on the client device 605. The user can get an idea as to how the artwork looks in the setting. In some embodiments, the art application 610 can also render the artwork using a number of sample settings stored at the storage system 625.
The art application 610 facilitates the user to buy the magnetic print kits as well. In some embodiments, a kit includes one or more magnetic frames and one or more magnetic prints. The art application 610 enables the user to buy a kit, a magnetic frame and/or a magnetic print. The user can specify the criteria for the magnetic frame and the art application 610 retrieves the representations of the magnetic frames accordingly. The user can select one or more the retrieved magnetic frames for buying and/or renting.
The processor(s) 1005 is/are the central processing unit (CPU) of the processing system 1000 and, thus, control the overall operation of the processing system 1000. In certain embodiments, the processor(s) 1005 accomplish this by executing software or firmware stored in memory 1010. The processor(s) 1005 may be, or may include, one or more programmable general-purpose or special-purpose microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), programmable controllers, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), trusted platform modules (TPMs), or the like, or a combination of such devices.
The memory 1010 is or includes the main memory of the processing system 1000. The memory 1010 represents any form of random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, or the like, or a combination of such devices. In use, the memory 1010 may contain a code. In one embodiment, the code includes a general programming module configured to recognize the general-purpose program received via the computer bus interface, and prepare the general-purpose program for execution at the processor. In another embodiment, the general programming module may be implemented using hardware circuitry such as ASICs, PLDs, or field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).
Also connected to the processor(s) 1005 through the interconnect 1015 are a network adapter 1030, a storage device(s) 1020 and I/O device(s) 1025. The network adapter 1030 provides the processing system 1000 with the ability to communicate with remote devices, over a network and may be, for example, an Ethernet adapter or Fibre Channel adapter. The network adapter 1030 may also provide the processing system 1000 with the ability to communicate with other computers within the cluster. In some embodiments, the processing system 1000 may use more than one network adapter to deal with the communications within and outside of the cluster separately.
The I/O device(s) 1025 can include, for example, a keyboard, a mouse or other pointing device, disk drives, printers, a scanner, and other input and/or output devices, including a display device. The display device can include, for example, a cathode ray tube (CRT), liquid crystal display (LCD), or some other applicable known or convenient display device.
The code stored in memory 1010 can be implemented as software and/or firmware to program the processor(s) 1005 to carry out actions described above. In certain embodiments, such software or firmware may be initially provided to the processing system 1000 by downloading it from a remote system through the processing system 1000 (e.g., via network adapter 1030).
The techniques introduced herein can be implemented by, for example, programmable circuitry (e.g., one or more microprocessors) programmed with software and/or firmware, or entirely in special-purpose hardwired (non-programmable) circuitry, or in a combination of such forms. Special-purpose hardwired circuitry may be in the form of, for example, one or more ASICs, PLDs, FPGAs, etc.
Software or firmware for use in implementing the techniques introduced here may be stored on a machine-readable storage medium and may be executed by one or more general-purpose or special-purpose programmable microprocessors. A “machine-readable storage medium”, as the term is used herein, includes any mechanism that can store information in a form accessible by a machine.
A machine can also be a server computer, a client computer, a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a laptop computer, a set-top box (STB), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, an iPhone, a Blackberry, a processor, a telephone, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine.
A machine-accessible storage medium or a storage device(s) 1020 includes, for example, recordable/non-recordable media (e.g., ROM; RAM; magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; flash memory devices; etc.), etc., or any combination thereof. The storage medium typically may be non-transitory or include a non-transitory device. In this context, a non-transitory storage medium may include a device that is tangible, meaning that the device has a concrete physical form, although the device may change its physical state. Thus, for example, non-transitory refers to a device remaining tangible despite this change in state.
The term “logic”, as used herein, can include, for example, programmable circuitry programmed with specific software and/or firmware, special-purpose hardwired circuitry, or a combination thereof.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments, it will be recognized that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described, but can be practiced with modification and alteration within the spirit and scope of the embodiments described. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense.
References in this description to “an embodiment”, “one embodiment”, or the like, mean that the particular feature, function, or characteristic being described is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Occurrences of such phrases in this specification do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment, nor are they necessarily mutually exclusive.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/060,306 titled “Magnetic Print Art” filed Oct. 6, 2014, which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62060306 | Oct 2014 | US |