Storing/Displaying OA

[comicwiz]

Hi guys, I've been hitting a wall with regard to trying to find an affordable solution to both store and display my OA. I'm nearly fed-up with the current solution, which is to make piles and let them sit on shelves. I want something that works as both a display and storage unit - preferably one that's durable and able to take the weight of hundreds of pages.

 

I've been looking for a poster display like the one below, but even then, this would be limited to only about 60 pages. I could store 60 stories, but these are meant for posters, so I don't know if putting a story with 5-25 pages will be possible. I've been scouring online classifieds, but no luck. Not pressing enough to buy new.

 

Do you guys have any suggestions?

 

[Kevn]

Look for a big, quality flat file cabinet. If you find a good short one, you can usually stack a second one on top of that as your needs grow. Good flat files aren't cheap, but if you live in a big city you can sometimes find them used on Craigslist or at business close-out sales. I have artist friends who used to pick them up fairly cheaply at the Rose Bowl flea market, too. Great way to store and protect your art, and still have it fairly accessible.

 

The poster rack like your photo would be a lousy way to store multiple pages in a single 'leaf.' If you do that, put them all in a nice heavy mylar envelope so then don't slide around and rub on each other. It might work as a way to keep some of your art easily visible, but you'll have to do some smart mounting so that your OA doesn't flop around and get wrinkles, waves, and rubbed/dinged corners.

[comicwiz]

What a great idea! I have one already too.

 

Looks like I'm going to have a mini project clearing out what I have in there right now

 

Thanks!

 

P.S. any ideas where I might find the hanging dividers? Might also need some Mylar. I was going to try those Hot Flips top loaders - will getting those avoid the need for backing boards if I go with Mylar?

[comicwiz]

Looks like my filing cabinet isn't deep enough, nor are the rails wide enough to hold my art.

 

I'm thinking these filing cabinets you're referring to have to be for a special purpose (like engineering drawings) because I have just the ones used for legal and regular document sizes.

[Wyndchill]

Flat files are definitely a good way to go. In addition, if you're in this for the long haul, I'd suggest layering the pages with archival tissue paper in between them as a buffer. If there are pages with higher acid content than others around them, the tissue paper will act as a decent buffer.

http://www.archivalmethods.com/product/archival-tissue

[comicwiz]

Most of them I have in large bags (poly-grade), with a few in mylar. Many of them are complete stories so I think the archival tissue paper is a suggestion I should look into.

[Kevn]

These are the kinds of flat files I'm talking about here.

 

They come in a wide variety of sizes. They're expensive if they're new, but they have limited resale value, since they're so specialized. That's why I suggested looking locally to see if you can find used ones. They're usually very well built, so even one's I've seen that are 50 years old are as functional as new ones.

 

When I was doing a charity animation art auction I bought a lot of large mylar sleeves of various sizes at http://www.universityproducts.com/ Those were the best prices I could find for larger sizes, and they were easy to deal with.

[comicwiz]

I picked up one of the poster displays. I had been searching for at least a year, and it turned out a used books store had one. I've begun the project of displaying/storing them. They are actually much more practical for storing/dsplaying OA than I imaged, though I will only post single page (covers) or dailies in them for the time being. I have a filing cabinet that I'm going to use to flat store the full OA stories. I hope to spend the next few months setting it up. When it's all done, I'll post some pics.

[batman_fan]

I picked up one of the poster displays. I had been searching for at least a year, and it turned out a used books store had one. I've begun the project of displaying/storing them. They are actually much more practical for storing/dsplaying OA than I imaged, though I will only post single page (covers) or dailies in them for the time being. I have a filing cabinet that I'm going to use to flat store the full OA stories. I hope to spend the next few months setting it up. When it's all done, I'll post some pics.

 

Looking forward to seeing the end result.

[comicwiz]

I'm a quarter of the way there, but getting the hang of it. I've got a few covers displayed at the moment and I'm really digging the flipbook feel. I know I said I'd do the reveal once it's done, but thought it couldn't hurt to get an early peak.

 

I'm really enjoying it, as it's practical and functional. I know it's a retailer display, but when it's done, I hope to be moving it it into a room where I think the industrial look will blend in nicely:

 

[James J]

looks cool.........

[Eltanin]

It looks great! And very professional.

[Xela]

love it, great idea