Z & k Antiques - Unusual Americana

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Z & k Antiques

Unusal Americana

http://www.zandkantiques.com/
Please click on the above address to visit this fantastic antique site!

     I received a confirmation from the above site to go ahead and write about the store, and of coure, the owners. The nice site is run by Bob  Zordani and Heidi Kellner, and I received a  nice reply from Heidi.

   When I first found this nice site, the first thing that I noticed is it's elegant simplicity. I don't know if either Heidi or Bob designed the site themselves or if they used a graphic designer/web designer. However, it's clean, it's easy to maneuver through, and the photos are excellent. The photos are all on white foundations (what the item sits on),and  the lighting is soft. Soft lighting allows for more control of the details of an item. Also there is less worry about losing detail in either the brought areas (highlights) or dark areas (shadows).

   What also got my attention is the fact that   I felt like I was visiting a a gallery, rather than  than a Walmart in terms of buying something. I could take my time, and look at the fine selections offered, rather than scrolling page after page of tiny images cluttered on a site.

    The photos are large-started to start off with, but can be clicked on (double-clicked on my Mac) to view even more detail. There are also plenty of photos of each item to allow you to see the fine details of each and evert item.

    Also, each page that displays a set of items in a category are each photographed differently. The differences are subtle, but I got a sense that even the display of a set of items on a page have been carefully chosen and laid out to allow toy're eye to take in the view. Please excuse my narrative, but I felt like I was again discussing a fine photograph of one of my photography students, from when I taught pro photography.

The Opening Page of  X & K Antiques Website

     The page Appearance with the Title of a Selected Item

  A Typical Presentation of an Item

This is definitely one of the best sites that I've seen in terms of

the graphic design aspect of it. Of course, the items for sale are superb as well!

Notice how the composition of each image has been carefully thought out.

   For the  rarer items, there is a very well-written description of the item, 

along with some of its history.

Don't forget to click on each image.

In this way, you'll see the large file size of each image in order to 

view it more thoroughly.

This definitely is NOT E-Bay!

As an established Antique "Gallery", a lengthy description is not needed to describe the nicks, the missing parts, whether the item is authentic or not, and so forth. Of course,the viewer is welcome to write to Karen Kellner for more information on each item.

  Once again, plenty of photos are included for the reader's viewing.

Each photo is large enough to check out the details of this fine toy.

I've seen the small-sized Hubley fire trucks on E-Bay, but not this size!

  Definitely, Karen has a photographer's skill  and eye for technique and composition.

 I think (I'll have to check later) this listing

was placed in the  "Unusual Americana" Category.

A beautiful piece in terms of a mechanical bank from a long time ago.

These antiques have a large following of collectors, and at the time, there were many companies that made these wonderful collectibles. At the time, the banks were made for children to save money.

  A Sampling of a group of Folk Art Decoys.

I once took a course in wood carving, and so I can appreciate these fine collectibles.

Nowadays, most decoys are made of plastic. Once upon a time in America, there were lots of lots of craftsmen (craftspeople) who made wood decoys.There were even many who were exceptional at their trade, and received very good payment for their work. While I was writing this post, I checked, and there is even a convention dedicated to decoy collecting. These items are in big demand,and there are plenty of books about the subject and the famous wood carvers from another time.

Even the Contact Us page has been thought out, with the mother and 2 children waving to the viewer. I also decided to do an image search for  "Heidi Kellner Antiques", and was surprised and yet not surprised to see all of here images show up. Now if I can just ask her how she did that, then maybe I'll get more viewers looking at my toy photos!

    My neck is hurting me terribly from having written about 10 posts in the last 3 days,but this last one from Heidi Kellner and Bob Zordani was well worth it. in my last few years of teaching, I taught a pro photography course in graphic design. As such, I can appreciate the effort and skill that went into the design of their site. 

So Heidi & Bob, thanks again for the pleasure in allowing me to write about your site, and fine items. I hope everyone who visits my site will want to visit yours, and your fine and outstanding items.

http://www.zandkantiques.com/
Please click on the above address to visit this fantastic antique site!


As usual, thanks to everyone for dropping by.

Have a great morning, afternoon, or evening
wherever you may be.

Stacey