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Judging from its home page, Utrecht believes that nearly all
artists are starving. Low prices appear to be the
manufacturer/marketer's key selling point. “Winter Sales.
Click here for great savings” declares the link at the top of
the center column. Below that, “We are introducing our new
trio of portfolios at HALF-OFF!” and, under that, in
promoting sets of colored pencils, “Take advantage of our
Winter Sale prices and save 40% off our regular prices.” For
good measure, the top link of the left column promoted free
shipping for orders of more than $100, and a box in the right
column links to the Clearance Center.
If low prices aren't enough, the home page offers lots more:
catalog requests; dozens of subcategories in a baker's dozen of
product categories; a sign-up for six e-mail newsletters; and links
to, among other pages, the Art Education Center and Get Advice.
The Art Education Center is for art teachers and consists
primarily of the Lesson Plan Forum. Teachers who submit plans are
eligible to win the Quarterly Lesson Plan Award, which comes with a
$100 gift certificate. It's a clever way for Utrecht to
inexpensively add content to its site as well as gain the loyalty
of art instructors.
Clicking the Get Advice link calls up pages of questions and
answers, most of them quite sophisticated. But even when specific
products are cited in the answers, no direct links are offered to
the goods. A wasted opportunity, that.
Returning to the home page, I select the Watercolor merchandise
subcategory and am directed to a page with individual links to 54
colors. There's also a link to a color chart that displays only 42
colors. Apparently 12 of the hues aren't worth inclusion.
The site seems targeted to artists who are already familiar with
Utrecht's product lines. For instance, it doesn't explain how
Utrecht Acrylic Artists' Colors differ from Utrecht Professional
Acrylic Colors.
Then there's all the unnecessary drilling. I select the Mat
Cutters subcategory of Framing products. I'm led to a page with
links to nine mat cutters. After selecting the link to the Mat
Cutters Logan Simplex, I'm led to another page, which has a single
link alongside the price. Selecting that link calls up a page with
a slight, serviceable description that could easily have fit on the
previous page, eliminating a click.
That's not the worst of it. The link on the price page of Jolly
King Grey Green Clay leads to a page that doesn't even have a
description — it's identical to the page I'd just been
on!
Checking out adds to my disappointment. Oh, the process itself
is easy enough. And a pop-up window reminds you to enter any
promotional codes you may have from the print catalog, fliers, or
whatnot, which helps Utrecht correctly allocate the source of the
sale. But the site presents you with the product total and shipping
costs sans sales tax, and only after you input your payment info
does it offer you the final total.
Then there's this rather offputting note: “Some items may
be out of stock. We will cancel these from your order and inform
you via e-mail.” What if I don't want a partial order, but
rather all or nothing — isn't that an option?
With its paucity of product information and service amenities,
Utrecht makes it clear why artists are often called struggling:
It's a struggle simply to buy the necessary supplies.
As soon as the Cybercritic gazes upon the Dick Blick home page,
it's love at first sight. Like all good artists, the Website
designer knows the value of white space. The home page makes great
use of it, at the same time creating a look different from that of
most other commerce sites. Instead of the near-ubiquitous column of
product links on the left and the horizontal row of service links
across the top, Dick Blick presents seven links in the center of
the page. These include the catalog request form, a directory of
stores, and info about free shipping on orders of more than $200. A
picture of a palette offers more links, to such areas as the index
and something called Info and Ideas.
Scroll down, and you see links to more than two dozen product
categories. Then there's the search engine, the e-mail sign-up
list, and contact info — phone and fax numbers, e-mail and
snail-mail addresses. As a copy block notes, “How many times
have you searched a web site in vain for a phone number? Our
customer service and product information phone numbers are on every
single page of this web site!”
Intrigued by the Info and Ideas link at the top, I click it.
What follows are links to Artist's Forums and Teacher's Forums,
which include message boards and links to galleries, artists'
organizations, and magazines; and to Lesson Plans.
Next, I check out the service offerings. These include loads of
details about product-safety labels. I'd never known that so many
labels governing so many safety aspects exist. If I need more
information, the site also offers the phone number of its product
specialists.
I don't see why I'd need to call one of them, though; the
product copy is superbly detailed. Here's an example: “Golden
Artist Colors' original line of acrylics is known for its
exceptionally smooth, thick consistency. It contains pure pigments
in a 100% acrylic emulsion vehicle, using no fillers, extenders,
opacifiers, toners, or dyes. These colors offer excellent
permanency and lightfastness.…” The product page goes
on to point out which colors are toxic vs. nontoxic and specific
qualities of certain colors.
Dick Blick's merchandise isn't limited to the fine arts. The
site also sells crafts-related gear, for mosaics, stenciling, and
the like. Given the depth and breadth of its offerings, I'm not
surprised there are some snafus. For instance, the Stick ’N
Stencil page offers a description, but no SKU or price.
One last gripe: When I click on the button to add the item to my
shopping cart, the page flickers, but no message assures me that my
order went through. So I click the Update Order button again, and
again. Only as I check out do I see that yes, my order went through
— several times, in fact.
No sooner has the Daniel Smith home page loaded than a pop-up
box demands that I register before proceeding. It's akin to an
alarm buzzing the moment I cross a store's threshold and a
salesperson affronting me with “What are you looking
for?” when all I want to do is check out the product line
first.
I register anyway. That done, I see that the home page offers
two links, to the Online Store and the Information Resource. The
latter includes a gallery of works submitted by customers, general
info about the Daniel Smith brand of materials, and a listing of
classes at the company's three stores in Washington State. While
the dates of those classes are current, those of the independent
workshops under the Events link are at least six months out of
date.
That's not the only instance where the site is behind the times.
The Online Shopping page touts both the “yearly fall
sale” and “Holiday Savings” — in
January!
Another link on the Information Resource page, titled Tips,
includes a wealth of articles, most of them how-tos such as
“Add Texture to Your Paintings” and “Studio
Safety.” These make it clear that Daniel Smith knows its
stuff. Also under Tips are Technical Leaflets with product specs,
bulletin boards, and links to artists' organizations.
Heading to the Online Store, I select the Childrens' Art
Supplies product category and am led to a page with links to all
the products in the category. I select something called Doodle
Tops, but the product page is blank. I try the Gyotaku Fish
Printing Kit next; this has a brief description, but no photo.
Even when there are photos, they don't always add much. The
picture on the product page of Metal Leaf Patent Gold shows a
half-dozen types of metallic leaf, but doesn't indicate which is
the Patent Gold. The same picture appears on the Metal Leaf Genuine
Gold XxDeep Gold page, this time with the six types of leaf
labeled. Lucky I didn't give up the first time, huh?
At least the copy provides the right information. For instance,
the description of Rembrandt Acrylics begins “Made with care
by the Dutch firm Talens, these versatile paints have good pigment
load and covering power. Their rather stiff body makes them a good
choice when visible brushstrokes are desired, or for impasto
work.…” That really clarifies why I should buy these
acrylics over the others offered.
One nicety I must mention: On the bottom of every category and
subcategory page is a reminder that Daniel Smith offers secure
online ordering.
That would be swell — if it didn't take me so long to find
what I need in the first place.
