This month’s image was made my Your’s Truly, Crispina ffrench. My sister Sofia, and I run The Dolphin Studio and carry on the creative legacy left for us by our parents.
The 2023 November image depicts a pair of big cushy headphones with a curly cord and mic with subtle music notes dancing across the image. I designed this month’s image to honor my son Ben, an awesome funky, jazzy guitarist who graduated Berklee College of Music in 2017 with a degree in production and performance. This year Thanksgiving fell on his birthday, November 23rd.
You might not know that my sweet boy, Ben, died on July 30, 2019 at the age of 26 from a life-long heart condition called cardiomyopathy. When he was diagnosed at the age of two and a half, the doctors thought he would survive 18 months - to be 4. Miracles unfolded and we were blessed to have him around 22 beautiful years longer than expected.
Ben and I were super tight. I became a 27 year old single mom a week after he turned 1. He showed me a way out of the dangerous relationship his dad and I shared. He had Failure to Thrive from the time he was 6 months old so when he was diagnosed at 2 and a half, weighing 16 pounds, it was a huge relief and the most intense panicked fuck-the-world moment in my life.
Maybe this is not the most opportune platform to be sharing such a heartbreaking and, for me, personal story…. but maybe it is. Rather than disregarding grief, it is important for me, and our whole family (especially Ben’s little sisters) to see it and keep Ben in our midst. So every year you will see an image included in The Dolphin Studio Calendar for him, to celebrate his gifts and feed the magic we continue to share.
There were 33 of us at Thanksgiving dinner this year. (That is another legacy left to us by our parents.)
Sofia hosts the event each year at our childhood home on Main Street in Stockbridge, MA. This year, Ben's little sister, Lucy made gorgeous and DELICIOUS birthday cupcakes. As the turkey roasted, the lot of us descended into the cemetery behind the house where John, Primm, and Ben are holding down the ffrench family burial site. Birthday cake, tequila shots, a very tasty joint, and stories were shared as we toasted Ben and celebrated his short yet well-lived life.
The November 2023 image started out as a pencil sketch on a scrap of paper, from there I created a detailed and properly formatted pencil drawing on white calendar-sized paper. The lovely dark blue paper we used was harvested from a paper mill before they sent an entire pallet of it to the incinerator. (more on that in another post)
Next it’s color-separations - this is where it is decided what parts of the image will be what color. Our calendar images are usually created with two colors. Each color requires a separate screen so we ‘separate the colors’ into an order of printing that gives us our desired results.
In this image the ‘first’ color is either light yellow or lavender depending on which one you got. (We made two different colored Novembers). The second ‘color’ is a clear gloss medium used here for the music notes. The gloss adds a little sparkle, and in just the right light, creates what looks like a darker blue on the rich navy paper. It was fun to experiment with a new process and nail the ethereal vibe visually depicting music and nodding to Ben .
You can learn more about Ben, his music and contribute to the scholarship we set up in his name here.
We love to hear from you. Share your questions, thoughts, and feedback in the comments below.
This month (November 2023) we are hosting the first of a series of Give-Aways from our Silkscreen Print Shop in the Berkshire Hills of Western MA.
We figured that November is a great time to stock up on kitchen towels. Ours are affordable and a very functional way to spruce the kitchen up a little as we pull out the cookbooks (or er um google grand-ma's gravy recipe) and fire up the ovens for sharing holiday meals.
In the caption of that post, you will find instructions for entering to win. While you are there, checkout behind the scenes of our silkscreen printing shop where we hand printed 3000 of our award winning Dolphin Studio calendars for 2023.
In addition to our signature calendars we print kitchen towels, greeting cards, and framable prints.
We upcycle our off-prints and left over calendar pages into journals and origami paper. We print on the highest 'post-consumer content' paper we can find, and partner with paper manufacturers to use their waste. Our inks, emulsion and cleaners are the most gentle we can get our hands on and we are committed to always working to diminish our production footprint.
Our friends, fans, and followers are like family to us. We are a family. The Dolphin Studio is our family tradition. We love to hear stories about the melding of family traditions, ours with yours.
We appreciate the word-of-mouth marketing you do for us. Our customers have gotten us featured in glossy magazines and high traffic websites. You have gifted our products, shared our website and helped build our business.
We see you.
As a token of gratitude for all the awesome people we have met through our family business, we host GIVE-AWAYS. Take a look at our GIVE-AWAY and enter to win.
SPECIAL BONUS....
If you read this far, YAY! Leave a comment on this post telling us the last thing you won, we will put your name in the hat an extra time, upping your chances of being the WINNER!
One of the most unexpected and awesome things that has developed over the last 51 years is that our calendar has become a family tradition for our loyal customers located all over the world. There are actually some families who have gotten all 51 editions of The Dolphin Studio calendar.
We often hear about monthly reveals happening - when households gather on the first of each month to see for the first time the new month’s image. (this is why you don’t often see the upcoming year’s images in our marketing material). If you are one of those customers - let this serve as a spoiler alert. In this video we share our 2022 images and show just how you can start a new tradition in your home.
AND
How Dolphin Studio calendars really do make a suitable gift for pretty much - ANYONE. Fun, easy, repeatable each year.
What is your favorite family tradition? Share in the comments below.
The third video in our ‘2021 video shorts’ series, printers take center stage walking through the calendar compiling process here at The Dolphin Studio, from our print table to your home.
We walked you through our silkscreen printing process in Pt I. Pt II talks about the 50+ year history of ffrench Family business - The Dolphin Studio.
Stay tuned for the fourth and final video coming soon
Have you been a Dolphin Studio calendar recipient? Would you like to be a Dolphin Studio ambassadors? We are kicking off this super fun and engaging program to share The Dolphin Studio story and our artful calendars with more people.
Comment below if you have a story to share and would like to learn more about our new ambassador program.
The Dolphin Studio is actually a legacy left to us by our parents (or grandparents - depending) John and Primm ffrench. They founded the business in 1970 to augment their public school art teacher paychecks, and put us kids right to work.
In this video we share the history of The Dolphin Studio and our evolution over the last 50+ years.
If you had a family business how old would your kids be when they started to take on responsibility? We’d love to hear your thoughts on that question and anything else Dolphin Studio related in the comments below.
It is not uncommon for a customer (even ones who have been around a long time) to be bowled over by the fact that our calendars are hand-printed with an old-school method called silkscreen printing. It is certainly not a secret yet still, a lot of people really don’t know what is involved with that process, how does it actually work?
We made this little video to show you our process and help you understand the level of commitment, expertise and FUN that goes into each print we pull in our Becket, MA print shop.
Share any questions or feedback in the comments below – we LOVE to hear from you and read every single comment (actually we all do!)
Hey All! It’s been an interesting week here at the studio as we all cycle through our vacation time. Initially just missing Lucy, Kerry and Lily will be absent and at the beach this week as well (hopefully soaking up some sunshine and margaritas). With only Johnny and Michael left at the studio for the time being, they are looking forward to having some more family time
As the rest of the crew sets off, they left us with one task: give away some more cool stuff! Before I announce the winner of last week’s giveaway, I’d like to start by saying we’ll be giving away another fabulous poster print this week! The rules are the same, but if you missed last week’s installation of the Weekly Splash, the contest rules are as follows:
Make sure you are following @thedolphinstudio on instagram
Like our most recent post (we’ll be posting right before this comes out)
In the comments, tag a friend and use #theweeklysplash
...and it’s as simple as that! Below, I’ve attached an image of the print up for grabs.
Now a lot of you may be asking “but who won last week’s poster?”, so it’s probably about time that I got to that part! Just remember that the only way to find out who wins these giveaways is by tuning in to the Weekly Splash! So without further ado, last week’s winner is...
@thinairgoods
Congratulations!! Reach out to us via Instagram DM so we can send you your prize on Monday. Tune in next week to find out who won this week’s lovely print! Toodles!
P.S. Here is a photo of this week’s giveaway print!
Hey All! I’d like to start today by thanking those who emailed Lily last week! It was wonderful to be able to hear all of your thoughts and suggestions, and to show you all how thankful we are we’ll be doing a little giveaway... but we’ll get back to that.
For now, let me fill you in on this week’s events at the studio! This week, a new printer started with us; his name is (drumroll please) Michael! His older brother, Johnny, has been a part of the print team for years now (and has been writing these, so I’m not sure why he’s speaking in the third person) and is excited to teach Michael how to silk screen! The two have printed together a few times this week and Michael is learning the trade quickly!
While the two brothers got some quality family time, the rest of the studio was enjoying some family time as well. Last week ended on Lily’s birthday (happy birthday Lily!!!) and we all got together to celebrate and unwind. We’re all a big family anyway, so getting together outside of work is always a treat. Though, sometimes it feels like we’re living in a sit-com.
So this week, let’s make it a game show! In an effort to give back to our wonderful supporters, we’ll be giving away a fabulous 18in x 24in poster print! In light of the 4th of July we’ve selected one of our flag themed prints, which I’ll attach a picture of below, and all you have to do is:
Make sure you are following @thedolphinstudio on instagram
Like our most recent post of the poster
In the comments, tag a friend and use #theweeklysplash
...and that's all! Follow these three steps and next week we will pick a winner at random. Thanks again, see you all next week!
With a new calendar came a new horizon for the Dolphin Studio. With our sights set on growth, the team has taken on a variety of new responsibilities. Running a third generation family business is no easy operation as it is… but we love a good challenge. Though, the hardest challenge we’ve faced this year was probably also our most trivial; should we reveal next year’s calendar images to help us market our craft?
It almost felt as if we could really hear the roars of outrage clash with the instigating cheers. A lot of our existing customers feel quite strongly about this topic (and some of the print team does too), but what about new customers? Would the opportunity to see before they buy increase their chances of buying our lovely calendars?
We spent what felt like an eternity with our eyes crossed and our heads spinning trying to make a decision. Is this what more stores would like to see in order to carry our calendars? Which stores should we even consider? We might need to phone-a-friend for this one… so we’ll ask you! Yeah, you! Do you know of any stores near you that you’d like to see our 2022 calendar in? Let us know!
In doing so you will not only help us come to a conclusion, but you will also help us test out our fancy new company email! Email Lily at lily@thedolphinstudio.com if there are any places in particular that you’d like to see us in. See you next week!
P.S. here's shot of the 2021 calendar, happy July!!
The studio was a madhouse this week! Every member of the team bounced around from task to task, but never skipped a beat. Ink was mixed, transparencies were made, screens were shot, and prints were printed! All while laughter rippled throughout the air in thundering roars.
After this week, we can officially say that all of the designs for the 2022 calendar are done and ready to be printed! It is almost unheard of around here to be so ready for the year. In fact, we are a little more prepared than I’d like to share… but I will tell you this: this year is shaping up to be one of our most productive yet!
Not to mention, our team is becoming a little more complete each day. This week Lucy started printing! Our dear friend (and family member) has just finished her freshman year of highschool and has hit the ground running. Getting right to work, she played a role in ensuring we met our weekly print goal. With all of the other stuff we had to do around the studio, we would have been lost without her. Thanks Lucy!
P.S. Follow us on instagram @thedolphinstudio for live updates on our weekly activities!
This week was a wild one!
As we move into June and get ready to print at full capacity, our studio has to adjust accordingly. From organizing what we have for supplies to ordering more, we do it all. This year we even got a new print table to add to our collection! After spending the first half of the week scrubbing floors and prepping our workspace for our new edition, the team was tasked with transporting this new table back to home base… and it was by no means an easy feat.
We met up with local silk-screen artist and long time family friend, Jon Ahlen, at his old studio to dust off his retired print table and bring it back to life. Thousands upon thousands of stunning prints had already been made on this table, and believe us when we say that there are thousands more to come. Making beautiful prints is no challenge for the Dolphin Studio, but as it turns out, deconstructing, moving, and reconstructing a massive metal print table is.
With all hands on deck, it took about five of us grunting and wheezing to load just the tabletop onto our truck! Narrowly escaping with all of our fingers and toes, we managed to get it back up to the studio with a bit of peace of mind knowing that the hard part was over. In what felt like the blink of an eye, the table was put back together and all settled in it’s new home. Voila! Who needs movers when you have the print team?
P.S. Here’s a few photos of the crew and our new print table!
