We are delighted and proud to have won the Frame Wall Contest at FAMAART 2026. This result is particularly meaningful to us, as it comes two years after our first victory, at the very first edition of the competition.
FAMAART is Italy’s leading international B2B trade fair for the framing, fine art printing and Wall Decor industries, and one of the most important events of its kind in Europe. It is an important event for our industry, but above all, an opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with professionals from different countries and backgrounds.
The Frame Wall Contest
The Frame Wall Contest is a framing competition held during the fair. All participants are given the same image and are invited to interpret and frame it freely, according to their own creativity, skills and personal approach.
This year, 32 entries from several countries took part in the competition, with an exceptionally high level of creativity and technical solutions.
Another aspect that makes the contest particularly interesting is the voting process: the entries are judged by professional framers visiting the fair. The proposals are therefore evaluated by people who work in the industry and have a particularly trained eye for both technical and aesthetic solutions.
Our proposal
Starting from the image provided for the competition, we wanted to create a solution that would emphasize two key elements of the subject: the effect of the light and the figure’s gaze.
The image was mounted with a floating effect above the orange mountboard. This contemporary approach creates an additional sense of depth while also establishing visual continuity between the image and the background.
The orange mountboard was cut into a triangular shape, creating a strong contrast with the black background. The black, however, is not simply a background: we created a tone-on-tone texture using three layers of perforated mountboard, producing a three-dimensional grid with different levels of depth.
Around the perimeter, we introduced a black spacer, which changes to orange where it meets the beam of light. In this way, the colour is not confined to the image itself but visually follows the path of the light.
For the outer frame, we chose the Madame Salvadori Series 758/651, in purple to echo some of the colour nuances in the image. The frame was used rotated and combined with an NMC 107.63.000 inner frame, creating a clean and uniform composition, with the matt black background providing visual continuity.
The overall concept was also influenced by the way the works would be displayed. Knowing that the compositions would be placed against black panels, we wanted the orange triangle of light to appear as if it extended beyond the square of the frame, creating a visual connection between the image and the surrounding space.
For the mountboards, we used 1.9 mm Gardamatt, with all the cuts produced using our Valiani Nexus, allowing us to achieve the precise multi-level construction and perforated texture required for the design.
The piece was completed with Tru Vue UltraVue glass, chosen for its high transparency and its ability to preserve the impact of the light, colours and depth of the composition.
The result
Among the 32 entries, our proposal received the highest number of votes, earning us first place.
Second and third place went respectively to a colleague from the United States and a colleague from Spain.
We are particularly happy with this result, not only because of the award itself, but because of the way it was achieved: through the votes of fellow professionals and within an international competition featuring a very high level of work.
The creativity and solutions presented in the contest have once again given us plenty to reflect on and learn from professionally. Comparing our approach with that of colleagues from different backgrounds and countries is an opportunity to look at framing from new perspectives.
And perhaps this is what we value most about events such as FAMAART: meeting colleagues and friends, exchanging ideas and advice, sharing experiences and growing together.
A sincere thank you to all the colleagues who voted for our proposal and helped make this result possible.
