What is a Custom Shadow Box and why we use it  in custom framing

Shadow boxes have a very fascinating history. In maritime folklore, there is a superstition about retiring sailors going ashore at the end of their service.  If a sailor’s shadow touched land before he had stepped ashore, it was considered back luck.

So, the departing sailor’s shipmates would make a decorative box, which displayed the sailor’s possessions. The items could be his cherished knickknacks, awards, medals, the flags of his country and military service branch, etc. These possessions symbolically represented the sailor himself. Carrying the box, the sailor carried his own shadow in hand, so to speak. As long as he set foot ashore before setting down the box, the superstition was satisfied. At the end, the sailor received this “shadow box” with his service memorabilia in a special ceremony. It is a beautiful tradition honoring the achievements of retiring naval servicemen.

Today, professional custom framers carry on and reinterpret this tradition, uniquely for each customer. The creative possibilities of custom shadow boxes are endless. Yet, the emotional effect is ever present. This style of custom framing brings attention to the customers’ cherished items and highlights their significance. Often accompanied by photos, the framed objects directly relate to a person, an animal companion, or a life event they represent. The shadow box tells a unique story of achievement, service, pride, nostalgia, honor, or celebration.

Uniqueness of custom shadow boxes

Striving Artists is a well-recognized expert in custom shadow boxes. We received multiple awards at Professional Picture Framing competitions, including 1st place at the 2016 International Competition. Many of them are for custom shadow boxes.

The design, mounting, and finishing process is complicated and time consuming. We developed many specialty design and build techniques ourselves, at our shop in Chatsworth. Each custom shadow box has its own unique features and meets the specific needs of our customers and their memorabilia.   

For example, a shadow box we built to display a 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games torch easily opens from the front. This allows one of our Chatsworth customers to remove the torch when desired.

A Woodland Hills customer brought in a precious vintage prayer book, with a sterling silver cover. He can also take out his treasure from the custom shadow box, this time from the back of the frame.

A couple from Northridge challenged us to build a shadow box to display their collection of wine bottle corks. This collection celebrates the special occasions from their life together. We created an interactive shadow box, made with plexiglas elements, where the customer can add or remove corks at will.

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Custom shadow box explained

Even being so unique, all custom-built shadow boxes have common components. The main component is a deep frame that can encase 3D objects. Mouldings for shadow boxes come in depths ranging from 1 inch up to 4 inches. This accommodates a variety of items of different sizes that may go inside a shadow box. For larger objects, we can extend depth of shadow box frames.

Next, backing and side panels are essential to create the internal box design. They are visual components, often wrapped in attractive custom fabrics. The fabrics can be subtle or extravagant. We work collaboratively with our customers to come up with colors and styles of these fabrics, to enhance the elements of age, time, or mood. For example, for sports or military shadow boxes, the fabric might include the color or style of the uniform. It is possible to print fabrics with customer-chosen designs.

Lastly, we apply a mounting technique. Given the endless range of objects that might be placed in a shadow box, we have developed special procedures. For example, we may use various materials to create an illusion of an item being suspended or floating inside the shadow box. We use minimally invasive techniques to preserve our customers’ valued items in their received condition.