Gypsoteca Catalog Strategy — 2026-04-05

Overview

Strategy call between Asymmetric (Melissa Cusumano, Karly Oykhman) and Matthew Hart (Quarra Italia) to align on how the Gypsoteca sculpture catalog should be integrated into the new quaritalia.it website rebuild. Matthew had independently built a Canva document to showcase the Gypsoteca's cast collection; this call established that the Canva doc will serve as source material, and that Asymmetric will propose two formal options to Lincoln and Jim.

Attendees:
- Melissa Cusumano — Asymmetric
- Karly Oykhman — Asymmetric
- Matthew Hart — Quarra Italia (external)

Related client: ^[1]

Key Decisions

1. The Canva PDF approach is a dead end. Matthew confirmed it himself — distributing updated PDFs is clunky, and the existing quaritalia.it site is too outdated to send prospects to. The catalog needs to live on the rebuilt site.

2. Two options will be proposed to Lincoln and Jim:
   - Option A — Flip-book PDF catalog: A polished, embeddable PDF that can be linked from the site. Lower cost, faster to produce, but no SEO benefit and requires re-issuing for every update.
   - Option B — SEO-optimized website section: Individual sculpture pages within a Gypsoteca section on quaritalia.it. Enables Google indexing, dynamic filtering by style (Neoclassical, Sacred, Contemporary, etc.), and instant content updates.

3. Password protection is likely. The catalog will probably be gated to create exclusivity for prospects and limit competitor access to high-quality imagery. Confirmed as easy to implement.

4. Gypsoteca history gets a dedicated page. The historical context (largest collection of its kind in the world) warrants its own page within the Gypsoteca section, not buried in About Us.

5. Team photos move to About Us. The team bios and photos Matthew included in the Canva doc belong on the main site's About Us page, not in the catalog.

6. Bloomberg quote approved for branding use. Matthew's Bloomberg article described Cervietti as "the most respected carving atelier in Italy" — Jim liked this as a homepage banner. Asymmetric may also use it elsewhere on the site.

7. Franco Cervietti's name is preserved intentionally. Jim wants Franco represented as an active presence on the site for cultural sensitivity with Italian clients, even though Jim is the owner. The .it domain must remain.

Action Items

• [ ] Karly + Melissa — Draft proposal for Lincoln and Jim with two options (PDF flip-book vs. SEO website section) including pricing. Send directly to Lincoln and Jim.
• [ ] Matthew Hart — Replace low-contrast photos in Canva with Angelica's improved shots; notify Karly and Melissa when done.
• [ ] Matthew Hart — Audit all Canva catalog images for IP/copyright issues. The V&A "Three Graces" image is a confirmed placeholder — must be replaced with Quarra Italia's own photo before launch.
• [ ] Matthew Hart — Provide Asymmetric with original high-resolution image files (not extracted from Canva, which may degrade quality).
• [ ] Matthew Hart — Confirm project direction with Jim after his return from holiday (next week).

Content & Asset Notes

Source Material

Matthew's Canva document is the single source of truth for catalog content: sculpture names, descriptions, history, team bios, and images. Asymmetric has been granted edit access to the Canva doc.

Image Quality Issues

Several photos from the Pietrasanta shoot have problems:
- Poor contrast (photographer Angelica is re-editing and sending improved versions)
- Distracting backgrounds (Matthew removed backgrounds in Canva but couldn't add replacement backgrounds — Asymmetric's design team will handle this)
- Some casts still have pointing reference hardware visible (acceptable for casts; finished pieces preferred where available)

Copyright Flag

• The Three Graces image in the Canva doc is sourced from the V&A — not cleared for commercial use. Must be swapped for Quarra Italia's own photo of their cast (nearly finished at time of call) before any public launch.
• All other images should be audited for ownership/licensing before going live.

Asset Handoff

Asymmetric will need original hi-res files for all images used on the website. Extracting images from Canva risks quality loss.

Catalog Scope

Approximately 59 sculptures documented at time of call. Matthew is still adding final photography. Future additions (e.g., in-situ shots from a Turkish collector client) are desirable but not blocking launch. A "reach out for additional options" CTA can cover gaps.

Context: Site Rebuild Status

The quaritalia.it rebuild is underway. At time of this call:
- Design and structure are in place with placeholder copy
- Karly has drafted copy for the main site; Lincoln and the Italia team need to review and finalize
- Copy review meeting with Lincoln not yet scheduled (he was on a sales trip)
- The catalog work will proceed in parallel with the main site copy finalization

The Gypsoteca catalog was discussed with Lincoln previously; he confirmed ~2 weeks before this call that he wants to move forward with adding it to the site.

Relevant Transcript Excerpts

Matthew Hart: "The problem with it is, of course, that you can't — unless you want somebody messing around in your Canva — you have to send them a PDF. And then the second you want to make a change, you have to send them another document."

Karly Oykhman: "The thing about Google and other search engines is they don't look for words on a PDF. So the other option would be actually putting it on the website, like as individual pages on the website. And then Google would pick that up."

Matthew Hart: "Yeah, we can have like neoclassical, contemporary, sacred or something like that, and they just hit a button. Instead, here, you have to scroll through it."

Matthew Hart: "In it, I referred to Cervietti as the most respected carving atelier in Italy... I suggest that Jim, like the welcome page where you come in, has a single line, like a banner. 'The most respected carving atelier in Italy — Bloomberg.'"

Melissa Cusumano: "We might need the original files. I don't know if extracting these, how they'll — if they're high enough res."