Put a frame around it

Wrap it in a bow

Serve it on ice

What’s worth more, the frame or the poster? It turns out that a well-framed bit of graphics is often transformed, at least in the eyes of the person engaging with it. It might be the very same beautiful object that was thumbtacked to the wall, but it sure feels different.

And an unwrapped piece of jewelry is worth far less without the blue box, isn’t it?

The wrapper isn’t everything, it might not even be the point. But it matters.

“How should I judge this,” is something we ask ourselves all the time. When you make the effort to give us a hint, we’ll often take the hint.