Zodiac

This is the only page in the shop where the design is chosen by a birth date rather than by a room. There are twelve prints and twelve signs — Aries through Pisces, one each — and nobody browses all of them: you arrive looking for one. Most are painted as aura gradients, soft bands of colour shifting from the middle outwards, with no figure, no constellation lines and no symbol stamped on top. The print reads as colour first and astrology second to anyone who does not already know the sign.

That makes them unusually good gifts, and it is worth saying why. Buying art for someone else normally means guessing at their taste and their walls. Here you need one fact — when they were born — and the decision is made for you. Every sign is printed to order on heavy matte paper and shipped unframed, in seven sizes from 5x7 in (12.7 x 17.8 cm) to 16x20 in (40.6 x 50.8 cm), from about CA$14 to about CA$47.

What size should I buy if I cannot see the wall?

8x10 in (20.3 x 25.4 cm) is the safe gift size: big enough to hang on its own, small enough to stand on a shelf or a desk if the person would rather not put a nail in the wall. 5x7 in (12.7 x 17.8 cm) is for a bedside or a desk. Leave 16x20 in (40.6 x 50.8 cm) for walls you have stood in front of yourself. Everything ships unframed, which is deliberate — the frame is the part that has to match their room, and they are better placed to choose it than you are.

Can I hang two signs together?

Yes, and couples and siblings do, but accept one thing first: you cannot choose the colours. The sign decides them, so two signs may well sit in quite different palettes, and trying to force them to agree is a lost argument. Make the frames, the sizes and the gap between them identical instead. Matched framing reads as a deliberate pair even when the two gradients do not match, because the subject of the pair is the two people rather than the palette.

How far ahead of a birthday should I order?

Further than you think. These are print-and-ship only — there is no instant download on this page, so nothing can be rescued the night before with a home printer. Each print is made once the order comes in and then posted, so allow a clear couple of weeks before the date, and longer if it is crossing a border.

If it is the colour rather than the astrology that appeals, the aura posters are the same treatment with no sign attached. Most of these end up in a bedroom, and the dorm room page gathers the prints that suit a wall you are only renting for eight months.