Collection Management System

Quentin Blake’s Office manages the work of Sir Quentin Blake, the renowned illustrator best known for his collaboration with Roald Dahl. The office maintains an extensive archive of his artwork, including early sketches and completed illustrations. They required a solution to streamline the management of this archive and to track the loaning of artwork for exhibitions and museums.

What We Did

We developed a comprehensive solution to manage the archive of Sir Quentin Blake’s illustrations, loans of his original drawings to museums / exhibitions and books that use his work.

• Generation of loan transfer documents and tracking of valuable artwork’s location.
• A bibliography section that provides details of the books in which Sir Quentin’s work appears, including specific pages.
• Integration of both physical and digital archives to provide seamless access and management of artwork.
• Development of a content management system (CMS) that links the database with the website to display information about selected books.
• Addition of an e-commerce section to enable the online sale of limited edition prints, with integrated order processing and stock control.

Results

The solution provided an efficient, streamlined way to manage and track Sir Quentin Blake’s extensive archive and sales operations. Benefits included:

• Immediate access to information about each artwork’s location and history.
• Simplified and automated processes for managing exhibition loans.
• Integration with the website to easily update information and enable e-commerce.
• A long-term, scalable database solution that adapted as the business grew.

Liz Williams, the Archivist at Quentin Blake's Office, praised our ongoing support, commenting, “Cutting Edge has been there every step of the way, delivering the solutions we need.”