Are you looking for an affordable way to give your gaming den a facelift, something that shows your unique personality? As gamers, these things can be hard to find, especially if you don’t want to hang a paper poster. We may have just the answer for you with Displate, handcrafted metal posters. It’s a site to buy custom artwork printed on metal from thousands of artists. If you want to take your space to the next level, this is a review you won’t want to miss.
Last year, my wife and I purchased a new home. Within a week of closing, we had our third son. It was a crazy summer; two toddlers, a newborn, and remodels, all before I returned to my normal gig as a school teacher 10 weeks later. As you might imagine, getting my own office set up dropped to the bottom of the totem pole. Over the last year, I’ve pulled together the desks, the computers, the toys… but it still seemed incomplete because of the bare walls. Thanks to a prior review I’d done for GameSpace, I knew where to look: Displate.
If you’ve never heard of the site or the products they offer, think of it like an artist collective. Thousands of artists create custom prints and upload them to their Displate storefronts covering everything topic and interest you can imagine. Gaming is huge, as is anime and really any pop culture. You can also find genuine paintings you might otherwise see on a canvas in an art shop, letter prints, things designed to make you laugh, make you sad, make you feel inspired. It’s like DeviantArt with the diversity on display. If you’re interested in it, chances are there are dozens if not hundreds of custom artworks you can have printed.
As I browsed around, I came across the work of Hustl Art who has some truly beautiful paintings from Zelda: Breath of the Wild. You can view a few of them here.
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I was sold and bought a whole series for my main desk. The vibrance of the print is just fantastic and I couldn’t be happier with the result. Here’s how they look with a before and after shot:
Before
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After
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I also have a second desk in the room, so decided to pick up a couple others behind there. Zelda was a childhood passion of mine but it was hardly the only series that swept away my afternoons.
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The Samus on the right is also done by Hustl Art, though the Mario was created by another artist named Helen Vargas who has some amazing work of her own.
The prints I chose are the large size which are 27” x 19” and weigh just under two and a half pounds each. The printing is high quality, though will scratch, so I was happy to see that they were well packaged and separated for safe shipping. You can get both smaller and larger sizes to fit your needs but on average large size prints retail for $89-99 a piece. The entire site frequently goes on sale and, in preparation for this review, Displate hooked us up with a 15% off coupon with code “mmorpg” (no quotes) through this link.
What’s even more interesting is that they’re incredibly easy to mount. Displate uses a magnetic mounting mechanism that combines a powerful magnetic with a protective adhesive sheet. You can also use a nail or, as I did, a screw with drywall anchors if you’re concerned about paint damage. I don’t think this is a major concern, in all honesty, as when I searched the web I couldn’t find a single report of it ever happening. I chose to use anchors for my setup mainly for my own peace of mind. We have freshly refinished hardwoods and those sharp metal corners made me too nervous to trust any adhesive.
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Note: the adhesive paper is there for illustrative purposes; you don’t need it if you’re nailing or screwing the magnets into place.
Once the magnets are up, it’s as simple as firmly pressing the Displate into place. Adjustments are ridiculously easy since you can literally slide or rotate the plate anywhere it would need to move. If I hadn’t drilled, the entire process to mount half a dozen plates would have taken 15 minutes, including leveling.
Final Thoughts
When I decided to decorate my office, I considered a lot of different choices but kept coming back to Displate. It is simply the best place to find artwork that matches your personality. There is such an incredible variety of prints for any interest you might have, it’s hard to imagine anyone coming up empty handed. The prints are pieces of art that you can be proud of, no matter how old you are. Don’t take my word for it, though. Ask around like I have; I’ve yet to find one person whose received a Displate and not been impressed.
If you buy through our link, you’ll be helping support our site. Even if you don’t, be sure to use code “mmorpg” for 15% off your order.
The product described in this article was provided by the manufacturer for the purpose of review.
