When I sat down to design the latest album for photographer Andrea Murphy, I had a sense of how the design should feel when it was finished. We now have a sort of rhythm with Andrea’s designs, and have developed a style that she is excited about, so I was really delighted to get started. As I browsed through her image collection, I knew this album would be a joy to design. Why? Because the images are just right for creating a beautiful album. In this post I will share what I see when an image collection is balanced for producing a great album with a cohesive story and design theme.
First, Andrea’s “just right” collection includes a few abstract and interesting images – photographs that stop the eye and require thought to discern the subject. These kinds of images are perfect for an opening spread. Only a few are needed, maybe one or two in the entire design. They provide a good visual break from the busier spreads and allow the viewer to pause, reflecting on the artistry of the photography, or perhaps the beauty of the couple and their special event.
Next, the bride’s preparation images highlight details in both wide and tight perspective. Often, these preparation images contain only close-ups. This may be the photographer’s style or a clients preference, but wide perspectives provide context and alternative views. If you have them, include them so they can be used as a faded background or embellishment to support overlapping images and the overall design theme.
The ceremony images often stir emotion. In this particular design, the ceremony images are primarily wide field-of-view. The angles, leading lines, and well-timed captures made them perfect for telling the story from a different perspective.
The creative portraits are the most fun section of the album. Andrea did a fabulous job of capturing both classic and creative images with a bit of an edge. Too much of that edginess and the design can start to resemble a fashion shoot. While this stylization can enhance certain images, the goal is to design a timeless wedding album, so classic images are always an important addition for balance and relevance.
Andrea successfully played off of the bride’s gorgeous flowers. Choosing a striking object or important detail and then building a theme around it can provide a design “anchor” and the focus of several very different images. It’s an easy way to create a cohesive, richly dimensional design.
The importance of family portraits can be overlooked, and often added only because of the “must have” factor. However, they are usually the best selling images and Andrea, again, did very well by creating images that are fun and classic. Check out the spread of portraits for some inspiration.
Finally, the reception images. A great collection of reception images will include the important events, as well as the great fun all were having. And don’t forget the details! But these pages can be challenging! Without care the reception pages can look crazy busy and confuse the viewer. It can be difficult for the album designer, not knowing who all these people are in all those shots. If an image collection is really random, a good solution is to create one or two spreads with images in a collage. This works well for up to about 20 images per spread. In this particular design for Andrea, it was best to select the ending image for the last page, then go back and lay out the reception pics in relation to the beginning, continuing story, and final image.
Over time, DoodleDo has developed a unique style for Andrea’s albums, something of an individual theme using various layers along with images used as embellishments. We can create your designs this way, too! Just let us know your preferences and include appropriate images for the layer effects.
Hopefully, this gives you a little direction for choosing images and guiding your client in smart image selections. Think about these things when you are shooting and give your clients a balanced collection, while encouraging them to also be selective when choosing. Andrea’s beautiful photography and considerate editing is ultimately what makes this album design shine.
~Robin
Click the thumbnail to view Andrea’s latest multi-layered design.
Subtle earth tones, soft pastels, ivory, white, black. These are colors one expects to find in most wedding albums, and ones we use often to compliment the photographer’s images which must remain the focal point. Color and graphics can be distracting if poorly used or positioned in ways that overpower the images. We carefully coordinate these elements in each design to create presentations that are unique, striving to not replicate what we’ve done in previous designs. Sometimes the image collection we receive calls for something a little more daring, a challenge to experiment with these elements in unusual ways.
Photographer Sainath Kamath came to DoodleDo during our March sample album design sale and acquired a number of great new showpieces for his studio. We featured his family album design in a recent post, unique for its interplay of images, color blocks, and negative space to evoke a sense of playfulness. In this featured design, the bold, colorful wedding details inspired the use of equally bold, primary colors. This striking use of color still keeps the images the center of attraction, accomplished by using just a few colors with no interfering graphics. The key is simplicity.
In a previous post about the very important Design Order & Preferences Form, including a selection of Must Have images was mentioned as one of three very beneficial elements to a successful album experience. The Design Form, reference to favorite design themes, and the Must Have image collection will streamline your sales process. Perhaps more importantly, it will help you meet your clients expectations and could save you time, money, and headaches. Not only that, but your turnaround times can be shorter, a great benefit for those who collect album payments upon delivery.
So what do we mean by a Must Have image collection? It is simply a collection of images chosen by you or your client that must appear in the album. Let’s take a look at three possibilities.
If your client will choose the images, we recommend limiting their selection, especially if your albums are meant to be representative of your artistry. All too often, clients select images with little attention to the artistic or storytelling aspect of the whole body of work. Of course, there are exceptions (like our featured design below), and since it is their album you want them to be happy with the end product. But limiting their selection to a number of favorites, including the important group shots, will give you more freedom to include the images that emphasize your style and artistic interpretation of the event.
If you, the photographer, chooses all the images, the design will certainly showcase your preferences, but depending on the amount of control you give to the client, this can become very challenging in the revision stage. Unless you’ve effectively managed the process, this method produces the most difficulties. Choosing images alone, then presenting the client with their design and (this is important) allowing them total control over revisions, has great potential for significant changes. This usually results in delays, multiple revisions, and maybe even additional fees depending on the impact to the initial layout. It may also, as stated above, affect invoicing and collection of balances as you wait for that final approval or album delivery.
Ideally, you will choose the images in consultation with your client, and together arrive at a collection that you both admire. We believe this is the best method. It’s easy enough to include such a consultation in your workflow, which can even be conducted online or in a phone conversation. However, this also requires a well-managed customer experience from the very first pre-contract consultation to presentation of the final design. Not that this is difficult. It is part of a nicely planned sales strategy sensitive to the needs and desires of your customer, as well as your own need to preserve artistic credibility and marketing benefits. We’ll examine this very important aspect in a future post. For now, consider working closely with your customer in choosing images that best tell the story and represent your stylistic viewpoint, yet includes the shots that are important to them.
What about those of you using a pre-design method? We’ll cover this in a separate post also, and highlight strategies for an efficient pre-design workflow.
Our featured design includes images all chosen by the photographer’s client. California photographer, Christina Hernandez, had great confidence in her client, and the image selections are fantastic. We created a design that flows well, retains it’s journalistic qualities, and includes all the images the customer desired in a one-of-a-kind presentation.
Our Sample Design Special provided a number of photographers the opportunity to obtain important new samples for their studios. Having sample albums and coffee-table books available for viewing is an integral part of an effective and profitable plan. If you’re having a tough time selling albums, or realizing a substantial profit from those sales, one factor just may be the look of your samples. Maybe your current lineup isn’t very exciting to your customers. A unique design, one that emphasizes your photographic style within a sensible, complementary layout, will provide a fresh presentation and just may produce better results.
One photographer that took big advantage of our Special is Atlanta shooter Sainath Kamath, who came to DoodleDo with a well thought-out plan for acquiring samples that will clearly show his clients what he wants them to buy. It’s often difficult for a customer to make up their mind unless they see what they are going to receive from you, and this includes the design. Showing an album with a one-of-a-kind layout sets you apart and reinforces the idea that you are innovative in both artistry and product. DoodleDo can even develop design themes that are personal and fresh, while emphasizing the special qualities represented in the images you create.
One of Sainath’s sample designs highlights this uniqueness. The interesting family image collection, while not strictly a baby book, required an equally interesting layout. The result is truly original, playful, and surprising from one spread to the next – a delightful presentation that will certainly impress his customers.
Click the thumbnail to view Sainath’s wonderfully playful design!
Once again we take a look at Zookbinders, one of our favorite album suppliers. Their new line, called The PhotoBook, is outstanding. Printing, materials, and workmanship are always consistent in our experience. These press-printed books launched in 2007 as a very good, notable option in this highly popular, rapidly growing category. Zookbinders continually improves on this line and they are now exceptional in many ways. Plus, new features are being released soon, but to find out what they are, you have to watch the in-depth review. We have a bunch of these to show you in various sizes in this episode of What’s in the Box.
Correction: In our review we describe the page laminate as “UV” coating. It is not a UV coating that Zookbinders uses in The PhotoBook, but a high-quality glossy laminate which actually provides more strength, durability, and thickness to the pages. We apologize for the misinformation.
Zookbinders is consistently excellent! Overall: Album Quality: Print Quality: Customer Service: Packaging:
One of the challenges we face as designers is creating a unique layout with each new design. We strive for uniqueness from conception to presentation of the first draft, and are always anxious for the feedback from you, our photographers and clients. This feedback is especially important when you or your client has referenced a former design as an example of what they like, or requests a design just like one we created for someone else, which we do not do. We might create a variation of the design theme, but we never treat our designs as templates, plugging new pics into an existing layout.
This striving for uniqueness pushes us to develop new ways to build layouts, make interesting placements and patterns, and form subtle interplays between elements on a page or spread. A good recent example of the results of this constant exercise is a design for photographer, Andrea Murphy. Her request for something classic and romantic, yet not contemporary, perhaps a little retro, but ultimately “just gorgeous” really set our creative juices flowing. The final design with it’s multiple graphic layers and varying opacities is a visual delight, complementing Andrea’s beautiful images featuring rich color, lovely tone, and beautiful light.
Album Quality:
