DoodleDo is having it’s busiest season yet, and demand has increased Lead Times and delivery, so we just want to take a moment to thank all of you for you patience and continued support. We have a lot of designs both in production and scheduled for production, but rest assured that we will not lower our standards for exceptional design work just to get through it. It has been and always will be important to us that each and every design be unique and satisfying to you and your clients.
Our What’s in the Box series of reviews remain popular, and we have several new ones in the works and a few ready to post. Next up is a look at the great new Premium Packaging from White House Custom Color. We’ll have this on the blog shortly.
The release of our new Refine services is coming. Photographers are already expressing interest in DoodleDo’s Business Coaching, Album Intensive workshop, and practical Resources. We will be looking for folks interested in hosting the Album Intensive in their city during 2010. You are always welcome to email us for more info. We will soon have all the information available here on the DoodleDo website.
For those of you who visit regularly, you may have noticed some changes to our menu items. The Refine section and Refine FAQs have been taken offline as we prepare to launch an exciting new selection of services under the Refine heading. We are excited to share the news!
From the start, DoodleDo has primarily focused on album design. The post-processing of image collections was a natural addition, since we were receiving enough requests to include it as an option. Over the past year the success of our design services has been fantastic, so we finally made the decision to drop the full image processing services. We still offer processing for clients who need additional image work for the design images. These include balancing corrections, artistic enhancements, retouching, and tonal conversions. The former Refine services are no longer offered.
We will be launching a new set of services under the Refine heading. The goal is to help photographers refine their business practices and achieve greater success. Both a response to many requests from our clients, and a natural extension of our passion and industry experience, these great new services have been in the works for some time and we can’t wait to tell you all about it.
So stay tuned for the release of DoodleDo’s all new REFINE services!
Some of you probably know that Robin’s precious Shih Tzu, Alexander, was the inspiration behind our business name, DoodleDo. Well, Alexander is in a heated contest for the Cutest Dog award. There are 12 weeks of chances for him to take the weekly prize and go on to the semi-finals. We thought it appropriate to ask our DoodleDo clients and fans to put in their vote for, obviously, the cutest dog of all! Remember, every Saturday starts a new round of weekly voting, so be sure to come back and place your new votes. And if you’re really into it, you can vote once each day. We appreciate your support of Alexander. :)
Our last post encouraged you to think more carefully about the number of images to include in a design that reflects your style. After deciding how many images, the next logical questions are which images and who decides? There are generally three options: the client, the photographer, or both. I’d like to share a little on my experience with these different options to help you decide what your policy will be.
Client’s choice
The obvious advantage is that you know your client will like the images in their album! In my opinion, this is the only advantage, and there’s a lot you may want to consider if this is how you work – you may be missing out on some value for your client. When the client chooses, the collection is usually their favorite images. There is nothing wrong with this, but typically many of your favorite images are left out, and their selection tends to be repetitive. This can break up the story-telling element of the album. I once had a wedding client choose eight images of the ring exchange and no images of the cake cutting or the garter toss. I wondered if they liked anything that I showed them. After speaking to the bride, I learned that she didn’t even realize it! If your clients will be choosing the images, at least add in a few of your favorites as a surprise. These will add a dimension to the design that your client will most likely appreciate.
Photographer’s choice
Many photographers using a pre-design method choose the images for the initial design. The primary disadvantage to choosing alone is that you may not select your client’s favorite images. The biggest mistake I see photographers make is minimizing or even neglecting the family photographs. These are usually pretty important to the client, so make sure they get plenty of coverage. An advantage to selecting yourself is that you can show your clients something they may have never considered. You will also have greater artistic control – an important consideration. You might be opening yourself up to more changes, but if you include a good balance of classic and creative images, changes should be minimal.
Both client and photographer choose
When you and your client choose the images together, you will achieve a good balance between their favorites and yours, while still allowing you almost complete artistic freedom in the design. It’s a good idea to give them a maximum number to select, often called the “must have” images. This should expedite the selection process so you can get to work on their design, while freeing them from the laborious (and time-consuming) process of wading through hundreds of images to come up with a large enough collection to fill a full design. I’ve learned that if you limit their selection to the “must haves”, they determine their favorites pretty quick. The advantages to this method are obvious: you and the client include your favorites, the story and artistry is managed by the photographer or designer, and changes will be minimal if any at all.
Let DoodleDo do it!
Most DoodleDo clients leave the selection to us. We occasionally receive entire wedding collections, but usually the photographer has made a first edit and we then choose those that best represent the event and produce a beautiful, complementary design. We still strongly recommend that you or your client pick those important “must have” images, and there is sometimes a collection of these from both client and photographer. When editing prior to submission to DoodleDo, we suggest narrowing to about five times the number of pages you are ordering. Photographers who follow our recommendations and have turned over the selections to us have been very happy, and in many cases their album process has become much more efficient.
One such photographer is Andrea Murphy, whom we’ve been featuring in this series on album style. In another recent design, DoodleDo chose the album images from Andrea’s edited collection, a process that works very well for her workflow. To see this gorgeous new design, click on the thumbnail below.
Next, we will consider the impact of color on design. Choosing wisely is critical!
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.
Isn’t it a great feeling knowing that Spring is just around the corner? Warming weather, longer days, more sunshine and outdoor fun. And for many of you, the start of shooting season! Are albums an important part of your 2009 package options and sales plan?
A good collection of sample albums available for viewing is critical for maximizing on their awesome potential for increased profits, and often the profits are significant. Most of the pro album companies offer discounts on a sample, and during the month of March DoodleDo is creating sample album designs at 10% off, along with free submission to your album company of choice.
To take advantage of our Spring-Ahead sample design sale, be sure to write “Sample” in the Special Offer Code window of the Design Order & Preferences Form. Once the final design is approved, we will need your album ordering information to submit your files to the album company. That’s about it!
We create quite a number of sample album designs. This one for photographer Rupert Whiteley is all about simplicity and abundant empty space to allow the beautiful images stand on their own.
