While checking out the multitude of booths and products at WPPI, one of the items that caught Robin’s attention was an exceptional, well-made, smart little tool named the Lookbook. Developed by photographer, John Mireles, and offered through his great website, Photographer’s Toolkit, the Lookbook is a posing guide in swatchbook format. With hundreds of poses and tips in two versions, one for wedding shooters and the other for portraitists, we agree that it’s “the cure for the common pose.” To learn more and get a good look at the Lookbook, you have to watch this episode of What’s in the Box.
The Lookbook deserves excellent ratings for producing a exceptionally well-made and practical tool. Overall: Quality:Innovation: Wow! Factor:
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!
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.
Beautiful printing, 3 day turnaround, extreme durability (anybody see the water test?), and one of the thinnest gutters in the industry are a few of the eye-catching features Image Capsule presented this year at WPPI in Las Vegas. Well, DoodleDo just had to have a sample for What’s in the Box. So if you’ve been curious about Image Capsule, check out the review.
Image Capsule produces exceptional quality products at incredible prices! Overall: Album Quality: Print Quality: Customer Service: Packaging:
Robin has been using and enjoying her Jill-E camera bags for about a year. She now takes a good look at these beautiful bags and shows how well they have held up to serious on-location use, including a good soaking! For details, watch the review.
Jill-E camera bags deserve excellent ratings for producing a good-looking, high quality, functional line of products for serious pros. Overall: Quality:Innovation: Wow! Factor:Packaging:
Quality:
