DoodleDo will soon be switching to an all new, easier, online ordering system, and part of this change will be a re-classification of the design styles we offer. Along with our Basic and Graphic Design styles will be the new Enhanced Design. In conjunction with these changes, we thought it would be very helpful to take a look at each of these so that you will better understand what each offers, the various options and possibilities, and be well equipped to make your selections when placing your orders.
In this post we are featuring the Basic Design theme. It is very important to keep in mind that what we call a theme is not a template. Every design we create is custom. However, some of our clients want their albums to have a consistent theme, so we will reuse elements from their previous designs in new ones. While not containing graphic enhancements or embellishments, there is still a great deal of variety possible in a Basic Design, as shown in the three examples below.
This first design is a style often requested – single color pages, an ample amount of negative space, and fine strokes and borders to complement the image collection. It allows the beautiful photographs by Lisa Richmond to really stand out. When ordering a Basic Design you have the option of choosing any page color or colors, stroke and border colors, text treatments, and a number of other design preferences. You may also leave it completely up to us to create what we think best compliments your images.
In this next example, perhaps our second most popular style, you will notice that the primary difference from the above design is placement of elements and page color. It is less symmetrical and includes large, bold images contrasted with smaller images, resulting in less negative space. The gorgeous photographs, again by Lisa Richmond, dominate the spreads in an arrangement that is flowing and pleasing to the eye. Images with lower opacity allow other images to stand out and help spreads appear less busy.
This final example, created for photographer Tim Park, is a slight variation of the themes shown in both designs above. In this we are back to symmetry, simple borders and strokes, but with a more consistent placement of images from spread to spread. This design is accented with opening and closing full-spread panos, and one near the middle to break up the pattern. Note the font and text treatments used in all three of these designs. You are welcome to choose any font for your design. When we choose, we always select a font we believe matches the overall aesthetic of the image collection and design theme, along with any treatments that will blend the text into the design. Again, there should be no conflict between the images, the design, and the text.
We hope this article helps you to better understand the DoodleDo Basic Design theme. We will soon have our design galleries reorganized to better show the three options: Basic, Enhanced, and Graphic. In our next post we will take a look at the Graphic Design theme and describe what sets it apart. If you have an account with us, you will soon receive an email about the new ordering process.
Known primarily for our album and book designs, we also create other graphic design works. Most are single pieces ranging from covers to cards to advertisements. When producing multiple items, having a clear, cohesive theme will boost your identity, viewer recall, and customer confidence. A simple yet good example is a recent studio sample album that developed from a print ad DoodleDo created for photographer Summer Hopkins of Summer Dawn Photography.
Summer first approached us requesting we design a new print ad for magazine placement in her local market. The result is shown below on the right. Summer then placed a new album design order and we recommended she allow us to use the same design theme from the ad to emphasize her studio branding in a new studio sample album. This particular wedding was a good choice – unique, stylish, and fun. The color, swirls and dots, used by Summer in past ads and marketing pieces, work well with the wedding images. Summer’s client receives a beautiful wedding album, and Summer gets a lovely studio sample that showcases her design tastes and branding while matching the magazine ad. It’s a very good strategy, especially this time of year when many newly engaged couples are searching for their wedding vendors.
DoodleDo specializes in design work for photographers. If you already have a well-defined brand and marketing campaign, we can create new studio sample designs that incorporate your style while showcasing your photography. If you feel your branding is lacking, needs a freshening up, or is non-existent, we would be happy to produce a unique theme for your 2010 strategy.
Click on the album spread below to view Summer’s sample design.
A successful design theme will be consistent, which can be a challenge when the layout and placement of elements are diverse. A good example is this lovely design for Orlando photographer Mike Richards. Note that none of the spreads repeat. Image position, graphic use, and placement of theme elements vary throughout. The page color certainly helps to tie it all together, but we never want the color to be predominant after the first impression. Once recognized, it should fade into the background, so to speak, as the eyes select the images page to page, quietly led by the design elements. At least this is our goal with each design!
In this design, there are several things that serve to maintain consistency: image frame size and groupings that do repeat, consistency with borders, strokes and opacity effects, the single graphic (which loosely relates to the lakeside environment), and the images themselves, of course. And with a beautiful image collection, such as these provided by Mike, design work becomes that much easier.
A simple, unencumbered design using lots of negative space is often preferable when you just want the images to tell the story without embellishments. We create many designs, and quite a number of these are elaborate layouts. We always keep the images central, making sure that additional colors and lines, graphics and effects, enhance the presentation of the all-important photography. Yet when given the opportunity, we love a design that goes back to the basics of a well-structured layout and effective use of space.
In our latest What’s in the Box we featured a well-crafted primary album from Finao. The design for this album utilizes these simpler elements, with a graphic added for emphasis at various places throughout. It was mistakenly described as a 60 page design in the video, but is actually a 46 page design.
We’ve been creating a lot of designs lately, and one new style getting a lot of requests is our mutli-layered theme using different opacities of color on multiple layers. This provides for some interesting effects and numerous possible combinations, and a nice alternative to a standard graphic-enhanced design.
DoodleDo provided several new designs in this style to Photographer Summer Askins of Oklahoma. The lovely wedding images are complemented by a fantastic Ford Mustang Mach 1, which became the basis for our color scheme.
Click the thumbnail to view Summer’s mutli-layered design.
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!
