by Stacey Wiseman | May 9, 2017 | Family Photographs, Inspiration, Photograph, Product Feature
Once I finished this photo book for my sister-in-law, I knew this was something I had to try for myself. While I do not have a major life-changing event, such as a having a baby, I still know that our lives change in subtle ways. And these shifts in our everyday routine become more apparent when they are documented in photos and printed in photo books. Once printed, the patterns of everyday life and how the evolve become more apparent after 6 months, 12 months, 2 years.
By isolating your year to two days spaced out by 6 months, you have fewer photos to cull, edit, and export for a book. This makes it easier to focus on the design. To try something new with how to arrange the photos. To have more fun and experimentation with design elements.
I’ve set this up as a challenge to my Photo Book Club Members to work with me on documenting our life changes over time in a very unique photo book. The goal is to limit the type of photos – either by event or time span – in order to focus on the design vision and how to best represent the photographs.
Now, some of the Photo Book Club members are using this as an opportunity to dig into their own archives to select photos that have repeated over time, such as frequent trips to Disney or Christmas mornings. Others are following my goal to document a weekend in the life in the spring and again in the fall, six months later.
I just wrapped up shooting my first weekend and will wait until late October before I shoot the next round. I thought it would be fun to share some of my photos from my first weekend. It’s been a while since I’ve been consistently photographing my family….so it took a bit of energy to remind myself to pick up the camera. But I’m glad I did and can’t wait to see what our life looks like in October!
Want to make your own Two Days in Six Months Photo Book? Click here for advice and help to make this special project for your family.
by Erin Gibson | Mar 15, 2017 | Photo Book Design Layout, Photo Book Design Workshop
Being completely honest here…I’m not always the best at describing what I love to do….or how intensely I love helping you print your photos.
Sometimes…..it takes hearing it from others.
A while ago, one of my former PBDW students contacted me that she finally received her photo book and loved it!
Overjoyed could not explain my emotion well enough. I’m absolutely giddy whenever one of my students reports back with photos of their actual book.
Shannon is no exception. And I wanted to share Shannon’s story with you. But first, my Intro Photo Book Design & Advanced Photo Book Design Workshops starts on Monday, March 20, 2017. This is the only time to work directly with me in a workshop setting on your photo book this year.
Now – Here’s what Shannon had to say:
So I took Stacey’s Intro to Photo Book Design Workshop on a whim.
I am a true believer in documenting daily life through photographs and have been a scrapbooker since before my first child was born (I have a 7 year old and 2 year old twins). And even though my life was extremely busy – life in general never seems to slow down – I was determined to take pictures and document our story.
And that’s what I did.
I took several online photography courses to better my skills and was happy with my results. The only thing, I wasn’t printing anything. And what I did end up printing got shoved in a drawer somewhere, a place no one was going to go looking for them.
So when I saw Stacey’s book pop up online one day, I started researching, looked at all her books she had posted on her website and fell in love with the idea of designing my own photo book.
And I’m happy to report hat I have just received my first family yearbook and IT IS AWESOME!
The little details that Stacey teaches makes all the difference in the world (for example Table of Contents, aligning photos from one page to the next, monthly title pages, and I could go on and on).
The things I LOVE about my book are the pages that spread across the entire book…so much impact! I didn’t add much text but what I decided to do was pick a random day out of the month and give a little summary of what was happening.
I couldn’t be happier with the way it came out. I cannot recommend a project like this and Stacey’s PBDW class enough. It is such a great way to see your photos come to life…your story laid out for you in a professional looking book.
Thank you again Stacey for all your great tips and instruction. You were so hands-on and available. You really made the process so interesting and fun. Totally inspired by you and your work. #photobookerforlife
Shannon Belanger
Want to learn more? Sign up for my Photo Book Design Workshops. Registration is open now and workshop starts on March 20, 2017.
by Stacey Wiseman | Jan 15, 2015 | Photo Book Design Layout, Product Feature
Custom Cover Design
Often when I’m designing photo books, I prefer a clean, simple yet sophisticated design to let the photos (and the moments captured in the photos) standout. While this sounds good, I realize it can be difficult to understand what that truly means.
The best way I can explain it, is to show an example. My design for the T_Family, located in South Carolina, is a perfect example. There is simplicity to the layouts because there is order, alignment, and hierarchy. All of the photos are organized on the page in a logical way. The alignment, margins and spacing between photos are consistent throughout. White space is used to provide the eye breathing room to dwell on particular photos. Hierarchy is employed by placing larger images next to smaller ones.
All of these decisions are deliberate. It shows my ability to choose from the photos my client provided to show them in the best possible way on the page. It reveals how I can tell a story of a year, over the course of a book.
Having said that, it’s also important for me to show a design sophistication in the details. For this photo book, I selected an ornate font, soft color palette and graphic that appears on each month section page and page numbers. Since a majority of this photo book documents the life of their daughter, I wanted to present a sophisticated feminine approach. I used two shades of a muted pink as opposed to a brighter more vibrant pink to emphasize the daughter interest in dance.
Section Divider Page
I was elated to learn that my client absolutely loved her photo book. Currently, I’m designing her 2014 photo book – we’re going to change a few elements but the core concept of a sophisticated and modern book design will be the constant driving factor.
11×8
240 pages
Hardcover Linen with Dust Jacket
Would you love for me to design your family photo book? Let me know!
by Stacey Wiseman | Nov 15, 2012 | Photo Book Design Layout, Podcast
Are you planning on designing and ordering a family photo book before the Christmas holidays? If so, the dates are quickly approaching to when you need to finalize your design and place your order. Even though the ordering process can seem straightforward, reviewing before you order is critical to ensure a gorgeous book.
Here are 7 simple steps to follow before you press “Order.”
1. Fix warnings
Most free online programs alert you of potential errors to your design. A common error is the image resolution being too low. You need to reduce the size of image or re-save the image at a higher resolution. Another example involves text that does not fit the text box. In this instance, you need to lower the size of the font or increase the size of the text box.
2. Ensure photos extend to edge of photo boxes and bleed edges
For any photos you want to bleed off the page, make sure they extend to the bleed line.
3. Review consistent elements (text, borders, page numbers)
If you established consistent elements at the beginning of the design process, check every page to ensure all elements have been consistently applied. This includes all text styles, borders, headers and / or footers.
4. Read through all captions
Read through all captions for any grammatical or spelling errors. A great tip is to read all text aloud. I tend to catch more mistakes this way!
5. Preform a spell check
Most programs will also have a spell check. Check the entire document before you order.
6. Print a proof, if desired
This step takes the extra measure to verify proper grammatical and design elements. Sometimes we fall into the illusion that we can catch everything on screen. Printing out your draft and reviewing the proof is visual proof you have got the book exactly the way you want it. Get out that red pen of yours and mark up your proof.
7. One Final check
After you have gone through the six steps above, I go through each page in preview mode one last time to see if I notice anything else. If I have no additional edits, I’m ready to hit that order button!
As some of you may know, my family recently returned from our yearly beach vacation. I prepared a photo book documenting our vacation. Here are a couple of pages of my book.
[divider_flat] I went through all of the 7 tips listed above and pressed “Order.” Want to see what happens next?
Watch this quick video below to de-mystify the ordering process!
Leave a comment below to let me know when you plan to order your photo book!
by Stacey Wiseman | Jun 1, 2012 | Description, Family Photographs, Inspiration, Photo Book Design Layout, Photograph
For this photo book cover, I am incorporating the two shades of dark gray with a black and white photograph. This gives the cover a stately simplicity that would perfectly set up a modern photo book. For the interior of the book, the same dark gray with light gray font could act as the section pages, dividing the custom photo book into months, seasons, or events!
[divider]Make sure you pin it!
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by Stacey Wiseman | May 29, 2012 | Description, Family Photographs, Motivation, Photo Book Design Layout, Photograph
The following is an example of my May page for the One Word Challenge. For this layout, it is only 1 page with a simple border around a 5″x7″ photograph.
by Stacey Wiseman | May 25, 2012 | Family Photographs, Photo Book Design Layout
Here is a very simple cover idea for a photo book for your child. It pulls a dominant color from the photograph and creates a band at the bottom for the text. You can use your child’s name or nickname to personalize it even further. Selecting a font that you love or that really sums up the personality of your child really adds to the cover.
[divider] Do you love this cover idea? Make sure you pin it!
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by Stacey Wiseman | May 24, 2012 | Description, Family Photographs, Motivation, Photo Book Design Layout, Photograph
Here is the next entry in the Book This Project Color Series!
Here are six color options to pair with a photograph in a landscape size photo book. Submit your photograph to info[at]bookthisproject.com and I will prepare a color profile for you!
Let me know in the comments below, which one is your favorite?
[divider]Here is the original photograph from yesterday’s wordless wednesday post:
[divider] the colors:
[divider] A free download of the color values are located here:
