Wedding Book Pages

Qarik

Hi Guys, okay sorry for the long post but I feel like there is some value in showing all the pages. One thing I see very little of here on this board are wedding book page design so it a little difficult for me to guage the level of my work. So what do you think? I am looking for general commentary ...good, great, average, below average, stick to your day job! Though if you see something you hate in particular please point it out!

The jpeg compression was not at it's highest FYI for this set for web purposes only. This is a 12x12 book. I have decided on Finao.

1.


2,3


4,5


6,7


8,9


10,11


12,13


14,15


16,17


18,19


20

MS Memories

I think that you did a really good job with this. Some of the pages seemed to be a little busy -- but then when I thought about it being the book size -- thought they were probably be fine. The pictures are great and the color is really good.

Blurmore

This looks pretty good. I don't do designed albums because I give LLR, if clients want a designed album I encourage them to go hire a designer. I can't imagine that you are charging enough to make all this layout worth your time. No amount of money would make it worth my time, I'm NOT a designer, and I have no desire to be one. I agree that some are a little busy, just too much going on, especially the one with the small pics as a frame.

Tim Kamppinen

Good photos but I have to say I really dislike the design. Cramming all those photos right next to each other without any borders or division just makes for visual chaos in my opinion. I think the impact of the album would be much greater if you culled the shots down to the "must haves" and then went with a cleaner, more elegant layout. Even something really simple like a black background with a white stroke around the photos or white with a black stroke... The "photo as a background" can work but in my opinion the smaller shots should go in the negative space and the subject should still be visible... The 12/13 spread is a good example of this, except the smaller images sort of all blend together and blend with the larger image. If they were separated and set off with some sort of stroke or border I think it would be a big improvement.

16/17 on the other hand doesn't work at all in my (very humble as I can't claim to have ever designed an album myself) opinion. The large photo has its subject so obscured that I question why it was even used, and the smaller photos, (each being well composed and having great color in its own right) just sort of melt together into a colorful mush of indistinction, like "superman" ice cream (which as everyone knows is the worst ice cream ever). Plus the B&W ring shot has no business being here with all these vibrant colors.

14/15 is probably the spread that I like the most, but I would like it more if there was some black between the three images on the left.

Again, I'm no expert and I haven't even designed an album myself (I haven't even shot a wedding yet, so feel free to disregard everything I say... first one is this Saturday). These are just my thoughts and as I said I prefer a simpler, more elegant layout myself. Anyway I think it's great that you posted the whole album for critique and it would be awesome if others would follow suit.

Rene`

Opinion
I like the pages. I think that a stroke to set the pictures apart from one another would be a welcome addition. My least favorite page is the spread with 16,17. (I think that they background is to bright.)

Qarik wrote:

Hi Guys, okay sorry for the long post but I feel like there is some value in showing all the pages. One thing I see very little of here on this board are wedding book page design so it a little difficult for me to guage the level of my work. So what do you think? I am looking for general commentary ...good, great, average, below average, stick to your day job! Though if you see something you hate in particular please point it out!

The jpeg compression was not at it's highest FYI for this set for web purposes only. This is a 12x12 book. I have decided on Finao.

1.


2,3


4,5


6,7


8,9


10,11


12,13


14,15


16,17


18,19


20

Jeremy Winterberg

I think it looks good, The only one I dislike is 16-17 because the flower is covered up...

I agree with the stroke movement. I think a thin black line around each image would really separate each image and allow each image to stand out from the rest of them...

Overall, I think they will be very happy as is... But I think the stroke will change that into a jaw dropping wowness.

Scott_Quier

This was written before reading other's comments:

Generally, every page is over-busy.

9 - What the photo of. It's the stone rail that's in focus

I love the elegant simplicity of page 20!

Gary Peterson Photography

I like it!
I love this post, and hope others will contribut to it, and in the future show more pages of wedding designs.

I think your party is going to love it, as you have clearly captured a truely fun and amazing day for them. As a hockey fan and shooter, I love the shots of the groom and groomsmen in hockey sweaters!

mercphoto

Qarik wrote:

Hi Guys, okay sorry for the long post but I feel like there is some value in showing all the pages. One thing I see very little of here on this board are wedding book page design so it a little difficult for me to guage the level of my work. So what do you think? I am looking for general commentary ...good, great, average, below average, stick to your day job! Though if you see something you hate in particular please point it out!

The jpeg compression was not at it's highest FYI for this set for web purposes only. This is a 12x12 book. I have decided on Finao.

I liked your simpler pages myself but that is obviously a very subjective, personal preference type of thing. Have you considered farming out your album design? Red Boot Design works directly with Asuka Book (great book publisher, though don't think they have a 12x12, could be wrong). You give them images and they design your book. I know that Forbeyon also has an in-house design center. Their books are pricey but look and feel spectacular.

divamum

I like the page groupings - it's very clear to see what each page is supposed to be about, one that's all about the bouquet, 14, 15 the dance etc etc. And I love the pop of colour from the eyeshadow palette on the first spread!

That said, I really think they need borders - especially when you have lots of multiple folks in each shot, it's almost impossible to distinguish where one shot begins and another ends. The one that really suffers on this is 16, 17 (I'm not sure the background shot works - it takes too much away from the others. Can you lower the opacity of the background to set the others off more, or use a BW instead?). 18, 19 is a great idea, and I think borders would instantly set it off.

Nice job, Qarik - you're off to a GREAT start on this, IMO!

Qarik

thanks for the input guys. borders on some pictures sounds like good idea for the NEXT book. I am so done with this one. As for the busyness..I think some of that goes away when you view it at full size. :ivar

just as datapoint..each 2 page spread took me initially 2 hours with a few redesigned pages (I hate this page! *delete delete*) but towards the end I was knocking them out in about an hour. So that's something like 10-12 hours for future books. From a business perspective I need to put around $300-$400 type premium on for this kind of service I think.

Blurmore

Qarik wrote:

just as datapoint..each 2 page spread took me initially 2 hours with a few redesigned pages (I hate this page! *delete delete*) but towards the end I was knocking them out in about an hour. So that's something like 10-12 hours for future books. From a business perspective I need to put around $300-$400 type premium on for this kind of service I think.

Wait till you get to client directed edits and corrections, like "I don't really like this shot here, and I want this one bigger and that one smaller" I think a 400 dollar premium is selling your self short.

Qarik

Blurmore wrote:

Wait till you get to client directed edits and corrections, like "I don't really like this shot here, and I want this one bigger and that one smaller" I think a 400 dollar premium is selling your self short.

true. I will have to put verbiage in the contract wrt to editing if I do go this route. Anyway I wanted to do this at least once to see the flow for myself. I also just sent the bride the link to the pages...through facebook. (that is how we did 95% of our communication for the wedding). I was glad to see that over a month later she was still gushing about her wedding photos! lol

heatherfeather

Qarik wrote:

true. I will have to put verbiage in the contract wrt to editing if I do go this route. Anyway I wanted to do this at least once to see the flow for myself. I also just sent the bride the link to the pages...through facebook. (that is how we did 95% of our communication for the wedding). I was glad to see that over a month later she was still gushing about her wedding photos! lol

Congrats about your happy bride! That is money in the bank for future work!

I just figured out about adding a "reasonable edits" clause to my contracts. It helps a whole ton when working with picky people...

I have been using facebook a bunch for work too- amazing how much business goes on in the "inbox". In fact, I just booked an out of state wedding thanks to FB.

Qarik

heatherfeather wrote:

Congrats about your happy bride! That is money in the bank for future work!

I just figured out about adding a "reasonable edits" clause to my contracts. It helps a whole ton when working with picky people...

I have been using facebook a bunch for work too- amazing how much business goes on in the "inbox". In fact, I just booked an out of state wedding thanks to FB.

well..the bride lives in Vancouver BC and I am San Francisco area so that is bummer. But getting back to the FB thing..it just opens up a whole new level of "eyes on gallery". One posting from her and all of sudden there are 150+ more viewers on your gallery that day! And it's not aunts and uncles who are already married and may not know other who are getting married..her friends who are viewing are probably right in that 25-30 age group. It's a tremendous tool in some ways.

I have been keeping track of my smug mug stats for that month period or so. I got 40k inidvidual picture hits in that time frame. Again..too bad they are not local...bleah!

ARKreations

Nicely done.
The pages that really stand out to me are:
1 - simple and elegant
3 - great use of selective color
18/19 - fantastic guest/reception summary!
(I just may even borrow that concept for my cousin's upcoming wedding...)