Thursday, April 17, 2008

sofobomo : more layouts

I'm finding this part of the project the most painful. The shooting was a lot of fun, but now the editing and assembly is starting to drag. The images are mostly edited down and finished, so I've gotten over the hump of that. All I have to do is put them together in some sort of coherent and stylishly designed way. Or maybe just coherent and designed.
Hmm. This is all new. Anyway, here are some more sample layouts that I put together last night. Feedback as always is very welcome. With the realisation that each page doesn't need to be the same as long as they are somewhat related and consistent, the layout design became a much bigger issue than just dropping pictures on the page. Mostly that came from the understanding that just having the exact same layout and number of images on each page would be really boring. As I shot, I also found that some people were more expressive and willing to act up, giving me more material than others. Consequently, some pages deserve more images than others.
Both of those decisions increase the thought that goes into each page - how to lay it out, how many pictures to use, how to size them and so on. I'm trying to just let it flow and keep some design elements to pull it all together - the deep red blocks, white space. Making slow progress with this.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just one thought I have about these layouts is that when you pile all the photos together, I pay less attention to each individual one. When they're separated, I spend time to look at each one, and they mean much more to me.

I like your layouts!

Anita Jesse said...

Gordon, I am awed by the challenge you have given yourself in the layout department. I get a headache if I even start thinking about trying anything so ambitious in that area. You have a great eye for graphics, but I hope you don't pile too much on yourself for a one-month project.

Still, I like the many faces of each individual coming together to make a portrait, as opposed to a number of separate portraits spread over several pages. There I go encouraging you to knock yourself out.

It's clear that you are going to produce a handsome and polished book.