Task 2: Research the examples of books that have been produced, consider the size and style that you would like to work with. There are many example within the blurb site but feel free to find examples either in school or elsewhere. Produce a mood-board of some of your choices, select two of three examples and explain your thoughts and why the design, look and feel works for your images.
The photobook I have taken inspiration from is Phillip Toledanos – When i was six. This book is also the book from which i gained my contextual inspiration aswell.
The design of the book is quite ‘scrap booky’ as the hard back cover is material and covered with white spots and childish writing announcing the cover.
When making a photobook it is important to think about all of the ‘characteristics’ of the photobook in order to get an idea of what it will look like. Eg: size, shape, texture, colors, photolayouts and photo sizes. All of these factors can change the feel of the book and the images themselves. The layout of the majority of toledanos book is full bleed images and contrasting lights seen in the images. The size of the book ‘When i was six’ is standard landscape. The images are single page. The cover is a hardback material cover, The paper in the book ranges from standard photograph paper to grainy textured paper. Throughout the book there are also shortened pages added in, to draw attention to that page and to break the book up.
You need to deconstruct Toledano’r book design in more detail:
Deconstruct the layout of the book e.g. think about format (portraiture/ landscape/ square), size (A5, A4, A3), sequencing (single page, double-spread, multiple images on a page), juxtaposition of photographs on opposing pages etc. How is the narration of the images used, i.e. formal or conceptual relationship between images. Any use of archival or found material? How does it add value to the story being told? Describe also, how the book title, text (foreword, essay, statement by artists) and captions (if any) are use.
What missing from blog:
1. Upload final essay with illustrations
2. Produce screen prints of layout ideas as you progress and add to Blog for further annotation. Photo-book; show screen prints of page layout and narrative/ sequencing/ juxtaposition of pictures. Podcast; produce screen prints as work progress that show your editing skills/ decisions.
3. Select a set of 5-6 photographs as final outcomes and evaluate – explaining in some detail how well you realised your intentions and reflect on what you learned in your Personal Study.
4. Save final outcomes in a shared folder, in a high-resolution (at least 3000 pixels on the long edge) and each images saved in your name i.e. first name_surname_title_1, and 2, 3 and so on.
5. Final layout of photobook with essay and a final evaluation