It's October. Cheers to me and you, we've made it through the bulk of wedding season and have survived (presumably. wink, wink). However, the work is not over... I know it may be crazy, but as photographers we have a lot of post... a lot. We have thousands of images to edit and albums to design, etc... 

Album. Design. Album design is just like personal style. To each his own flow, style, order and taste. I believe the wedding album functions the same way jewelry functions in a outfit. It pulls everything together and seals it with flair. However, just as there are a few rules to pulling together a great outfit there are a few rules for putting together a good album. I hope they come in handy to at least one person.... we could all have some better looking albums roaming the streets!



1. An album spread (left side and right side) should be viewed as a single composition. They function together not individually. 

blog_L04.jpg

The best way to think of this the same way you would think about composing a photograph. Your eye needs to start in one location and move to the rest of a page in a smooth flow. Now, because this is a book we will most likely be reading across the page from left to right. Keep this in mind when deciding on image placement. 



2. Your subjects eye should not look off the page. They should always face "in". 

blog_L02.jpg

Facing "in" means they are facing in toward the gutter of a layout. If you layout your pages and have a image on the right side of the spread with your subject looking to the right you loose flow. Your viewers eye will always follow the eyes of the subjects in the photograph. It makes a composition and a layout uninteresting. 



3. It's ok to have a lot of images on one page. It's ok to have one image per page. 

blog2_L02.jpg

An album is your brides and grooms first heirloom. Generally speaking brides and grooms will of course want details in their album but they will also want the people they love and care about in their book too. Find a way a happy medium to provide that for them. It's ok to have one layout with one image and one layout with 18 images. Take the time to make sure they are the correct ones. 

That's a little taste of my suggestions for album design. I hope that helped at least one person. If you have any questions please leave them in the comment box below and I'll post answers for you!

Thanks for visiting!
Melissa

For Photographers | A Lesson in Album Design

October 6, 2010

It's October. Cheers to me and you, we've made it through the bulk of wedding season and have survived (presumably. wink, wink). However, the work is not over... I know it may be crazy, but as photographers we have a lot of post... a lot. We have thousands of images to edit and albums to design, etc... 

Album. Design. Album design is just like personal style. To each his own flow, style, order and taste. I believe the wedding album functions the same way jewelry functions in a outfit. It pulls everything together and seals it with flair. However, just as there are a few rules to pulling together a great outfit there are a few rules for putting together a good album. I hope they come in handy to at least one person.... we could all have some better looking albums roaming the streets!



1. An album spread (left side and right side) should be viewed as a single composition. They function together not individually. 

blog_L04.jpg

The best way to think of this the same way you would think about composing a photograph. Your eye needs to start in one location and move to the rest of a page in a smooth flow. Now, because this is a book we will most likely be reading across the page from left to right. Keep this in mind when deciding on image placement. 



2. Your subjects eye should not look off the page. They should always face "in". 

blog_L02.jpg

Facing "in" means they are facing in toward the gutter of a layout. If you layout your pages and have a image on the right side of the spread with your subject looking to the right you loose flow. Your viewers eye will always follow the eyes of the subjects in the photograph. It makes a composition and a layout uninteresting. 



3. It's ok to have a lot of images on one page. It's ok to have one image per page. 

blog2_L02.jpg

An album is your brides and grooms first heirloom. Generally speaking brides and grooms will of course want details in their album but they will also want the people they love and care about in their book too. Find a way a happy medium to provide that for them. It's ok to have one layout with one image and one layout with 18 images. Take the time to make sure they are the correct ones. 

That's a little taste of my suggestions for album design. I hope that helped at least one person. If you have any questions please leave them in the comment box below and I'll post answers for you!

Thanks for visiting!
Melissa


Comments
erica ann says:

Thanks Melissa! I love seeing different people's album designs. I don't think I would ever think to design a layout like that first one but its beautiful! Very inspirational! Did you take publishing design classes in school or does it just come natural?

 (10.06.10 @ 03:23 PM)
melissa says:

thank for the comment erica! i was a photo editor for a publishing co before i opened my business... that's how i learned a few tricks.

yes! everyone has their own style!

 (10.06.10 @ 03:35 PM)
Maalaea says:

Very helpful! Thanks Melissa!

 (10.06.10 @ 08:39 PM)
Amy Sexton says:

Thank you for the tips! I'm horrid at album design! It overwhelms me every! It's helpful to read your post - makes it a little less intimidating! BTW I adore your work! It's lovely!

 (10.06.10 @ 09:47 PM)
melissa says:

you guys are so welcome! if you have any other q's just let me know!

 (10.07.10 @ 04:06 PM)
Melanie Jade: Photographer says:

LOVE the middle spread!!!!!!!!!!!! Did I put enough exclamation points?

 (11.01.10 @ 03:02 PM)