Book Comments?

[Paul_Witkowski]

I'm trying out a potential new market. Attached is a link to a book design for a teen with her horses. The mock-up book I have posted has several different types of layouts, and I'm looking for critique on what others' think "works", doesn't work, or is out of place.

You'll see mostly monochrome, but some color pages; some framed with a thin black border, others unframed, and some pages as full-bleeds. I'm looking for opinions and suggestions. (I should point out that the book construction is traditional with a gutter. These are not designed or intended as panoramic lay-flat pages, even though I do have a couple of screened images that somewhat cross the gutter.)

Thanks, everyone, for your help!

Horse Album

[Auralee_Dallas]

Well I think it is absolutely gorgeous!!! I live on a ranch in horse country and I would die to have a session that yielded those images.

So, I love the brown tone ones with the black border, but I'm a big fan of browntone/sepia. I love the detail shots. As far as the layout, I prefer the keylined images and I think it's great to have a full bleed with insets keylined. The lighting inside the arena looks great. Love the fisheye. I just love this book. Out of place--maybe the 4 shots on the black background, just because there aren't any other full black backgrounds that I noticed. And the white keyline there seems to bright.
I'm sure you will get lots of different opinions, but I think you did a fine job.

PS-Just looked again and I'm not real keen on the full bleeds side by side. There are only 2 or so. The color images are so pretty a mix would be fine.

[Richard_Dalton]

my daughter would buy it.

[Heather_L._Smith]

Paul -
I love this. You've taken so ordinary... just an afternoon working the horse, and made it very, very special. I would have loved to have something like this when I was younger and still had horses.

I agree with Auralee - there's a page that stood out especially to me - two full bleed images inside the arena - the horse is coming toward the inside of the book in both images, but the background lines in the arena don't line up, so where the gutter will end up, you get these lines that, in a perfect world would line up, but for me these two full bleed images don't work. I think they WOULD work if they were keylined with a border, like many of the others. Or, make one full bleed and the other keylined with a border.

There was also an image of them outside (it was just a page or two after the one I just described), and the image on the right I think could be swapped out for something else (she has her eyes closed and the horse doesn't have a very flattering expression either).

Oh, and this is just for the next time... I would love to see the final image be one of her and the horse walking down the aisle to the end of the barn - away from you.

Very, very cool. Now I'm going to go look at it again.

[Heather_L._Smith]

oops... in my first sentence I meant to say that you've taken "something so ordinary"...

[Valerie_Kieselhorst]

I almost click REPLAY!
Very nice photos, very emotional!
I would also keep a unity in the layout and sepia.

[Ryan_M._Glick]

Paul,
Great stuff, I'm doing the same thing with alot of seniors who ride mainly cross country and english. My only gripe is cutting off the horses hoves and croping at the knees. Think of the horse as a person would you crop at the wrist or the knee, but remember thats just my opinion other wise I love the images.