Creating a Photobook

Today I finished presenting a photobook I created for one of my communications classes. As the rest of my class was presenting a lot of the people's photos printed out pixelated. They kept saying they just didn't understand why because on the screen it looked perfect. Most of their images were sized wrong and that's what caused the pixelation. The sad part is that we paid a good amount for this photobook and because these people's images were sized wrong, their photobooks now look unprofessional.

It's extremely important to know how to resize and print photos correctly. If the photo looks good on the screen, it doesn't necessarily mean it looks good in print. When printing photos in a larger format always make sure the resolution is set at 300 ppi. This is the best quality for image printing. You can print at 150 ppi, but never any lower than that. Our teacher even made it a requirement to print out at least one spread of our photobook to make sure it looked nice printed and not just on the screen. Sadly, this is a technique that I think a lot of people forget about. It's a tricky business and you have to be very careful. I would suggest learning as much as you can about resizing photos because you will use it right now and later in life.

I have posted my photobook in pps format for you to see.

Click here to see the full version.

Mac v. PC Debate

I have never taken an actual side on this debate. I have owned and worked on a PC for the majority of my life, but this past summer I used the money I had saved for the past year to buy myself a MacBook. I absolutely love it. I was extremely nervous that I wouldn't be able to use it because I had had such a limited experience with a Mac, but it was easy to learn fast.


It might sound like I was converted to the "Mac way of life", but I don't think so. I still use a PC everyday at work. There are things that I know about a PC that will always be useful to me that can't be done on a Mac. In turn, there are things I know about a Mac that will always be useful to me that can't be done on a PC.

I've always taken the approach that both machines are good. Mac's are better for some things and PC's are better for other things. I honestly believe it's smart to be able to use both machines and operating systems. That way, if you ever apply for a job that specifies one or the other, you'll be set. It never hurt anyone to learn as much as they could.

Photography v. Photodesign

Photography has drastically changed in the past 50 years. With the invention of Photoshop, which can mimick effects and edits done in a dark room, beautiful, unedited photography has been challenging to find as much. Some unedited photography is shown below.

Photodesign is basically photos taken and extremely edited in Photoshop or other programs like it, and using it in a design project of some sort. Extreme photography editing is shown below.

Both of these tactics of using photos are helpful to learn. Many photographers critic photodesigners for ruining photography for everyone. I don't think that's true. I think there is a beauty and an art about both types. The beauty of photography is that you can capture a moment in time and portray a feeling, emotion, or concept. The beauty of photodesign is that you can take a bunch of different photos, combine them, apply millions filters, and text to create a feeling or emotion. And sometimes just to make it look neat. They both have their advantages and they both have their disadvantages.

My suggestion balancing the two is to always make sure that when you're going for photography act like a professional unediting photographer. Try not to edit your photos in Photoshop even slightly. When you're going for photodesign don't pretend that you haven't edited them. Admit your editing process and let people know that you spent a lot of time editing and creating your own masterpiece.

Designing in Word

The majority of my communications professors have told me that it's just not a good idea to design anything in Microsoft Word. They claim that it's cumbersome and really difficult to work with aligning things, and using shapes effectively. I completely agree that Word is really hard to work with if you want to design something. It was created as a word processor after all, not a design program. I had one communications teacher last Winter semester, who required us to make a flyer in Word as one of our assignments. She told us that when we're working in the real world at a company that may not have any design programs, Word can be a useful tool to know how to learn. The event advertisement below, I created in Word. We weren't even allowed to use Photoshop to doctor up the picture.

I thought I would never have to use Word for designing something again because I'm going into design and I assumed that any real design company would have designing programs; however, I was wrong. I am currently creating an advertising campaign for the Idaho Falls Institute. We have been redesigning the brochure that they have with all the times and dates on them. As a group we realized that we would have to re-create the document in Word because the Institute directors don't have design programs and wouldn't be able to alter it for future semesters if we did it in an Adobe program.

Just beware. Even though Word is difficult and ridiculous to work with, it has to be done sometimes. Learn how to design with Word. It's extremely useful. Even in the professional world.

alignment...

A few days ago, I was looking over a few projects of one of my friends who doesn't have much experience in designing. She asked me what she could do to improve her project and make it look professional. I automatically said, "You need to align everything so that it's uniform and make sure you don't center any of your text." She gave me a vaugely blank stare and stammered, "oookkaayy..." Then she asked me if I was sure that she shouldn't center the text. Yes. That is the number one rule of alignment.

The first rule I ever learned about alignment was to NEVER center anything on a page. This applies to photography, design, layouts, etc. If you put the important items in the center of the page it detracts from the rest of the page. I also learned that using the rule of thirds creates a more visually appealing image. As always, when there's a rule it has to be broken. I have seen  a few good advertisements, layouts, and photos where the main subject or text is in the center, but not many. I was warned that only the experts can break the rules. It's only after you understand the rules that you can break them.

It's always when you learn something that you start noticing it more and more often. Whenever there's a magazine or poster or book that is centered it makes me want to fix it. If you're a beginner to design the important thing is to remember to never center your text or an image on the page of a document.

Typography, not just a font

I always thought that I liked typography because of the millions of ways you can combine different fonts and turn a not-so-professional project into a professional one. Working for the English Department I have had the opportunity to experiment with different fonts, typefaces, and type. Learning how to use these elements of typography has been a long and arduous process. I always thought you just go with whatever looks the best together. I have three tips on how to better your own use of photography in design projects.

First, never use more than two fonts on a particular project. Using more than that creates chaos on the page and causes the project to look extremely unprofessional. Second, there are 6 types of fonts: Oldstyle, Sans-serif, Decorative, Script, Slab-serif, and Modern. Oldstyle and Sans-serif fonts are commonly used for body copy. Modern, Decorative, Script, and Slab-serif fonts are commonly used for Titles. Always combine these fonts appropriately.


As illustrated above, typography is an extensive art in and of itself. I'm constantly learning more and more about it myself through my projects and presentations. If the above quick guidelines are
applied, there will be some drastic changes to the look and feel of a design.

The Usability of Using Images

You need a picture of an ice cream cone for a project. You hop on the Internet and Google Image search "ice cream cone". Thousands of results show up some good, some not so good. You click the options button at the top of your page and choose "Large Images". Soon enough you've found the perfect picture at the perfect resolution. You right click the image and save it to your computer. You think to yourself that this photo must not have a copyright or else I wouldn't be able to download it. Wrong.

One of the most common and most costly mistakes of designing is the use of photos from the Internet. As the scenario above illustrates, a lot of people think because you can download it from the Internet there's no copyright on it. If you use a copyrighted photo for a design and the copyright owner finds out and puts a lawsuit against you, you'll be looking at thousands and perhaps millions of dollars, depending on the case, of fines you will have to pay. Some copyright lawsuits could even send you to jail.

You might think that you can use any picture because we're all in school and we're using it for educational purposes. This is true, but as soon as you graduate that is no longer the case. It's good to get into the habit of using non-copyrighted and non-protected photos now while we're in school, so that when we venture out into the real world we'll be able to research non-copyrighted photos to deliver results to our future employers.

I caution the use of any photo downloaded from Google. www.morguefile.com and www.deviantart.com  have some great non-copyrighted photography.