Isaan Quiet, cover and spine
My first Blurb book, Isaan Quiet.
www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/297643
This is a 96 page, 8x10 inch, landscape book with the ImageWrap-style binding (or paper-over-board as it is known in the book trade. Primarily used for children's books, ImageWrap lends itself well to any visually-oriented book).
I have been a museum art book designer for 14+ years, with near complete control of the design and printing of my projects from cradle to grave, including travel overseas to presscheck my books in Asia and Europe (supervise the printing on site at the printer). I also happen to be quite a shutterbug and Flickr addict, so when Blurb started, I was caught between my professional background (where I am known among many book printers as 'Mr. Picky') and my personal love of photography books . . . do I dare let go of my control and send my files to Blurb, wait two weeks and, very possibly, be disappointed?! Well, I let go of my anxiety and did it . . . and I have to say, it was worth it. The 'immediate gratification' of having a hardcover book of my own photographs is immensely satisfying. Of course, as expected, not every image is 'perfect' but I am surprised at how good it looks as a whole. More than 90% of the images meet my expectation for this process/product, with the other 10% being just slightly darker/flatter than expected. Not bad for sending images right out of 4 different cameras, taken over 4 years, with minor manipulation to some in PhotoShop. The binding (perfect bound with PUR glue, the book block held into the case with reinforced endsheets, not sewn signatures, etc.) and cover lamination are perfectly acceptable for a one-off $40.00 book. Certainly not the quality of the book you find at The Met, MOMA or on Photo-eye, but to be able to do this yourself, it's pretty cool. I will now be ordering a softcover version or two. :)
From my professional point-of-view, I see this more as a maquette or a comp of a book project, like having a CDr of your favorite music . . . it is a reasonable facsimile of the real 'printed' thing at a reasonable price without the considerable effort (profiling your printer, proofing images, printing a minimum of 500 copies, binding, shipping, distribution, having the book discounted 30% by Amazon so the publisher can't make any money, my favorite independent bookstores closing so people can't actually see the book in person - oops, etc.)
A friend said something today after looking at this book that reminded me why I love books . . . he looks at my Flickr photos often, but realized after looking at this book, that he never really 'looks' at them, not like he had when viewing the book.
(20 years ago I self-published a book which took considerable effort and did not come out nearly as nice as this.)
On a personal note, I did notice one of my images is slightly out-of-focus, and one has slight camera shake, neither of which I had noticed before, on-screen, blinded by my love of the moments they were taken. Mai bpen rai, bo bpen yang, nevermind.
Isaan Quiet, cover and spine
My first Blurb book, Isaan Quiet.
www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/297643
This is a 96 page, 8x10 inch, landscape book with the ImageWrap-style binding (or paper-over-board as it is known in the book trade. Primarily used for children's books, ImageWrap lends itself well to any visually-oriented book).
I have been a museum art book designer for 14+ years, with near complete control of the design and printing of my projects from cradle to grave, including travel overseas to presscheck my books in Asia and Europe (supervise the printing on site at the printer). I also happen to be quite a shutterbug and Flickr addict, so when Blurb started, I was caught between my professional background (where I am known among many book printers as 'Mr. Picky') and my personal love of photography books . . . do I dare let go of my control and send my files to Blurb, wait two weeks and, very possibly, be disappointed?! Well, I let go of my anxiety and did it . . . and I have to say, it was worth it. The 'immediate gratification' of having a hardcover book of my own photographs is immensely satisfying. Of course, as expected, not every image is 'perfect' but I am surprised at how good it looks as a whole. More than 90% of the images meet my expectation for this process/product, with the other 10% being just slightly darker/flatter than expected. Not bad for sending images right out of 4 different cameras, taken over 4 years, with minor manipulation to some in PhotoShop. The binding (perfect bound with PUR glue, the book block held into the case with reinforced endsheets, not sewn signatures, etc.) and cover lamination are perfectly acceptable for a one-off $40.00 book. Certainly not the quality of the book you find at The Met, MOMA or on Photo-eye, but to be able to do this yourself, it's pretty cool. I will now be ordering a softcover version or two. :)
From my professional point-of-view, I see this more as a maquette or a comp of a book project, like having a CDr of your favorite music . . . it is a reasonable facsimile of the real 'printed' thing at a reasonable price without the considerable effort (profiling your printer, proofing images, printing a minimum of 500 copies, binding, shipping, distribution, having the book discounted 30% by Amazon so the publisher can't make any money, my favorite independent bookstores closing so people can't actually see the book in person - oops, etc.)
A friend said something today after looking at this book that reminded me why I love books . . . he looks at my Flickr photos often, but realized after looking at this book, that he never really 'looks' at them, not like he had when viewing the book.
(20 years ago I self-published a book which took considerable effort and did not come out nearly as nice as this.)
On a personal note, I did notice one of my images is slightly out-of-focus, and one has slight camera shake, neither of which I had noticed before, on-screen, blinded by my love of the moments they were taken. Mai bpen rai, bo bpen yang, nevermind.