Portrait Photography coffee table book design

BOOK COVER DESIGN
BOOK INTERIOR LAYOUT
PREPRESS
CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT
CREATIVE DIRECTION
PRINT PRODUCTION

Against the ticking clock of extremely tight timelines, this project ignited a brilliant collaboration where hard work and creative thinking blazed the trail to delivering a luxury book just in time for the gallery show's grand opening.

The client had done a great deal of legwork in getting her first photography coffee table book ready for production, including an initial interior design – by teaching herself how to use InDesign! But she soon realized that she really needed to engage a professional graphic designer. Even with her go-getter disposition, she realized that only a high level of design expertise and experience would make her book as beautiful as she envisioned (a conclusion this photographer also came to). I was brought onto this project after it was already in progress, so I had to get up to speed quickly and provide cover and interior concepts, coordinate specialized printing, and get all of it done in time for her gallery show.

I was so impressed with her take-the-bull-by-the-horns approach, and our mutual love of photography was instantly bonding. I also loved the subject of her book: Her Helm showcases 51 female boat captains of Chesapeake Bay with photos and stories. Clearly, this project checked a lot of boxes for me, and I was delighted to take it on, tight deadlines and all!

The client brought a ton to the table—her incredible photos, ideas on layout and colors, and much more—but she was also very collaborative and open to the ideas and concepts I presented. We worked through the tools of my process—like the workbook and mood board below—where we distilled these down to exactly the minimalist, uplifting, feminine strength that the book portrays.

Delving into a Discovery Session Workbook (above) to refine goals and aesthetics, this snapshot showcases the strategic journey undertaken. From the gleaned insights, a curated series of concept mood boards (bellow) emerge, acting as visual compasses that propel the design process forward, providing invaluable clarity and alignment with the envisioned aesthetic goals.

The cover is intentionally without any photos so that it’s clean and eye-catching yet somewhat mysterious – noticeable even from a distance. It’s exquisite deep blue linen featuring a debossed “porthole” with a paper inset, which is stamped with two foils: one for the title and another for the subtitle and author’s name. The title foil is feminine but bold and deep magenta; the subtitle and author’s name are in a luxurious matte black foil. The book’s spine and back cover are foil-stamped in sleek silver. 

When you open the book, you are greeted with a lively mosaic of Her Helm's women captains, which leads beautifully to the full-color portraiture interior pages; my goal was to have the design elevate the captains and their stories rather than eclipse them, so I went with a clean, modern approach. The photos take up the entire page opposite the corresponding story, which uses the cover title's font and magenta color for the subject's name. The folio (number at the bottom of each page) carries this clean, modern style with subtlety and matching color.

My in-depth experience in print design and production was important in bringing this in on time and on budget. The very elements that make this book so elegant – debossing, foil stamps, linen cover – also limit the number of printers capable of this level of detail and quality. Fortunately, I had several contacts to reach out to and, after a LOT of back-and-forth, was able to find the ideal vendor.

One detail about self-publishing that is widely unknown is that the actual page number will likely be different from the author’s manuscript due to printers’ equipment and processes. For the printer that produced Her Helm, there were a couple of pages that needed to be filled so I created a magenta-on-white illustration and a map of Chesapeake Bay. 

Working with this client was an absolute delight, and designing books is one of my favorite types of projects. The cherry on top: she surprised me with a shout-out in her book!

To purchase her book, Visit:  https://www.herhelm.com/book-2023. 

Please look out for my next blog on the cover design process for Her Helm!