The Problem

A client with whom I had previously collaborated on image editing projects reached out to me for design and printing assistance. He was working with an art collector who needed a small edition (5 books) printed catalog of 130 art pieces to bring to art fairs and for quick reference. My client had little experience with putting a book together for print. Outside of content, my client’s client was initially unsure what he wanted.

The Process

Consulting with my client, we decided to start with a 8″ square book on 80-pound paper. In this format, I created 3 sample layouts for the collector to review, one each for books of 280, 140 and 70 pages. I got quotes from 7 different print-on-demand companies for each of the 3 page counts and presented both the layouts and quotes.

Once the collector selected a page count and printer, I commenced laying out the final book. The 140-page option permitted me to showcase one image per page with a caption beneath, and use the remaining pages for titles and index. After a couple of rounds of edits, the layout was complete. I created a print-ready pdf file and coached my photographer through the ordering process.

Results

The final layout was completed on time, to everyone’s satisfaction.