Version 3 of books revised to the final version

I’ve had a little epiphany this week end and now my two books are three! Two photobooks – one 12 by 12 and one 7 by 7… and they are finished (subject to proofing) and a companion essay in book form.

I had some good feedback (thanks guys!) about the book cover experiments that was very useful. In the end this meant I did not go with any of the styles posted last Friday. Rather I developed covers (shown below) that picked up on the feedback. So hopefully the disabled family stand out clearly in this cover, the positioning of the titles give the cover a dynamic balance and the cooler colour sets a tone and lets the words stand out.   

Would I have made the same decision without the power of the internet? I don’t think so. I should also note that I expect the colours will look a little duller in physical form because that is what I have noticed with the draft books.

Photobook covers

Companion essay book in 7 by 7 format.

Explanation
While one of my key aims has been to create a book/discourse about my experience of paralysis that leads through pictures rather than words and so have limited the use of words as much as possible. I have explained my thoughts and research that underpin my approach in my research paper and so when I was considering whether the book should have a forward the idea crystallised that I want people to see the work/images first and then have access to my perspective and the context they were created in. This means the book will not have a Forward. However I do think the research paper forms an important part of the body of work and so have decided to include that.

Accordingly viewers will be able to read the research paper at the end of the hard back book or, access it in a third, companion, book the same size and format as the small softcover book.

So now viewers will be offered three books

• Paralysis Unseen: Pictures will be offered in both large and small formats. The large format is the better book that includes the research paper, but it’s pricey whereas the smaller book is more handy and works albeit differently, and does not include the essay.
• Then I will offer a companion book Paralysis Unseen: Words

The titles work quite well because they can be read either as Paralysis Unseen: Pictures or as Paralysis: Unseen Pictures, and the way I have placed them on the covers allows for both interpretations.

However before I send the final books off for printing and reviewed them one last time and found various problems

Both books

• The chapter separators jar too much and do not link to the cover colours so I have experimented with another approach
• I changed the cover colour to key into above
• I originally altered My Outlook image for more punch in the smaller book, but like it so much I have used it in the bigger book also

Small book

• I changed My Health images to single one page images to deal with the tight binding issue
• I changed My Dreams images to single page ones
• I made the first image in Your Rules chapter a double page one for more emphasis
• I adjusted the page numbers to fit with above changes

Large book

• I changed Your Health images to two triptychs to work as a set aesthetically and changed the format so they can be seen better as the large book does not lie flat.
• Tided up page numbers and other items like that
• Specified premium lustre paper as the standard paper was poor
• Changed the format of the Your Rules triptych to ensure it could be seen better in the book and is more dynamic.

So it’s off to the printers again. But I think these are now complete (hopefully). Here is the preview page on Blurb.

Advertisement