OUGD603 - EXTENDED PRACTICE - THIS IS BRASIL PHOTO BOOK MOCK UP ONE & INDUSTRY FEEDBACK

Photographs:

This is the front and back cover. The photograph extends the full width of the cover. I think this layout works quite nicely, however potentially the title text needs more pazzaz to it, as Brasil is quite an in your face country.

The publication was printed as if it was going to be pamphlet bound, and as you can see there's quite a big overspill of the pages, as the publication is quite long and is really too thick to be pamphlet stitched. Alternative methods of binding will have to be explored such as perfect bound and multiple pamphlet bound.

This is the first spread of the publication, containing a quote from a Brasilian native I interviewed. It's a very simple first spread as perhaps the style of the publication is quite calm and minimal. I'm not sure if this works or if it needs more content either on the right or left hand page, to grab your attention as you open it.

These are styles of page layouts which work quite nicely, as the photograph is great and large, with enough on both pages so that you can appreciate the photograph without it looking chopped up. The smaller quote on the right image perhaps doesn't work so well as it leaves a lot of white space, however perhaps this is a good thing that it isn't rammed full of content, it gives you space to breathe and reflect.

The above four page layouts do not work well, as one of the images on the spread is spread over both pages, but only by a small amount on the one page, which makes it appear chopped up, and you don't really look at the smaller part of the image so it may as well not be there. This will need to be changed.

These page layout examples where they still use two photographs per spread work much better, as each photograph has it's own page, and isn't split across two, so you appreciate each photograph individually.

The above six photographs demonstrate photographs which fill more of the spread, without the space for a quote. This provides a great space to showcase the more panoramic photographs, showing them off at their best fully. I'm not sure how the top left photograph works, perhaps it would be better being the same as the top right photograph, also to ensure consistency and not too many different layouts. Similarly perhaps the middle two photographs should be the same layout as the bottom left photograph, to ensure consistency and also it looks as if the photographs are being squished either side, not allowing to expand to their full potential.

This final photograph is the last spread of the publication, also featuring a quote from a Brasilian native I interviewed. Similarly to the first spread, perhaps it needs a little something extra to make it a bit more memorable.

Industry feedback:

I received feedback on this initial mock up from Venn Creative's designer and one of the founders. They said it needed a little something extra to really set it apart from the crowd, and to make it feel more complete. They suggested maybe having tracing paper inserts with illustrations of plants on them perhaps, to teach people about the different species of plants native to Brasil, and Brasil's nature in general. They also suggested potentially having an extra long cover with a pocket insert, perhaps for a map or information guide, detailing where these photographs were taken or a bit about the different plant species in Brasil. They also suggested different ideas for binding, such as perfect bound, or being sewn in multiple pamphlets either with or without an exposed spine, to ensure the pages can be laid flat.

This feedback has been really useful to me as it has given me ideas on how to expand this project further and to make it more special as well, and not just a run of the mill photograph publication.

The next stages will be to make the initial changes to the layout, and then think about exactly how I am going to make this publication be a bit more exciting and full.