Previous |  Contents | Next Download the eBook Bad taste takes a while to show up, but as soon as it does it’s embarrassing. How to avoid it? Start by keeping it simple. If in doubt, leave it out. The half life of crap In her book The Mesh, Lisa Gansky talks about “the half life of crap” – about cheap manufactured products and how long they last. Or rather don’t last. Her point is that the half life of crap products is way too short. They get boring or they break. They end up at the back of your garage or as land fill. Our poor planet can’t afford To View More >>

Someone asked the other day why some photographers using Print Shop seem to be selling their prints “quite cheaply”. "I can understand that there is potentially volume in art prints that isn't there with portraits. But I still wonder how a client might feel if the price is significantly lower for an art print." I think there are a few questions here — does the difference in price matter? Are people undercharging? — and anyway, how much should you charge? I'll leave the last one for later, but meantime… 1. Why might you need to charge differently for your art versus To View More >>

I took the opportunity last Sunday to change how I did things. It was partly out of necessity, and partly curiosity. [caption id="attachment_1008" align="alignleft" width="324" caption="Jo and Jeremy"][/caption] My clients had indicated that they would like me to preplan their album. Normally we would shoot the wedding, put some images on our blog, then put about 100 in a web gallery. Then, when they arrived to collect their images, we would give them a box of previews. But we were running a little behind schedule and the prints were not going to be ready for their arrival. I decided not to put To View More >>

How famous are you? Seriously. In your neighbourhood and around the world? Being world famous is cool, and sometimes it may be important, but for most of us being famous in our own back yard is good enough. Here's a case in point. In New Zealand there's a drink called Lemon and Paeroa (L&P to its friends). It's "world famous in New Zealand", so famous it has its own statue. But I'll bet you've never heard of it, and they probably don't care. Watch this rather weird video if you need a laugh for the day (isn't that Jermaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords doing the voiceover?). We want to To View More >>

A series about storytelling in album design. Every great story has a beginning, a middle and an end Part of what makes a story interesting is the way it's told. It pulls you in, leads you along a path of discovery and ends with a satisfying finale. I've already mentioned the importance of chronology, and I'll have more about the middle later, but what's the secret to a strong beginning and a satisfying ending? The beginning Writers spend a lot of time on their first paragraphs. They know if they don't kindle your interest they leave you cold. If you're not sure what should go on your first page To View More >>