I'm always finding projects that incorporate design skills, and I really enjoy creating different visual looks to bring content together. This includes creating a book gathering favorite recipes and making photo albums of vacations I have taken. Below are some examples of print pages I have designed for personal use.
I enjoy cooking, especially around the holidays. Over the years, I’ve gathered recipes from many sources that have become family favorites. I wanted to bring them all together in one spot, but because they came from different origins, they all had very different looks. I designed a recipe book for them using Adobe InDesign. I created a template and copied all the recipes I had into it. I also generated multiple color schemes that worked with the template, so that I could categorize recipes and give each category its own set of colors. Below are five sample spreads and the cover I designed.
Photo Albums
I like to travel and make a point of taking pictures to remember the vacations. After my trips I put together albums using online photo software, which I then print to keep as a long term record. I have created over 10 books ranging in pages from 40 to 120 that display pictures and text to tell the story of my trips. I give each book its own look and feel to best fit the destination. A few samples from these are below.
Turks and Caicos was a beautiful place, however, I had many pictures of the beach and pools that looked very similar. To keep the book interesting, I used layouts that added extra visual interest with circular photos and icons. I also incorporated bold colors that matched the landscape. Here are two spreads from the final 50-page album.
Iceland has some amazing scenery and unique landscapes. Since the photos from my trip there didn't always capture the beauty the locations had in person, I needed to find a way to compensate for that in the album. I added backgrounds with bright colors that pulled out the most vivid color from selected photos. Here are two spreads from the final 100-page album.
After a vacation to Chicago, I wanted an album that would capture the feeling of being in a city. I used a lot of black, white, and metallic colors in the backgrounds to create a sophisticated city vibe. I also used very simple and minimalist layouts to display these photos. Here are two spreads from the final 40-page album.
