Whcih calendar layout looks best
Nov 25, 2012 13:09:43 #
Hi all,
I have been struggling with a customer about the layout of a 2013 calendar. January has been approved. February is a struggle because they want to use a more horizontal layout for the featured photo and use this layout every other month to add interest. I have advised them that in my opinion it does not exhibit the photos in a fair way when compared to January because all the photos have been reduced to fit the template format for February. I feel it should be all horizontal or all vertical layouts. Not alternating. Personally I favor the vertical layout for the whole calendar. Am I splitin hairs here? Each month represents a customer calendar contest winning dog photo that I photographed. I feel it looks as though we are favoring one dog over another. I would welcome your unbiased opinions about this. Thanks in advance for your time.
I have been struggling with a customer about the layout of a 2013 calendar. January has been approved. February is a struggle because they want to use a more horizontal layout for the featured photo and use this layout every other month to add interest. I have advised them that in my opinion it does not exhibit the photos in a fair way when compared to January because all the photos have been reduced to fit the template format for February. I feel it should be all horizontal or all vertical layouts. Not alternating. Personally I favor the vertical layout for the whole calendar. Am I splitin hairs here? Each month represents a customer calendar contest winning dog photo that I photographed. I feel it looks as though we are favoring one dog over another. I would welcome your unbiased opinions about this. Thanks in advance for your time.
Nov 25, 2012 13:44:10 #
Well, if they want to have it, can the template be adjusted easily ?
If not, use your offering or go elsewhere.
I like # 3 myself.
Sarge69
If not, use your offering or go elsewhere.
I like # 3 myself.
Sarge69
Nov 25, 2012 14:01:07 #
Yes, the templates can be adjusted to look any way desired. Using Illustrator. The issue I have is the alternation of layouts and months. The winners of the calendar contest deserve to have their dog exhibited in the best and most professional light. Also for my purposes I need for it to be that way because the potential buyers of these calendars are the wealthy, local TV and radio celebrities, art collectors and fine art photography lovers along with the average dog lover. We have a very unique customer base.
Nov 25, 2012 14:08:54 #
Some photos look better cropped horizontally, some vertically. The decision which way to crop should be based on each individual photo and not on some arbitrary "Every other one" rule.
Either orientation can look good. I do understand what you mean about favoring one dog over another because the horizontal image "wastes" space and creates a smaller image of the animal. In the end, you have to please the customer, so, perhaps there is a compromize that uses the ones that look best cropped horizontally in that orientation.
Either orientation can look good. I do understand what you mean about favoring one dog over another because the horizontal image "wastes" space and creates a smaller image of the animal. In the end, you have to please the customer, so, perhaps there is a compromize that uses the ones that look best cropped horizontally in that orientation.
Nov 25, 2012 14:17:47 #
Thanks for the reply. Yes some pics can be cropped either way depending on the perspective but as a dog photographer most of the shots are vertical because dogs are mostly vertical creatures. I can get the close up shots ness not only for a calendar page but also for good print reproduction. I own the photos as they have not been paid for yet so may have to pull the plug on the project and produce the caledars on my own. Thank you for your input.
Nov 25, 2012 14:25:28 #
The more I thinks about this the more I am inclined to change my mind. Not because I agree that it give less emphasis to the dogs on the horizontal pages but to the fact that there no longer is a consistant "Look" to the calendar. You have a basic layout with the main image that bleeds off the page with two smaller tiles either to the right or left of it with a border around them. Then, on the next page you have all the photos with a border around them.
Be consistent in the "Look" of every page. That might mean placing a border around the main photo even on the vertical layout pages.
Hope that makes sense to you. Just my two cents!
Be consistent in the "Look" of every page. That might mean placing a border around the main photo even on the vertical layout pages.
Hope that makes sense to you. Just my two cents!
Nov 25, 2012 14:29:59 #
It does thanks. We have been mulling this over too but the alternation of layouts from month to month is not a consistant wat to prsent this calendar. It will look like cr..p
Nov 26, 2012 06:39:41 #
Can I give an opinion - your photos, your project, I think it is all about how you want to exhibit your skills. There is always one and as they say you can please some of them some of the time but not all of them all of the time. If this is a massive order then go with the customer - one off then sorry your choice. I make photo callendars and as I turn each page I can honestly say I don't remember what the previous page looks like and I bet the majority are the same. Best of luck - the photos look lovely by the way.
Nov 26, 2012 07:41:26 #
I would think the ideal layout would maximize the value of each main picture with the smaller pictures adjusted to support it. If I was the winning photographer I would want my photo shown in the best possible way.
Nov 26, 2012 09:12:47 #
rrg6481 wrote:
February is a struggle because they want to use a more horizontal layout for the featured photo and use this layout every other month to add interest. I have advised them that in my opinion it does not exhibit the photos in a fair way when compared to January because all the photos have been reduced to fit the template format for February. I feel it should be all horizontal or all vertical layouts.
Personally, I would not have a problem even with a different lay-out for each month, as long as there is some feature (colour, border design, etc.) that pulls them together.
Am I safe to think that by a "more horizontal layout" the mean one photo stretching from left to right edges, and the smaller ones above or below it?
If so, I think you may have a major problem because 2/3 or 3/4 the height of the page and the full width of the page does not give a pleasing proportion unless you're using panorama pictures.
Why not make a lay-out the way "they" think it should be and show them the technical difficulties.... Like: One picture says more than...
EstherP
Nov 26, 2012 10:12:22 #
rrg6481 wrote:
Hi all, br I have been struggling with a customer ... (show quote)
You are caught between a Rock and a Hard Spot. Your artistic feeling, knowledge, and experience tell you one thing and the customer says something else. If you expect to get paid again for photos and layout of projects consider the following: "The customer is always right".
It dos not matter how horribly wrong he/she is, as long as he/she is paying the bill he/she is always right.
Michael G
Nov 26, 2012 10:14:11 #
Nice photos. Just a note for future calendars. I would work this format presentation out with the customer before the shoot. It will save a lot of headaches trying to fit great verticals into horizontal cuts and vice-versa.
Personally, I prefer a single page photo per month unless the calendar is very large. Otherwise they are getting a lot of free images. I hope you are charging a lot for the shoot and your time.
Personally, I prefer a single page photo per month unless the calendar is very large. Otherwise they are getting a lot of free images. I hope you are charging a lot for the shoot and your time.
Nov 26, 2012 17:04:03 #
Great Shots! I kinda like the last one of Sofie & Huckelberry.
Nov 26, 2012 21:23:09 #
Nov 26, 2012 22:49:50 #
rrg6481 wrote:
Hi all, br I have been struggling with a customer ... (show quote)
I like the first one. The small pictures in #3 are too small to be worthwhile.
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