On September 23, 2008 my father turned 70 Years Young. For his birthday gift I decided to create a photo book comprising of memories from years past. As part of the gift, I also wanted use interviews of his family, friends and coworkers to create the content. It was my hope that they would provide memories beyond my own. I was not let down, and in fact learned some great new things about my father. Given a basic framework and a 3 months time line, I started to mull over the technology, people, and content that would hopefully make for a memorable book.
cover page screenshot
Step 1: Gathering Content
In 2006, my Dad wrote a document titled “Passing on the Hobson Family Nuggets”. The goal of this document was to provide a means of handing down learned life experiences to younger members of the family. My Dad used many examples from his own life to illustrate these experiences. These were used to pull quotes for Part I of the book. The next step was matching these quotes with images. I had a few, but called upon my relatives in Canada for the vintage shots. Luckily my cousins Pat and Barb (Calgary) and nephew Steven (Winnipeg) sent me some great shots from the archives.
part I screenshot
Part II was a bit more complicated. With the help of my mother (2,000 miles away), I was able to put together an email list of 80 of my Dad’s closest family, friends, and colleagues. I sent out a few short interview questions to get the memories flowing. Once the wheels were rolling I started to get some great responses and soon realized that these were what would make the book special. After a few weeks I sent a reminder email to the group asking them to include a picture of themselves so I could include a photo next to their words. In the end, the book grew to almost 100 pages with responses from people from all over the world including Australia, Japan, Canada and Denmark.
part II screenshot
Step 2: Working with Blurb
Blurb is a piece of free software that I used to manage and design the content for the book. Blurb has a library of themes and background for you to use. I decided to go with a rather simple layout, however I wish I had more design choices for the cover. With over 100 emails worth of content, and a folder full of images, I began piecing the book together. Working through the book was the ultimate decision maker for my design. I ended up with 102 photos that needed some sort of editing. I started out enhancing the images, but quickly abandoned this idea as the deadline loomed. Blurb saves your work automatically, however this is no replacement for the archive feature which you should do after every working session (trust me!). It also crashed several times before auto saving, which caused me to lose a bit of work. I quickly got into the habit of manually saving after any significant changes. Blurb is a bit clunky, but it works. Tablo and Lulu are also options I considered.
Technology Used
This project would of taken years without today’s technology. Here are a few of the tools that made this possible.
1. Blurb – This bookmaking software allowed me to develop the layout, upload and order the actual book. They also offer great ideas to stimulate design.
2. Photoshop CS3 - Used to manipulate the images. (there are cheaper alternatives to this)
3. Gmail - Used to communicate, organize, and gather content. (labeling function came in handy)
4. HP Scanjet - For scanning any traditional photos
What I’ve Learned
1. What you see on the screen can be very different than in print. Get a test copy, edit, re-publish.
2. Technology is making projects like this possible, in shorter amounts of time. Most people are up on email, regardless of age or location.
3. The world is truly shrinking, and communication will continue to thrive with advancement of technology.
4. I should have given myself an extra month. Once I received my draft copy from the publishers, I didn’t have enough time for major changes. Live and learn.
5. My Father is leading an amazing life, and has touched the lives of many. My hero.
Unfortunately, Blurb doesn’t allow you to create digital versions of the book for distribution. They do provide a 15 page preview which you can see HERE. If you’re a true Doug Hobson fan, or your just interested in the final product, you can order your own copy from Blurb. Pricing is outlined on the site. Finally, I would like to thank everyone who contributed and was interested in sharing a special moment with my father. Without their contributions, I would have had to get him another box of lousy cigars. The only problem is that now I have set the bar for his 80th, 90th, 100th and beyond.