Photo Book Design: From Concept to Binding
A course by Roberta Donatini , Graphic Designer and Art Director
Learn to create a photography book, from selecting the images, format, and design to the paper and binding for your mock-up
Learn to create a photography book, from selecting the images, format, and design to the paper and binding for your mock-up
A photography book is a story told through images, but there's more to it than just lining up one picture after another. To create a coherent story with meaning, you need to arrange the perfect photo sequence that broadens the viewer's perspective. In this online course, graphic designer and art director Roberta Donatini, who specializes in editorial photography, teaches you how to create your own photo book from cover to cover.
She guides you through each step in the process, from image selection and layout design to choosing the type of paper and binding for your finished piece. By the end, you'll know how to create a bound mock-up, or dummy, of your photographic work to present at a festival or submit to a publisher.
What will you learn in this online course?
18 lessons & 25 downloads
- 97% positive reviews (70)
- 2,733 students
- 18 lessons (2h 57m)
- 25 additional resources (8 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: Italian
- Italian · Spanish · English · Portuguese · German · French · Polish · Dutch
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
What is this course's project?
Create your own photo book dummy—a mock-up of your project prior to publication.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
Anyone with a photography project they want to turn into a book, as well as creatives working in the field of graphic design who branch out into editorial photography.
Requirements and materials
Basic notions of Adobe InDesign, or a similar program, are recommended for this course, but are not essential. As for materials, you need a computer with the design software of your choice and Photoshop for color correction, as well as blank sheets and a broad surface to display your project.
Reviews
A course by Roberta Donatini
Roberta Donatini is a graphic designer and art director who lives in Milan. In 2016, following a stay in Paris where she worked with multiple photographers, designers, and architects, she took an offer to join the in-house team at Fabrica, an experimental communications research center based in Treviso.
She currently collaborates with cultural institutions, studios, and communication agencies on a freelance basis. She specializes in editorial photography and creating photo books, from the concept to final print, and has been teaching editorial design at the Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti in Milan since 2021. She also organizes dance events around Milan and other cities with the collective Ciao Mare (@ciaomarebaci).
Content
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U1
Introduction
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About Me
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Influences
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U2
The Photo Book: Developing a Concept
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Tools and Materials
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Introduction to the Photo Book
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From the Photographic Series to the Book
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The Concept in Other Photo Books
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Evaluate Ideas and Do Research
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U3
Editing and Design
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From Dummy to Publication
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Choose and Organize Images
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The Image and the Text
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The Typographical Choices
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The Format of the Photo Book
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The Layout 1
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The Layout 2
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The Cover
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U4
The Material Part
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Papers and Bindings
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Papers and Bindings: Other Photo Books
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The Importance of Tests
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FP
Final project
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Photo Book Design: From Concept to Binding
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What to expect from a Domestika course
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Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
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Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
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Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
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Certificates
PlusIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
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Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
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Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
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Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
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Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
Domestika's courses are online classes that provide you with the tools and skills you need to complete a specific project. Every step of the project combines video lessons with complementary instructional material, so you can learn by doing. Domestika's courses also allow you to share your own projects with the teacher and with other students, creating a dynamic course community.
All courses are 100% online, so once they're published, courses start and finish whenever you want. You set the pace of the class. You can go back to review what interests you most and skip what you already know, ask questions, answer questions, share your projects, and more.
The courses are divided into different units. Each one includes lessons, informational text, tasks, and practice exercises to help you carry out your project step by step, with additional complementary resources and downloads. You'll also have access to an exclusive forum where you can interact with the teacher and with other students, as well as share your work and your course project, creating a community around the course.
You can redeem the course you received by accessing the redeeming page and entering your gift code.
yutzilcalderon29
PlusSon cursos muy buenos y rapidos en verdad que sonde utilidad y hay demuchas cosas asi que conviene mucho
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edgeofmaine
PlusAlthough I don't speak Italian, the course was easy to follow. The presentation and resources are helpful in understanding what is involved in the creative process.
rsontomaz
;)
parraarcos
Un interesante curso para comenzar tener una visión sobre el tema.
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zescamilla.orionste
No es un curso que profundice tanto sin embargo te da una muy buena idea de como se forma y que fin tiene un foto libro, un buen curso introductorio al tema.
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