Photo Book Design: From Concept to Binding

A course by Roberta Donatini , Graphic Designer and Art Director

Graphic Designer and Art Director. Milán, Italy.
Joined March 2020

Learn to create a photography book, from selecting the images, format, and design to the paper and binding for your mock-up

97% positive reviews (70)
2,733 students
Audio: Italian
Italian · Spanish · English · Portuguese · German · French · Polish · Dutch

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.

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What will you learn in this online course?

18 lessons & 25 downloads

Tools and Materials
3 minutes, 42 seconds
Introduction to the Photo Book
14 minutes, 18 seconds
From Dummy to Publication
5 minutes, 48 seconds
The Image and the Text
11 minutes, 21 seconds
The Typographical Choices
8 minutes, 28 seconds
  • 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

2,733 Students
70 Reviews
97% Positive ratings

Roberta Donatini

A course by Roberta Donatini

Teacher Plus
Graphic Designer and Art Director

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

  • U1

    Introduction

    • About Me
    • Influences
  • U2

    The Photo Book: Developing a Concept

    • Tools and Materials
    • Introduction to the Photo Book
    • From the Photographic Series to the Book
    • The Concept in Other Photo Books
    • Evaluate Ideas and Do Research
  • U3

    Editing and Design

    • From Dummy to Publication
    • Choose and Organize Images
    • The Image and the Text
    • The Typographical Choices
    • The Format of the Photo Book
    • The Layout 1
    • The Layout 2
    • The Cover
  • U4

    The Material Part

    • Papers and Bindings
    • Papers and Bindings: Other Photo Books
    • The Importance of Tests
  • FP

    Final project

    • Photo Book Design: From Concept to Binding

What to expect from a Domestika course

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    Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.

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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.

If you're a Plus member, when you complete a course you've purchased, you'll instantly get your personalized certificate. You can see all your certificates in the Certificates section of your profile. You can download your certificates as PDFs and share the link online. Learn more about certificates.
Photo Book Design: From Concept to Binding. Design course by Roberta Donatini

Photo Book Design: From Concept to Binding

A course by Roberta Donatini
Graphic Designer and Art Director. Milán, Italy.
Joined March 2020
  • 97% positive reviews (70)
  • 2,733 students