Autobiography Book Design 1
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Autobiography Book Design Red Fred Creative
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Philip Goodson Autobiography Design

Brief

Mr Goodson had approached us some years ago to produce his family tree. Pre-Covid, Mr Goodson called in to see if we produced book designs. After completing several books of all shapes and sizes for BPA, Mr Peter Hill and Dr Susie Mitchell, Mr Goodson was pleased with our credentials and began preparing the documents with the help of his editor Karen.

Mr Goodson wanted a “proper book” complete with colour and black and white images.

The Look & Feel

We researched various book sizes and formats, and agreed on a standard sized case bound book with a dust jacket. Unfortunately, as the final copy and images became available, lockdown struck. With Mr Goodson being an older gentlemen, our upmost concern was for his wellbeing. With some careful planning, along with heavily orchestrated collections, we were able to begin work in earnest.

We wanted the book to feel authentic, so proposed a number of typefaces and book covers to Mr Goodson. One of which incorporated his family crest, which he was immediately drawn to.

Chronicling his life from 1934, we understood that this was going to be a substantial book, so we designed an initial chapter of the autobiography to ensure the client was happy before we proceeded to the full layout.

The Solution

It wasn’t clear at this stage just how many pages the book was going to be, as Mr Goodson had quite a collection of archive material that he wanted to include, some of which he uncovered when work on the book design was well underway. Images, slides, newspapers and all sorts of ephemera were scanned and incorporated in the appropriate positions.

Emailed proofs were sent back and forth, and thankfully we were able to complete most of the work remotely.

The finished product weighed in at a whopping 490 page hardback book, and Mr Goodson was thrilled to be able to circulate it amongst his family and friends. We were also over the moon with the fact that we were able to deliver to the books to him personally, after (the first) lockdown had ended and vaccinations had been administered to all concerned!

The Result

“I am so fortunate to have worked with Jonathan, Carmen and John at Red Fred, who share equal qualities of rigour and support. Nothing is too much trouble”