manually

One of the highlights of the near-ending 2007 was getting to “design” a manual back in August. By design, I mean I made the cover page and the chapter cover pages for each module of this retreat manual. My approach: Create a simple design that would encourage its users to go into a reflective, quiet mode. Confession: I bit off way more than I can chew because I am not a designer. This was a for-the-love-of project obviously, because I would say lay out and design are, sadly, non-skills for me. So I knew my limits, and I just used what I had—my digital photographs, specifically the black and white ones (I think they are somehow calmer and more evocative than my colored stuff). All these were originally taken in B&W, except for the tree photo in Module Three, which I converted in Photoshop. To bring the five photos and the manual title together, I relied on my beloved Flickr and trusty Mosaic Maker. Ta-dah!

More on my big, fat love for design and designers in posts to come.