*edit*
Ah, nevermind, you got the links figured out. Anyway, my thoughts on the book are that the pictures themselves are very nice. The editing is clean and consistent throughout the whole book, you have a nice variety of things going on with the environment, her musical abilities (pretty impressive to play all those different instruments), etc. However, for my personal tastes the pages are very busy and I feel like you were trying to cram a little too much on them. Take for example 18-19, having all those pictures plopped on the one of her laying down, just feels like *too* much. Especially since we already have a number of trumpet pictures already - are those additional ones really that unique and important to add? The 10-11, man I would love that background picture all by itself, it kills me having those others placed right on top of it. And pages like 14-15 16-17, I think having those background images, just detract from the pictures of her. Or if you really want to add that background, possibly give it a really low opacity so it's not so bold? I also am not big on the pictures being added crooked. But I also like very simple, clean layouts, with a lot of space around the pictures, so my style may be the complete opposite of yours. I hope that wasn't coming across too rude, but I figured I'd give my honest opinion. Every once in a while I'll post one of my albums, and you can feel free to rip mine to shreds and tell me how boring it is
I think you've got a really nice thing going here, and really nice shots. But I gotta agree about 124% with David regarding how many pics you're using. His example of 18-19 is just spot on. That's a really nice pic for the full spread, but it's impossible to appreciate it as it's buried under a bunch of smaller, redundant pics.
Spread 9 (14-15) works well with the three pics against the softly focused bg. You need that blur on the bg for 10 (16-17). I love love love love spread 7 (10-11) and it's totally killed by those inset pics. Man, what a cool pic, and I can't even really see it!
I could say more.... but don't want to blow it. It's a really nice album even as it is, I just think it can be improved with your design decisions.
I don't like backs, but I guess for the back cover it is kind of fitting. And also on page 6/7, she is the subject, not the trumpet. Why did you blur her out?
Thanks for all the comments! Looking back now, I agree some of these are too busy. That's good feedback. We had lots and lots of pictures and they wanted several of them, but I can see how less may be more! Good comments for me and our lead book designer (AKA, by wife: D). I usually don't take "back shots," however, I have been doing it more lately for a back of book possibility and they have been well received that way. As far as the wood grain for the covers, lately we have been simplifying it down to just an image (front or front/back) with the rest leather. I think simpler on that works better too! Doug
Get rid of the color stroke on the images. Go either black or white.
Is that a drop shadow on the small image on the last page? Get rid of that if so.
Other than that the only change I would suggest is on page 7. Crop that image on the right side to match the two on the left then move it to the left side so you have the three evenly spaced on that side.
