These are the final two photographs from my booklet inspired by Stefan Sagmeister’s Things I have learned in my life so far. My lesson is that you don’t have to be like everybody else. You can read part one is here, part two here and part three here.

The photos were taken in and around home using only what I could find on site — turning the ordinary and everyday into something personal and unique.

Everybody is about finding your own voice in a world full of other people’s voices. It was one of the most complicated shoots and one of the most enjoyable.

Else is the final word in the booklet. It’s a celebration. It was made using a torch, a single 8-second exposure and my trusty tripod.

I experimented with different torches (warm/cool/ridiculously bright). Writing backwards was a bit of a challenge. Writing backwards and getting the timing just right in a single shot was even more challenging. You can run out of time (top-left). You can get letters around the wrong way (middle-right). And when you’re writing with light and you make a mistake, you can’t rub it out and start again (top-centre). The occasional starburst can help keep the mood light too.

Lesson learnt: I’m not like everybody else. And neither are you : )

Here are another couple of pages from my booklet inspired by Stefan Sagmeister’s Things I have learned in my life so far. My lesson: you don’t have to be like everybody else. Part one is here and part two is here.

All the photos were taken in and around home using only what I could find on site — turning the ordinary and everyday into something personal and unique. I’m not like everybody else and neither are you : )

To be is a bit of a play on “to be or not to be” which I’ve literally translated into light and shadows. The image represents freedom and fearlessness. Accidentally shining the torch on the bottle had a dramatic effect on the colour!

I drew the words on transparency film and attached it to two little clippy things to hold it in position. Then I set up the tripod and used a torch (and a lot of trial and error) to cast a shadow on our bathroom tiles. Keeping the clips out of the shot while making the words legible wasn’t easy but I got there in the end.

Like explores things that are the same yet different and features a few fun patterns from my scarf collection. The scarves were wrapped around wire frames and balanced precariously on top of our bed’s timber frame. I think the letters look like they’re performers on a stage — particularly the K — or is that just me?

I’ll be posting the last two photos later in the week.

Here are two more pages from my booklet inspired by Stefan Sagmeister’s book Things I have learned in my life so far. My life lesson: you don’t have to be like everybody else.

As I said in part one, all of the photographs were taken in and around home using only what I could find on site — using the ordinary and everyday to create something personal and unique. Because I’m not like everybody else and neither are you : )

Don’t is about turning negatives (!) into positives. In case you’re wondering, I didn’t harm any of our precious family negatives (that’s me and my older brother in the 1970s) to get this shot. I scanned them, printed them on transparency film and attached them to a string tied between two coathangers so that I could hold them in position while taking the photo using a tripod and a timer. Phew. And it was a very breezy day. Lots of patience required but worth it. It’s one of my favourite images.

The breezy conditions produced some rather interesting photos.

Have is about gifts (and I’m not just talking about brooches and necklaces). It also represents the acceptance of loss. Sometimes what you have is a result of what you don’t have. The word is made from jewellery I’ve inherited over recent years. The image is intentionally busy because grief and coming to terms with the absence of those you love is a very complicated thing.

I’ll post the remaining photos next week.

I’ve decided to write a few posts about a booklet I made at design school in 2011. The project was inspired by Stefan Sagmeister’s incredible book Things I have learned in my life so far. Every page is a photograph of a word (or two) created by using objects to form the letters. The lesson I chose to illustrate is that you don’t have to be like everybody else.

The cover of my booklet Things I Have Learnt In My Life So Far… yes, that’s me in the mirror. I was surprised that this shot worked. Every other photo was carefully planned and painstakingly executed — but not this one. This was completely spontaneous.

You represents individuality and potential. The photo features something from every word/page in the booklet. This word was originally going to be plants (see below) rather than drawings of plants but I didn’t think the images were strong enough.

All of the photos were taken in and around home using only the things I could find on site because I wanted to use the ordinary and everyday to create something personal and unique. I’m not like everybody else and neither are you : )

I’ll post the next two photos later in the week.