Create with Me: Design 101 with Dan Milnor (May 22, 2025)
Design a book with intention. In this 90-minute workshop, Blurb's creative ambassador Dan Milnor shares layout principles, pacing tips, and cover strategies—while building a book live in Blurb BookWright.
Whether you’re creating your first photo book or refining your visual storytelling, this session gives you the tools to design with confidence.
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Timestamps
Presentation & Demo
00:00 – Welcome + global community check-in
01:13 – Why Dan’s (non-traditional) design background matters
02:01 – What to expect: front matter, back matter, borders, layout consistency
11:28 – Front matter and back matter
16:03 – Borders
24:10 – Typeface tips: fonts, sizing, and legibility
33:10 – Covers
38:23 – Photo layouts, sequencing, and pacing your images
Q&A
49:45 – Consistent borders
51:03 – Mixing portrait and landscape images
52:36 – Columns of text
54:06 – Consistent image placement
55:31 – Spine art
56:29 – Paper type
1:01:48 – Lens choice
1:03:51 – RTF import
1:05:20 – Consolidating books
1:08:50 – Lightroom vs BookWright
1:11:25 – Portfolio layouts
1:12:59 – Color profile and soft proofing
1:16:56 – Book format recommendations
1:20:04 – Portfolio cover art
1:23:35 – Book sequencing
1:26:08 – Photo book as business card
1:27:20 – 50/28 versus 50/21
1:28:34 – Final thoughts + wrap-up
Start your book today with Blurb’s free BookWright tool: https://www.blurb.com
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