You’ve labored, sacrificed, toiled for months, more likely even years, and now you’re ready to showcase your art on the global stage. The oversized or “coffee table book” is a medium to feature your art ito targeted elite audiences, discriminating buyers, museum and gallery exhibitions, collectors, patrons, sponsors, and lifestyle voyageurs. Yes, it’s marketing, branded entertainment and uniquely designed visual and written content, as well, but first and foremost, IT’S YOUR ART! It’s also your legacy.

Your art may be painting, drawing, sculpting, mixed media, photography, film, an artistic expression of a cause, portraying a historical representation of persons, places or accomplishments or a luxury brand marketing tool for your product. Whatever the case, your book needs to reflect the highest quality and the most precise attention to every detail of your art and its representation. You must treat your book as if you were featuring your art on the big screen, hanging in your dream museum or listing it at an art auction with Christie’s. Your collaborators and publishers should do the same. The process is so much more successful if you have a publisher who is also an artist and understands the nuances.

The size, the cover design, book cover material, the binding, the paper stock, the coating of the pages, the inks, the fonts, the layout, the art design, the branding, the resolution of the imagery, the cases/boxes to house the book and any other “embellishments” each contribute to the overall presentation and experience. Buyers of oversized, coffee table or luxury books are passionate and loyal. They proudly display your art through these books in their homes and offices. They keep and treasure them as gifts. They repeatedly pick up these coffee table books in quiet reflection or inspired conversations with their guests. Your book becomes a part of their signature surroundings. They will pay the higher and warranted retail prices and many seek out the limited edition or “portfolio box” versions. As such, an oversized/coffee table book can launch the next stage of your career or business. You can have an army of followers respond to your call to action. However, you want to attract the clientele and patrons you desire.

As a film director, photographer and publisher, I am extremely strategic and critical about every detail involving my art, along with the art of my clients. Anyone who’s known me as a filmmaker for over 20 plus years will tell you that before my films are shown at premieres or film festivals, I have stringent requirements as to the venue, the screen, the sound system, the projection equipment, the calibration of the color, the seating in the theater, the promotion and publicity, and the entire representation of my art. Any of these factors failing to meet my standards will only negate the viewing experience and discount my value as an artist. Nothing is more damaging and disappointing to see your art shown in a substandard or cheapened manner.

As an example with publishing, I painstakingly evaluate every color, assuring that it’s true and command that the resolution and paper highlight the exact elements of the art. As a media psychology aficionado, I plan in a very strategic way the design of the colors, layout, composition, tactile feel and white space to prompt the experience you envision. The words, being more limited than in a traditional book format, must be even more calculated and impactful. The visual and emotive gratification is critical. The marriage of the words and imagery is further one of my greatest passions. Seeing all come together is like an orchestrated concerto.

And yes, there are actually uniquely created audio/video representations of these books that involve other artistic considerations. The chosen voice, the style of the video production and the direction of both have a complexity of layers. As a film director and voice talent director and coach, I have navigated these waters for over twenty years and consider it an honor to advocate for the artist/author again ensuring his or her appropriate legacy in the collaboration. The blending of your artistic vision, technique, process, and inspiration are all essential to representing your legacy during your lifetime, as well as, for future generations. It’s your voice, your art, your book, and your legacy.