Most designers will eventually settle into a particular 'style'. Some find that illustrative graphics are their thing, others develop a very clean minimal style, and everything inbetween. Good designers are usually able to move between styles depending on the client, rather than enforcing their own prescrpitive style on a job.

I like to think that I've been able to do what's right for my clients, finding the right approach for each client. However, I recently found myself a little bit out of my comfort zone on a recent project - a 180 page coffee table book for lovers of a vintage lifestyle. 

The book is Pretty Nostalgic Home, and was written by Nicole Burnett and Sarah Legg, who run a vintage and artisan market in South Wales. The book is a must for those interested in developing a vintage home, from the kitchen to the garden via celebrations and tips for buying the right stuff.

As you'll see from the images, the book required a very distinct visual identity. The writers wanted to create a  'scrapbook' approach, with the photos and annotations appearing as if they've been stuck in with love. To further develop the scrapbook illusion a handwritten font and cut out bits of paper were used to good effect.

However, as most of my clients have had at least some semblance of a corporate edge I had become accustomed to certain 'givens' in my design approach - I expect everything to line up nicely where required, I still enjoy using white space to direct the eye (my instructions for this even included not leaving any white spaces!), I expect there to be a distinct focus on each page - but on this project I almost had to unlearn many of the things i've learned in my professional career and take a step back to my days of keeping a sketchbook on art A-level and the like.

Having gone through that process I'm very pleased to add the project to my portfolio, not only as a creative success, but as a lesson that an old dog can learn some new tricks, making sure I keep on my toes and not take any styling issues for granted.

You can purchase the book on Amazon  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pretty-Nostalgic-Home-Happy-Vintage/dp/0957133901/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331300928&sr=8-1 . Please let me know what you think of it.