scotland

A family return to their car – Staffin, Skye

The last few weeks have seen some tough decisions taken with regard to the layout and design of the Scotland book. Something just didn’t look right and for quite a while i couldn’t figure out quite what the problem was even though the April deadline for a release was looming.

Eventually it became clear that it was the narrative of the book that was wrong and so, with some trepidation, i decided to make some large changes to the narrative, layout and order of the images which has resulted in a better looking book… but also a larger one. Originally i planned to have a maximum of 100 pages , however, the current book design has 164 pages boosted by some newly added photography. In one afternoon i managed to advance further than i had in several weeks, such is the way that the creative process ebbs and flows.

The text for the book will be influenced from a number of reading sources. The landscape and history of the Scottish Highlands are firmly entwined and a wonderful book  by the author J.J Bell called ‘The Glory of Scotland‘, has been especially influential. Published in 1932, the book remains an entertaining, if slightly dated, guide to the land and people of Scotland, and yet much of J.J Bell’s writing still holds true today. The outdated elements add a certain charm to the reading though. One beautifully written section dealing with the ferry over to Skye advises ‘if you have a car it is well to wire “stationmaster, Kyle of Lochalsh”  in advance‘. I must remember to telegram ahead on my next visit.

So the book now has a provisional release date of late June. This has been a tough project so far but it needs to be 100% right and i would rather delay to get something right than rush and regret later.  After all, the book will be on the shelf to act as a constant reminder.