Feedback please - background colour for badge images in a book

[Expat Yeoman]

Folks, can I get your feedback please as you're workng your way through turkey and other assorted Christmas goodies?

I'm pulling together the material for a book I am writing, the text is at a late stage and now I'm turning to the illustrations... to that end, I've mocked up a quick layout of badges with different colour backings - in this case black and white as the two ends of the spectrum, also a light grey and a green (being the primary regimental colour) and am interested as to what you the reader would prefer to see....? I realise this could be quite a subjective question but interested to see if there is a general preference towards (or indeed away from) one of them...

I'm not there yet in terms of either the detail of the photos themselves or my photoshop skills and I know I need to improve both of those, but I'm interested if there is a strong preference towards a particular background colour. I've included examples in gilt, GM, bronze, A/A and cloth to show the different materials that will be included.

If it helps in the consideration, I'm aiming for a 'side by side' approach i.e. left page is the text and the right hand page the associated illustrations to reduce the amount of flicking between pages (won't be a perfect match but that's the general idea)

Many thanks in advance for your thoughts! Expat..

[KLR]

In a book it should be plain white, anything else would distract the eye.

[Lancer 17]

G'day Michael

I have voted for green as the best over all colour, however with the black badge you will loose the details unless its against white or yellow, maybe a small swatch of lighter colour could be used to give this definition.

Merry Christmas

Phil.

[Jelly Terror]

Good morning EY,

I agree with KLR, on white being preferable for the printed page.

Is your publication to be an e-book or a print/paper book? Either way, all the very best with your endeavour.

Regards,

JT.

[mike c]

Hi there I'm with lancer and go for the green, but as he says black badges might cause a problem good luck with your book.

[Expat Yeoman]

Folks thanks very much for the comments and votes so far! And for the encouragement, this book writing game is a tough one but I will persevere - I think getting closer to the finish line now.

I'm planning a print edition for sure and can do as a pdf, but not sure my skills are up to an e-book yet (experience level there somewhere around the same as my photography skills so far...)

Lancer, just to add to my complexity the EY has cloth badges on both black and on green felt, so I have a potential problem there either way Fortunately only one of each, but there are a number of bronze badges too so I need a solution.

All please keep your votes and comments coming, keen to get as wide an audience and perspective as possible.

Michael

[Phil2M]

White is the only way to not lose detail, I reckon.

[54Bty]

As in post 2 I would rather it was a white background, you may also consider asking the printer which is better from the printing side of things.

Marc

[Anodisedbob]

Originally Posted by Expat Yeoman

Folks, can I get your feedback please as you're workng your way through turkey and other assorted Christmas goodies?

I'm pulling together the material for a book I am writing, the text is at a late stage and now I'm turning to the illustrations... to that end, I've mocked up a quick layout of badges with different colour backings - in this case black and white as the two ends of the spectrum, also a light grey and a green (being the primary regimental colour) and am interested as to what you the reader would prefer to see....? I realise this could be quite a subjective question but interested to see if there is a general preference towards (or indeed away from) one of them...

I'm not there yet in terms of either the detail of the photos themselves or my photoshop skills and I know I need to improve both of those, but I'm interested if there is a strong preference towards a particular background colour. I've included examples in gilt, GM, bronze, A/A and cloth to show the different materials that will be included.

If it helps in the consideration, I'm aiming for a 'side by side' approach i.e. left page is the text and the right hand page the associated illustrations to reduce the amount of flicking between pages (won't be a perfect match but that's the general idea)

Many thanks in advance for your thoughts! Expat..

I put my TA on a red backing which does not show them off very well
Bob

[Peter Brydon]

I also use the red backing on which my badges are permanently displayed as the backing for the illustrations in my book and I dont think the colour detracts from the badges but all these things are, in my opinion, personal preferences.

P.B.

[Artynut]

I just did a quick look at various badge reference books and for the most part, white pages seem to be the norm. I did notice that you were planning a “side by side” lay-out and that may determine your choice. In “Ward’s” book, he sometimes puts text and badges on the same page and there is some merit in the fact that the badges have a Black background, The white metal badges seem to look very good in that format. Most of the Brass/Gilt badges look good on a white background. “Owen’s” has mostly black & white photo’s on White pages while the coloured cloth, enamel and plastic seem to be mostly on pastel shaded paper. Whether because of the printing technique employed or deliberate, I cannot say. Renfrew & Renfrew with Cranston in their Colonial Badges books have some stunning pages of artwork employing all that I’ve listed above. As was stated in previous posts,the cost of set-up, the lay-out and format will surely be a factor as will be the publisher/printer involved. Finally, your photography will be criticized negatively if it is not of the highest quality possible. A daunting Job you have ahead of you, I wish you the best of Luck. Best regards, David J. PS, Check your local Library!

[Expat Yeoman]

Originally Posted by Anodisedbob

I put my TA on a red backing which does not show them off very well
Bob

Lovely collection there Bob, with three really rare items. Thanks for sharing.

[Expat Yeoman]

Thanks all for the overnight comments. Judging by the poll the strongest preference is for white so will go with that. The different colours can work well and I think I will use that for the associated website I am looking to throw together.

Peter (and Bob), like you've done I plan to mount my small collections of line infantry on red felt as I think that gives a great contrast and is a relevant colour, which is why I also tend to go with the rifle green when mounting my EY items.

I will take further advice from the printer on this too. Comments re photo quality noted and is work in progress - probably my biggest challenge at present.

For info here's a quick example of one of the pages I've put together with badges on white within a bordered box. Again, I am not happy with the quality of the images yet but it is helping me work out layout style etc., and I think the plain white does help here. I'm planning to go with an A4 page size to allow me to illustrate most items at full size.

Thanks again all.

Michael