Client: Matt Saltzstein
Album: Memorial album for his sister, Jennifer
Date: October 2016
Background
Matt contacted me in October 2016. His sister, Jennifer - a bright, energetic and talented young lady, had sadly passed away in May of that year, aged 40. She had battled chronic kidney disease her entire life, and, unable to have children of her own, was awaiting the birth of her baby through surrogacy when she tragically passed away. Her baby boy, Jasper, was born in August 2016.
Brief
Matt wanted a scrapbook that his nephew could hold onto, to remember her by, a book that captured the essence of his Mom, told her story, reflected her immense talent, ambitions and desires and documented her travels, experiences and relationships.
Ultimately, the scrapbook album was a gift to her husband and her new baby boy but Matt also wanted several copies for friends and family. The scrapbook albums were to be delivered to friends and family in the UK and America.
Approach
Matt had a lot of material, photos and memorabilia from Jennifer’s life, newspaper clippings from her stage career, 150 emails containing stories and messages of sympathy from people who knew her and advice, testimonials and messages from friends and family. It was also all coming from America.
We had several conversations over email and Matt came to Birmingham so we could sit down, go through everything and discuss what Matt and Jennifer’s family wanted to achieve. Ultimately, Matt wanted the album to be a celebration of his sister’s life.
What we did
As Matt wanted several albums, we suggested a digitally designed scrapbook album printed into coffee table books. Not only would this allow several copies to be reproduced relatively cheaply, we could upload the artwork to an American printers and have them delivered from within the US, greatly reducing the cost of postage too.
We decided on a 50 page album with pages to be left blank at the back for any late contributions, photos and messages.
We also produced an online .pdf gallery that could be viewed by friends, family and colleagues around the world.
The album
Here are some of the pages from the album.
The response
“You truly did an incredible job. I can't thank you enough for helping us remember my dear sister. It’s a real piece of art and you did an exceptional job here. “ Matt Saltzstein
If someone you know has recently passed away or you would like to commemorate the life of a dear loved one, get in touch - we would love to hear from you.