Making a Photo Book: Our User Stories

A custom photo book is an ideal gift for family, friends or partners. You will give more than just a photo album; you will create something unique – perfect to remember your happy moments in life.

To highlight the various occasions and thoughtful stories behind such a gift, we have decided to share with you a few testimonials from our Funky Pigeon coop, who have reviewed their experience creating their own photo books. Read on to get inspired by their stories, and maybe think of a bunch of photos you’ve taken over the past months which could be turned into a thoughtful keepsake for a loved one.

Story 1: Meet Rob, our CRM Manager and recent new dad.

Why Did You Create a Photo Book? And For Who?

A few weeks into lockdown, my wife and I welcomed our first child, Lottie, into the world. Unfortunately, due to lockdown, we were unable to introduce her to our family and friends. To make sure they didn’t miss out on her first few weeks, we made a photo book for both sets of parents.

What Are You Expecting their Reaction to Be?

We plan on meeting up with our parents at the same time and giving them their photo books. Hopefully, they will be delighted to have a record of the weeks they missed, and I’m sure they will treasure them forever.

Was it important for you to create something positive during this uncertain time?

Lockdown has been hard on everyone, and we wanted to make sure we looked back on our time in isolation as healthily as possible. To do this, we have focused on the positives and taken a lot of photos. Hopefully, when we look back at lockdown, we will mostly remember Lottie’s first smiles and laughs.

Can you walk us through the steps of how you put it together?

We made sure we knew exactly what photos we wanted to use and had them ready before we designed the book – this made the whole process easy. We loved being able to design each page differently and add stickers too.

Are you satisfied with the outcome?

We’re both delighted with the photo books. The design and quality are fantastic – perfect to showcase our happy memories!

Story 2: Meet Alex, our Paid Search Executive and thoughtful boyfriend.

Why Did You Create a Photo Book? And For Who?

Due to work commitments, my girlfriend and I live apart but try and see each other as much as possible. However, as of Monday 23rd March, we went into lockdown and were not able to see one another. So I wanted to create a photo book to remember all the various trips and holidays we had together before lockdown and the fun times we’ve shared in the past two years.

What Are You Expecting their Reaction to Be?

I expect her reaction to be one of excitement and very emotional as we haven’t seen each other for several weeks.

Was it important for you to create something positive during this uncertain time?

Taking the time to create something positive that will surprise and cheer her up was really important, as we both missed each other a lot, and it was hard not doing the things we planned to do.
Creating a photo book helped us both remember our happiest moments during this challenging time. It also helped us look forward to creating more memories as and when it is safe to do so.

Can you walk us through the steps of how you put it together?

To put the photo book together, I first made sure I had enough photos. I then selected the size of the photo book I wanted and chose the hard-cover. Once this was done, I began uploading all my photos, and then I started customising each page with stickers, different backgrounds and layouts.

Are you satisfied with the outcome?

The system is nice and easy because it guides you through the process. You can have 20 pages as standard, but I was able to add a few extra pages because I had a lot of great photos. It was very quick to do, but you can save your progress throughout and revisit whenever you like.

Story 3: Meet Laura, our Senior Designer & Illustrator, and full-time mum.

Why Did You Create a Photo Book? And For Who?

I am a mummy to a 5-year-old little boy called Elwood, who started his first year at school last September. He loved it. Six months later, his foundation year was cut short, and we went into lockdown.

So as on Monday 23rd March, I became a teacher (or at least attempted to). For almost three months, I worked my regular hours doing my usual job working from home, plus trying to look after and home school Elwood. I set up a little desk next to mine and attempted a routine doing ‘our new normal’. I took photos every day. These were of his home-schooling, his birthday, his zoom calls with his friends, of banging saucepans and clapping on Thursday evenings.

What Are You Expecting their Reaction to Be?

I hope he will look back at his photos and realise what a crazy, yet special, the year 2020 was and hopefully realise that his mum and dad tried so hard to make the best out of a strange situation.

Was it important for you to create something positive during this uncertain time?

Although it was tough and very challenging, it was also wonderful. I never had this much time with Elwood before and as a family. Working and commuting meant that sometimes I would only see him for an hour a day, so this gave us what we both missed, time together!

I wanted to create a photo book of memories for him – something for him to keep and look at when he’s a bit older and remember fondly.

Can you walk us through the steps of how you put it together?

I would definitely recommend a photo book as a keepsake. It’s been an emotional rollercoaster, and I want us both to remember this crazy ride.

Are you satisfied with the outcome?

It’s easy to take photos and leave them on your phone until they get forgotten about. So I’m glad I did it, plus the print and delivery were spot-on!

We hope these few testimonials have given you some inspiration to discover the many great reasons to create your own photobook, and bring your memories to life.

You can use them to illustrate your life during the lockdown, show off your new hobbies, your best food photos, or remember old family photos– after all, any happy times are worth celebrating 😉.

To try it out for yourself and create your own photobook, take a look at our personalised photo book options here.