We could all do with something to look forward to, and celebrating past adventures is the quickest way to inspire future ones, we say. Need a helping hand? Allow our ultimate guide to photo book personalities to help.

 

THE STAR BAKER

They flooded their socials with photos of their banana bread. Re-watched the Great British Bake-Off. Stocked up on flour, baking soda and yeast…the list goes on. Give the head chef in your life the gift of inspiration with a photo book jam-packed with delightful desserts, old family favourites, and tantalising new dishes to try. Play your cards right and they may just whip something up at your next reunion.

We’d recommend…

• Square Spiral Softcover Book opens flat with spiral binding to easily flip through, is perfect for Insta photos and has glossy, high-quality finish pages.
• Personalise an Exercise Book for them to jot down their favourite recipes and notes. There’s 8 photo layouts, 22 different backgrounds designs and it’s made from recycled 115gsm lined or plain paper.

Quick tips…

• Put together a book of secret family recipes for a new in-law.
• Why not find some dishes to up their Masterchef game or curate their proudest Insta pics? Don’t forget to make a promise to make more Sundays roasts together next year.

 

THE GARDENER

More time at home means more time in the garden. From double digging to the average frost date, rainy days are now something to look forward to. High screen time is a thing of the past — help them see how much they’ve bloomed with our recommendations.

We’d recommend…

• The Circle Window Cutout Photo Book lets their favourite plant peek out of the front. Also, choose from 10 colours for a strokeable matte finish that wraps cover to cover, there’s even space to add fun captions using two different typefaces and hint at what’s inside.
• The Photo Journal, which has a choice of cover colours, or a personalised cover for a small fee. Retro-feel, eco-friendly paper adds to the homespun feel of your crafty gift. Let them take notes of how their babies are growing week by week.

Quick tips…

• Get them a book around tips on how to plant and care for the plants and aromatic herbs you bought them – make a date to visit them when they eventually bloom.
• Make a book of beautiful nature shots, mixed with a couple of photos of their own backyard. If you don’t have enough photos of their garden, sites like Pexels and Unsplash should be able to help.

 

THE TRAVELLER

Transform their gap year Insta pics and spur on future trips. Whether they’re addicted to Planet Earth, regularly post throwback pics of their past adventures or they have post-2021 wanderlust, there’s a photo book to match their #travelgoals.

We’d recommend…

• Roundup past adventures with a 2021 Year Photo Book. From all the countries they’ve visited on each glossy-finished page, to 4 sunset photos on the cut-out cover. Hopefully it’ll inspire your next trip together…
• It’s been an *unprecedented* year, so gather the best bits for a Little Moments Photo Book to show them beautiful things happen every day, and not just on holiday. Layflat binding and an extra-thick hardcover lends a touch of luxury.
• A4/A3 Lay Flat puts all the photos they never printed in centre-stage — perfect for the coffee table that needs a little something extra.

Quick tips…

• Take advantage of the flat binding and spread one amazing photo over both pages.
• Use captions to write down locations, or technical details of how each shot was taken.

 

THE PROUD NEW PARENTS

Not everyone may have been able to meet your giftee’s new bundle of joy. They’re also probably exhausted, so if someone else could put together a photo book for them of all the photos they’ve posted to social media, they’d be thrilled.

We’d recommend…

• Little Moments Photo Book for a design as cute as they are. Now even bigger and available in landscape, customise the cover and spine with special captions and dates.
• My First Baby Photo Board Book has 16 wipeable pages (safe from sticky hands) and 1 photo per page — why not teach them about animals, their favourite foods or fun words to learn?

Quick tips…

• You only need one photo per page for these books.
• Add the proud parents’ Instagram captions by screenshotting and uploading as an image, or creating an image yourself in our easy peasy Creator Studio.
• My First Baby Photo Board Book is also made to be safe for tiny fingers (and teeth).
• They’ve captured literally everything, so you could theme multiple books around cute babygrows, sleeping, days out in the stroller, oops moments…the possibilities are endless.

 

THE CREATIVE

Need something for your designer pals? Perhaps they took their graphic design skills to the next level during lockdown, revamped their website or they’re just in desperate need of a new portfolio. These are photo books for the artsy types (be it for them or yourself)…

We’d recommend…

• Lay Flat Photo Books are a match made in Heaven for beautiful illustrations. Show off striking colours by upgrading to super vibrant silver halide paper with the A4 Professional Lay Flat Photo Book.
• The Photo Journal could be a hub of creative inspiration for any artist to scrawl down their ideas, doodles, storyboards and more. Their imagination is sure to run wild with plain white pages at their fingertips…

 

THE PHOTOGRAPHER

Perhaps you think their amazing phone pics from scenic walks are simply wasted on the group chat, or they’re heading for National Geographic. Calling all photographers, your time is now.

We’d recommend…

• The A4 Professional Lay Flat designed with extra thick, silver halide paper made to really pronounce the quality of your photos. Think of those future sunrises you’ll capture on film together and how incredible they’ll look.

Quick tips…

• • Take advantage of the flat binding and spread one amazing photo over both pages – it’ll boost their confidence and inspire more panoramic style shots.

 

THE RUNNER

Couch to 5k. MyFitnessPal. Map My Run. You’ve lost count of the shiny new apps they download every week to track their goals, because exercise is everything to the runner in your life. We think a photo book will definitely give those fitness achievements a boost of well-earned pride…

We’d recommend…

• Little Moments Photo Book for their post-run selfies, marathon finishes, screen-grabbed routes, and progress reports to flick through so you can both see how far they’ve come. It’s compact, it’s high quality, and a bestseller for a reason.
• Personalised Exercise Book. Does your pavement-pounding pal suffer from ‘maranoia’? Print out calming tips, yoga poses, and leave plenty of pages for them to write down how they feel when the big event happens.

Quick tips…

• Research marathons in other cities for a new challenge and motivate next year’s plans. Maybe even hide a cheap and cheerful train ticket within the pages.