Design a personal book of condolence
Saying goodbye and preserving memories
An individual book of condolence for the funeral service is a stylish way to collect personal messages and parting words from the mourners for the deceased. Small anecdotes of shared experiences, your own poems and dear words from friends, families and acquaintances in the condolences book are not only a nice reminder of the special aspects of the deceased, but can also help in coping with grief. For the bereaved, a condolence book designed with love is therefore a very special memento of the loved one they have lost.
Cover for an individual book of condolence
When you design the cover of a condolences book, less is more. So be careful not to make the cover sheet too colourful or cluttered. A simple design with a white, black or gray background is suitable for the cover. You can also use a suitable template in the ifolor Designer. Stylish design ideas for the cover page include:
- a nice saying or the deceased's favourite quote
- a photo of the deceased in black and white or sepia with names and the year numbers
- an atmospheric landscape shot that you associate with the deceased
- an appealing inclusion of dandelions, gypsophila, etc.
In the Designer you can also make small image edits afterwards and, for example, convert your photo to black and white. For the text, you can choose a suitable font from a variety of fonts.
Blank pages and personal memories
You can use the first pages of the condolence book for the obituary or place a photo of the deceased with name and year here instead of on the cover. However, a book of condolence should primarily provide space for personal farewell words from the mourners. For this, you should leave enough book pages blank on which the mourners can drop a line later. Instead of having just pure white pages, you can design the blank pages with a discreet background colour or a lightened, transparent atmospheric picture or decorate them with subtle symbols. But make sure that you can still read what you have written later.
Tip
The Photo book pages have a glossy or high-gloss finish. Therefore choose a smudge-proof and waterproof pen that you can use to write on the blank pages.
If you don’t want your self-designed condolences book to consist only of blank pages, you can design individual pages with beautiful souvenir photos and capture your favourite moments with the deceased. Such photos would fit here:
- the deceased with the whole family
- the beloved pet
- hobby
- interests and characteristics that have identified the deceased
- favourite travel destination
For a stylish and uniform design, you can convert, for example, all photos to black and white shots in the Designer. Whether you change the photos or have them printed in the original colour is of course entirely up to you - after all, it should be a very individual and personal book of condolence.
Choosing the right Photo book
For a noble and stylish book of condolence, you should choose a particularly high quality Photo book. The Photo book Deluxe is best suited, because it has a high-quality hardcover binding with adhesive binding and turns the book of condolence into a noble and stylish memento.
The Photo book Deluxe is available in many different formats. The formats A4 and A5 in portrait or landscape format or square in 21x21 cm are particularly suitable for a funeral book. You can also choose the inside pages with a glossy or high gloss finish and choose from 26 to 132 book pages. The number of pages depends on your design and the approximate number of mourners. As a general rule, each guest or family should have one page for their dedication.
If you prefer to design the book of condolence book with a matt look, the Photo book premium photo paper is the right choice. Both the hardcover binding and the pages made of real photo paper can be chosen either glossy or matt. In addition, this Photo book has a special cover that helps the book pages lie flat and not form a fold. Without an annoying fold, it is therefore also ideally suited for labeling by hand.