52 Closets
@ CMU School of Design
25 Weeks. Fall ‘24 -> Spring ‘25.



A 412-page, hardcover coffee table book describing people, but through the lens of their closets. 

Click here to read!
















SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Brett Yasko, Dylan Vitone &
Frank Ratchye Further Fund
of the Studio for Creative Inquiry









I photographed 53 people and their 52 closets in order to learn more about them through a narrow, specific lens. 













Print Specifications
412 Pages
8.27” x 11.69” (A4)
Parabolica Typeface

5lbs / copy

Printed via Mixam
    Hardcover
    100lb Gloss Text
    Matte Color Cover




Sales Statistics

20 Copies Sold
10+ Pending Sale 
20+ Additional Pre-Orders

California, Kentucky, Oregon, 
Peru, Pennsylvania, New York, & More












The Process








Planning

Coming up with the foundational idea, my timeline, shoot plans, questions, and finding candidates for the shoot. 

In this beginning stage, I didn’t over-plan the final output, but wanted to make sure I had some level of direction to carry me through the beginning stages of the project.


( 2 weeks )














Collecting (Photographing)


I spent the two-three months (mid September to late November) photographing as many people and closets as I could. In this process, I would ask them to answer questions via a form. My schedule was very hectic during this time, and I definitely got my steps in.





( 7 - 9 weeks )


























Sifting


Next came processing ALL of the material. Photographs, interviews, sketches, demographics, everything. The ‘puzzle phase’ of this project. Beginning to regain some order over all the media I’d amassed up until this point.





( 2 - 4 weeks )

























Designing


After prepping for designing, came designing. The hardest part of this project was absolutely this section of the process. Between figuring out a design system, layout, specifications and everything else, there were a lot of hard and fast choices to make that felt daunting. 





( 6 - 9 weeks )























Designing
After prepping for designing, came designing. The hardest part of this project was absolutely this section of the process. Between figuring out a design system, layout, specifications and everything else, there were a lot of hard and fast choices to make that felt daunting. 
(6-9 weeks)


















Printing

Once designing was done came PRINT PREPPING. I spent easily 100 hours at least simply prepping all 412 pages for print. Most of this time was spent color grading and proofing for the RGB -> CMYK shift.

(~ 2 weeks)

















Distributing
One of the most rewarding experiences within this project is the continuous support and excitement others have shown in the project. I’m absolutely honored to be able to say that I’ve been selling copies of these despite their hefty price (and weight).  
(ongoing)





























SKILLS
Photography
Publication Design
Communication Design
Typesetting
Project Management
Composition
Communication
Color Grading & Proofing






TOOLS
DSLR Camera (Sony A7R)  
Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III RXD Lens
Adobe CC
   Photoshop
   inDesign
   Bridge



+ Bonus if you’ve read this far and have time.
















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