I recently received a pre-release copy of a book titled Compassion, Courage and Friendship from RedBubble.com, an Australian-based company that provides print-on-demand services.

I've previously posted a review of a canvas print from RedBubble.com, and was very happy with the quality of the print.

This book is no different, with the presentation and print quality being very good.

The book consists of a variety of photos, drawings and writings submitted by RedBubble members. A number of judges chosen by RedBubble staff had the task of narrowing down the submitted material, to determine which items would be included in the book, The resulting book contains 71 submitted items from RedBubble members.

With each page containing a single item (photo, drawing or piece of writing), the layout is clean and simple, and the choice of fonts does not detract from the subject material.

The reproduction of the photos and drawings is very good, with the colours being represented correctly, and the photos have lost none of their sharpness. (I compared some of the photos in the book with the large versions on the RedBubble website, using a colour-calibrated monitor.)

front cover

photo

spine and cover	writing
photo	photo
writing, showing font detail	drawing, showing font detail

While not all of the items included in the book appeal to my tastes, I was impressed by the print quality of the book.

Compassion, Courage and Friendship will go on sale this week Thursday (23 October).

I'm hoping RedBubble will allow members to create their own books like this in the future!


Update (22 October 2008): I have now published a follow-up post to this review.


Update (24 October 2008): the Compassion, Courage and Friendship book is now available for purchase from here.


Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with RedBubble, other than being a member, and a volunteer moderator of the forums. A copy of the Compassion, Courage and Friendship book was provided to me at no cost by RedBubble for review.