Design House Digital

Behind the Scenes of a Digital Scrapbook Layout

Psst. I’ve got a secret. My layouts never “are” what they appear to be. I use smoke and mirrors to levitate my scrapbook pages off the ground. I pull a dove out of my top hat, frequently.

What I’m trying to say is I’m a master at making impossible situations possible on my layouts. And today I’m taking you behind the scenes of two my layouts. So you can see the magic too!

I’m fond of my Souvies layout’s color and design. But I chuckle each time I share the page because you’d never guess that sitting behind the barrage of photos is a very cut-up photo frame.

I duplicated and butchered that frame into a million pieces just so the textured edges would peek out from behind the photo grouping. Not so much magic as is “I’m going to fit this square peg into the round hole or else.” When I want an embellishment on my page, I’m going to do whatever it takes to make it happen.

Here’s another example.

Again, smoke and mirrors. Smoke and mirrors! Would you have guessed that sitting under my photo grouping were three journaling blocks plus a multi-photo frame? Maybe not, maybe so. But the point is to look at your elements as more than just a single object. Explore the edges, the center, the bottom and the top. Chances are you can make use of your elements in unusual ways. You just might need to think outside of the box. Or cut them up … literally!

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School of Design – Design Theory 4

Welcome back to the final design theory lesson. So far, we’ve learned that good design communicates and steers the eye around the page. Focal points, an established hierarchy, and varying degrees of emphasis all help to share the most important page parts. Now I have one more tried & true practice for leading the eye around the page. It’s super easy!

My all-time favorite trick for moving the eyes around a layout in the order I determine is by use of color and flow. In the page below, I used a red accent — as seen at top left, right side, and repeated in the photo — to help the eye travel through the most important parts of the piece. Then I reinforced the movement with the secondary yellow accent in the title at top, then again on the right, and finally at the page bottom.

Doubling up on the colors to reinforce the design creates a flow of movement from top to bottom and left to right. It’s a great way to take advantage of reading gravity subliminally! How cool is that? This is what I call “stacking the flow”. And it’s great way to use color to influence your design.

So let’s sum up:

  • A page plan helps you begin the process of page creation. Planning the focus of your page helps steer you to a more thought-out design before you add colors, papers, and elements.
  • Sketching helps you plan. I prefer using paper and pencil before opening the photo-editor because my decisions become purely creative rather than based on the analytical restrictions of the software. But relying on your photo-editor to create a design, sans photos and scrapbook products, works too.
  • Once your plan is born, communicate your focus more efficiently. One way to communicate a focus is to establish a visual entry point, or focal point, and position it according to Gutenberg’s reading gravity.
  • Reading gravity is cool but focal points work best when the design communicates varying levels of importance. We call this a Visual Hierarchy, which tells the eye specifically where to go and in what order. Using this method allows your focal point to stand out, regardless of its location on the page, because other areas attract less attention.
  • Another way to lead the eyes around the page is by use of color and flow.
  • And finally, good page design communicates and tells the viewer where to look.

With our design theory lessons complete, what methods do you use to communicate your visual message? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Looking for more design theory education? Join me in the Scraphic Design online workshop for digital scrapbookers at reneepearson.com. Class begins this upcoming Monday.

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School of Design – Design Theory 3

Last week we learned good design communicates and tells the eye what to look first. Where the eye looks first is the primary visual element, also known as the focal point. We also learned about reading gravity or moving the eyes from left to right and top to bottom on a page design. But if everyone used reading gravity, our pages would look very similar. There’s got to be better ways right? Of course! Today we’ll improve upon our knowledge and really get down and dirty with page design.

So here’s the deal. On a scrapbook page, it simply does not matter what you choose as your primary visual element. Let me say that again: on a scrapbook page it simply does not matter WHAT you choose as your focal point. Or even where! Doesn’t matter. Why? Because you can emphasize anything — anywhere if you truly want to! You can have the photos stand out, or the title, or colors, or journaling. You can emphasize any of those anywhere on your page! It’s up to you.

What DOES matter is not what you choose or where but how! How will you make “whatever you choose” stand out from everything else?

One definitive way is by levels of hierarchy. A visual hierarchy is a type of pecking order where some part of the design is made more dominant than others. Subconsciously, we separate these areas of importance into three levels: dominate, sub-dominate, and subordinate.

The first level, termed the Dominant level, is the highest in the hierarchy. It’s reserved for the object or area given the most visual weight, therefore, the element of primary emphasis. Viewers tend to see the Dominant level as the entry-point, better known as the focal point. Either way, it’s the most important level because the Dominant level chooses the starting point for the viewer. That’s the point where your eyes look first! This is similar to what we learned last week but let’s push further.

After that comes the sub-dominate level and it’s the areas of secondary emphasis. The last level is the subordinate level consisting of areas and objects with the least important visual material.

How does this design info relate to a scrapbook page? Here’s the key: Always concentrate on developing the top level and the bottom, the Dominate and Subordinate levels, on your page. We can easily distinguish most from least. So your most important decisions rely on how you create a contrast between the focal area and the least important part of your page.

Take the example below, I decided that the large flourish be the dominant focal point of the page. However, I also created a rather large and bold title which took the emphasis away from the swirl. How could I make the swirl stand out more and the title less so a hierarchy existed?

By reducing the visual impact of the title. Take a look at the next example.

I chose to rework the title and use a font with less visual prominence. Doing so has elevated my focal point and created an obvious difference between what is dominant and what is not. Now your eyes are moved around the page in the order I have determined. My design is communicating to you and leading you on a journey around my page according to a hierarchy.

So let’s sum up:

  • A page plan helps you begin the process of page creation. Planning the focus of your page helps steer you to a more thought-out design before you add colors, papers, and elements.
  • Sketching helps you plan. I prefer using paper and pencil before opening the photo-editor because my decisions become purely creative rather than based on the analytical restrictions of the software. But relying on your photo-editor to create a design, sans photos and scrapbook products, works too.
  • Once your plan is born, communicate your focus more efficiently. One way to communicate a focus is to establish a visual entry point, or focal point, and position it according to Gutenberg’s reading gravity.
  • Reading gravity is cool but focal points work best when the design communicates varying levels of importance. We call this a Visual Hierarchy, which tells the eye specifically where to go and in what order. Using this method allows your focal point to stand out, regardless of its location on the page, because other areas attract less attention.

Next week, we’ll wrap up our discussion on design theory.

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School of Design – Design Theory 2

Welcome back to Design Theory! Last week we learned that design means to plan and beginning with a plan steers you to a more mature scrapbook page design.

After your plan is developed, your next step is to usher the plan into reality and communicate your idea. So, how will you communicate that the photos are more prominent, or the story, or something else? I’ll tell you how: by establishing a focal point.

Think of it this way: in a group of equally-weighted objects the eyes ask, “What’s most important here? What should be viewed first?” It’s a bad sign when the audience can’t identify what should be viewed first on a page. Viewers are made to discover their own points of interest — they’re forced to play a guessing game. It’s our job to communicate a single, primary visual element known as the focal point. We decide what information the viewer will see first. That’s what good communication is all about.

There are a variety of ways to communicate a focal point. One tried-and-true practice is to position the most important part of your page in the top, left-hand section. Our eyes typically look for information here first and gradually move left to right and top to bottom just like how we read (in the Western part of the world). Take a look at the visuals below.

The concept was introduced by Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the modern day printing press. His concept, termed reading gravity, suggests to divide a page design into four quadrants and place the most important parts in the Primary Optical Focus area and in the Terminal area where as the eyes generally move diagonally down. Let’s apply his diagram to a few scrapbook pages.

Can you tell what I’m trying to communicate first using reading gravity in my layouts below?

In the layout above, the photos are of primary focus. Sure the title clearly identifies “gums” as the focus of the page. But I’ve visually communicated my message by photos and position alone.

This layout’s focus is clearly text. The title text plays primary position and leads you into the layout.The journaling text serves as the end point for your eyes.

So let’s sum up:

  • A page plan helps you begin the process of page creation. Planning the focus of your page helps steer you to a more thought-out design before you add colors, papers, and elements.
  • Sketching helps you plan. I prefer using paper and pencil before opening the photo-editor because my decisions become purely creative rather than based on the analytical restrictions of the software. But relying on your photo-editor to create a design, sans photos and scrapbook products, works too.
  • Once your plan is born, communicate your focus more efficiently. One way to communicate a focus is to establish a visual entry point, or focal point, and position it according to Gutenberg’s reading gravity.

We’ll continue our discussion on design next week: Establishing the Hierarchy.

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School of Design – Design Theory 1

Welcome to Design House Digital’s School of Design. Today, and every single day in September, we’ll have new blog posts; informative, detailed, and FREE classes that will take your digital scrapbooking to the next level. Each subject will have a new post weekly, and at the end of the month you won’t believe how much you’ve learned! Our schedule is as follows:

  • Thursdays – Journaling From the Heart with Jen Papadimitriou
  • Fridays - Photography Tips and Tricks with Lori Pickens
  • Saturdays – You and Your Camera with Allison Waken & Shannon Dombkowski
  • Sundays– Standout Shadows with Gennifer Bursett
  • Mondays – Design Theory with Tiffany Tillman
  • Tuesdays – Blogging Secrets with Mary Shaw
  • Wednesdays – Maximizing Templates with Renee Fink

We’re so excited about this, and hope you will be, too!

As a scrapbook design instructor, I’m often presented with this question: “How do you (Tiffany) design a page from blank page to end? Today, and each Monday in September, I’ll share my thought process for page design. Let’s begin!

The definition for design, noun or verb, is to prepare a work to be executed, to designate the form and structure, to intend for a definite purpose, to conceive in the mind, to assign a purpose, or to adapt means to a preconceived end. Eh, I think you get the point. Bottom line, design simply means to plan.

When you start a scrapbook page, what’s your plan? What is the purpose of your page? Will you focus on a certain photo or a specific portion of a photo? Or will the story be of prominent focus? Does a special event need the most attention? Or will you highlight a single moment captured in time? No matter the direction you choose, a plan commits you to building a better page design before adding papers, colors, and elements.

Planning becomes top priority as a template designer. And sketching helps me plan and focus my thoughts. Let me share a few examples of sketches turned into digital designs and then turned into completed pages.

My idea for Scrapworthy Template One began with one goal in mind: a swirly thing. Really advance thought process, right? I wanted some type of swirly thing behind a grouping of photos. So, I put my plan into action and captured my thoughts visually via sketch:

I transferred my sketch into a digital page template as seen here:

And a page design created from it:

Cousins & Friends by Rachel

Notice the amount of changes from planning, to sketch, to digital design, to completed page. As stated above, my initial thought was to create a swirly thing. From there, my thought process moved from thing to ribbon moving in and out of the page, and back to swirly thing with strong edges. I substituted journaling for a photo area and adjusted the objects supporting the photos.

My design matured during the process because it started with a plan. Here’s another example.

Simple Snapshots began with a similar process. My plan was to create a set of pages that were symmetrically balanced on a central vertical or horizontal axis, rounded corners for photos, and larger areas for journaling. The focus is equally on the photos and the story. It came together rather easily once I put my pencil to paper:

Again, I digitized my sketches into templates:

And a page design created from it:

Finally At Home by Liahra

So let’s sum up:

  • A page plan helps you begin the process of page creation.
  • Planning the focus of your page helps steer you to a more thought-out design before you add colors, papers, and elements.
  • Sketching helps you plan. I prefer using paper and pencil before opening the photo-editor because my decisions become purely creative rather than based on the analytical restrictions of the software. But relying on your photo-editor to create a design, sans photos and scrapbook products, works too.

The points above are the basic starting points for a design. We’ll use these as jump off points for our lesson next week: Design: From Plan to Communication.

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