Bruce the Chef

By: Tom Ambrozewicz

Scrapbooking can be quick and easy if you simply copy other layouts or
use tools such as computer programs to create pages. However, if you
want more of a creative challenge, try your hand at designing your own
layouts. Don’t be surprised at the difficulty you may have designing
the pages for your first album, because layout design is trickier than
it first seems. With a little imagination and a lot of inspiration, you
are well on your way to designing layouts, but you also need a good
foundation of knowledge to take this art to the next level.

Photograph placement is important. Generally, a layout, whether it is
one page or two, looks better with an odd number of pictures. Our eyes
also find it pleasing to scan the page in an "s" shaped pattern-that
is, imagine a giant letter S covering your page. Your most important
pictures should lie in the upper right-hand corner, at the start of the
S, while your least important picture should fall in the lower
left-hand corner at the end of the S. Of course, this is just a general
guideline-many other techniques can be used to create interest and
focus your eyes on a particular spot on the page.

In most designs, the biggest picture is also the most important and
most eye pleasing. This can be achieved by cropping other pictures to
be smaller or by using multiple mats under the most important picture
to give it the sense that it is bigger. Mats should usually be used
under all pictures to help them stand out from the background page.

Color is an important part of the design. Use your most important
photograph as a key and draw two or three colors from this picture to
make the layout. If your pictures are very colorful and you can’t
choose a dominating color, use your surrounding as inspiration. The
shades of red and pink used in your bedspread would also look nice
placed together on a scrapbook page, for example. Stick to three colors
or less in most cases so that your photographs are not overwhelmed.

Designing is all about having fun and experimenting. Don’t worry if
your first attempts are less than perfect, because over time you will
get better. As with any skill, practice will help you improve. Look at
pre-made layouts to get a sense of what works and what does not and
take these ideas to your own pages to create beautiful albums.

About the Author:

Tom Ambrozewicz is one of the pioneers in using breakthrough audio technology on his web sites. You can read, you can listen to professional narrator reading to you or having MP3 files ready to download if you hate to keep printed files. You can check all scrapbooking tips at Ask-How.info now.

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