Good morning! This week's sketch is an off-set grid layout.The photo mats and journalling/embellishing boxes are laid out in a square–but not just a boring, perfect square with all the photos the same size–a mixture of small and large mats arranged so that they all have even borders between each other and around the outside edge.
In the sketch above, the white boxes are photos. Your focal point photo, the best one of the bunch, goes in the dark, double-matted layer directly above the headline. Remember, your eye goes to the headline first automatically. On this page, it travels up just a fraction to view the focal point photo, and then it flies all the way across the length of the spread to the upper left hand corner and whatever embellishment you have placed there. Then, visually, you begin viewing the page from left to right in the traditional Western style of reading.
It's important to understand a little bit of visual theory when you're a scrapper. It is a very common mistake to give all the photos the same "weight" or visual "heaviness" on a page. The eye can only look at so many things at once. If you want people to stop and look at each picture individually, in a logical procession, then knowing where the eye will go first is key.
Lettering or fonts can have different "weights" as well. it's the same principle as using bold to make a word pop out for emphasis. Another common mistake scrappers make is to use a headline lettering style that is too "light" for their page. It has nothing to do with color choice–simply visuals.
I hope you've been learning a graphic design tip or two and some ways to shake up your scrapbooking. You don't have to fall into the same layout ruts all the time, nor do you have to have all the latest and greatest as far as papers and embellishments. I'm more than happy to show you the best way to get your money's worth and still make WOW pages that will rejuvenate your papercrafting. Contact me today and I'll tell you about different classes and clubs you can attend and hone your unique scrapping talents.
Happy Scrapping!
