Visual flow

When you can incorporate visual flow into your scrapbook page design, you’ll guide the viewer’s eye through it, revealing what’s important along the tour.

Source: stock.xchng / chingtc

Take a step back

In order to talk about the sixth design principle in this class—flow—we need to step back.

Let’s go back to contrast–to that idea that we all routinely scan our surround­ings looking for things to put together, for patterns that help us make sense of what we’re seeing. Our eyes are drawn to the things that stand out.

Let’s go back to repetitions – to how repeating things like colors, images, and materials connects the elements of the page to one another and contributes to design unity.

Let’s go back to emphasis – to how you cue the viewer to what’s important depending upon what you emphasize. Remember that when one item is emphasized above all others, the viewer knows where to start taking in the story of your page.

Let’s go back to alignments – to the idea that when two elements are aligned they are connected–even if they’re not next to one another.

Put it all together to make flow

It’s all intertwined. Using these design principles as you put together a scrapbook page will enable you to create a flow. By that I mean it will enable you to guide the viewer’s eye on a path around your page.

Why do this? So you can show the viewer what’s important.

When visitors come to my home, I really don’t want them seeing into the bathroom that’s next to my front door. I want them to look straight in to my home—to the big windows overlooking the river. So . . . I keep the bathroom door shut (or at least I try to) and I have spots of color leading the eye right over to those window. Right now it’s a series of yellows—a large planter, a yellow vase, and a wide bowl.

The tools for creating flow

natural tendencies

The human eye (and mind) will follow the natural order of things. The eye will follow:

• a sequential pattern
• the eyes of the people in your photos
• a line of perspective
• implied motion in your photo

design principles

Combine an understanding of these natural tendencies with good use of design principles and you’ll be offering guided tours of your pages with no problem. Understand that repeated colors or images will draw the eye. Understand that whatever stands out (i.e., contrasts) will draw the eye. Understand that you can create implied lines that will draw the eye with alignments.

Read on for examples.

Sequence

You can set up a sequence as simply as by arranging similar shapes in a pattern. On “Is the Shortcut Shorter?” six identically-sized photos are lined up across the page and draw the eye through their story. This horizontal flow is amplified by the title placement. The beginning is at top left and the end is at bottom right. To read it, the eye will move across the page. One more thing to think about (in the natural tendency category) is that those who read left-to-write and top-to-bottom are prepared to move their eye in this pattern.

On “Cause and Effect” there are several ways in which a sequence is set up:

• a  series of aligned photos moving horizontally across the page
• a sequence of numbers
• arrows pointing the way

Visual Triangle

When you have three spots on your page that stand out, you create a visual triangle that catches the eye and takes it on a tour around the page. In design, odd numbers of objects are more interesting to the eye than even numbers of objects. An odd number of objects can be arranged both symmetrically and asymmetrically. Three is the odd number that is most frequently used in all kinds of design. Just for a start, look for it in architecture, home decor, and floral design.

Repetitions of green (which contrast with the background) create a visual triangle on “Tender Boy” that moves from title to bottom right to low on the left edge of the page.

On “Glass,” three repetitions of circles (and the color green) create a visual triangle that moves from top left to side right to side left.

Diagonal Draw

Composing a photograph so that your subject is at a diagonal almost always makes a more compelling shot. The same principle can be applied to page design. Note: the diagonal line does not need to be literal. Rather, you just need to set up at least two points along your diagonal that stand out.

A diagonal moving from top left to bottom right is created on “Connected” by the diagonal brush strokes backing up the photos. Additionally the bold graphics on the photo create diagonal flow across the  photo.

The supporting photos on “If Your Friends Jumped Off a Bridge” are arranged to “step down” from upper left to lower right. The path is further emphasized by the path of the blue brushwork on the background and the sequence of reds in: 1) epoxy, 2) oval tag, and 3) red flower and brad.

Z-flow

If you read a language that’s written left-to-right, your eye is used to moving in a z-pattern: it begins at the left, proceeds to the right, and then comes back again to the left. Since the brain already looks for patterns that flow this way, you can place items on your scrapbook page on a z-path to successfully guide the viewer’s eye through it.

In “1st Fine Day,” the “1” in the title is emphasized by its bold red color and its size and by the fact that it  contains the page journaling. The eye moves across the three photos at page top and then comes back over to the beginning of the bottom strip of photos – and then across (left-to-right) again.

Circling

When you arrange your page elements (and the points that stand out and draw the eye) in a circular flow, you keep the viewer cycling through the page. On “Oxpres Farms,” the photos are the dominant elements on the page. Their arrangement along with the subtle whites of the embellishments draws the eye clockwise around the page—and around again, and again.

So we’ve made it through six principles of design you can use for making sharp scrapbook pages! And we wrapped up with a great principle—flow—because it calls upon you to put everything you’ve learned so far to work. In the next lesson we’ll begin focusing on the key parts of a scrapbook page—look for that lesson in a few days!

P.S. Look for Lesson #8 in your inbox in a few days!

 

P.P.S. Did you find this page via Twitter or a link from a friend? This lesson is the seventh lesson in  a 12-part course called “Where Scrapbooking Ideas Come From”. Click here to start receiving all of the lessons—it’s free! Of course, if it’s not for you, you can unsubscribe with just a couple of clicks. And I’ll never rent or share your information with anyone.)

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5. Scrapbook Page Design: Asymmetrical Balance