Hey all, glad to be back on the blog this month! Who has had trouble creating balanced layouts without using a sketch to work off of? I’m sure I’m not the only one. Today I’m sharing 3 tips for creating layouts that will result in eye catching projects every single time.

Tip #1: Work In Odd Numbers

You may have heard of the Rule of Odds in design and this tip works off of that rule. Using an odd number of elements is an easy way to have a balanced scrapbook page.

In this layout using the Aflutter collection, I’ve applied this tip by using 1 photo, 3 layering papers, 3 wood embellishments, and an odd number of elements inside of each of my 3 clusters.

These odd numbers all work together to draw the eyes inwards to my intentional focal point, the photo. Extremely symmetrical designs can sometimes weigh down the overall look of a scrapbook project and that can make our photos no longer the star of the page.

Tip #2: Use Clusters To Draw The Eye

Building on the first tip, let’s use those odd numbered cluster to draw the eyes across the page in a deliberate way.

I’ll illustrate with a before and after. This layout has a good foundation, the photos work well with colours of the Aflutter collection, but something is off.

The grouping of photos is a bit spaced out and our eyes are jumping around haphazardly instead of following the design in a natural, smooth path.

Let’s add in some strategically placed clusters to help get this scrapbook layout back to stand out status.

Notice how the clusters now create a zig-zag path for our eyes to travel along. Our eyes perceive balance and are kept actively moving through the page making the design feel dynamic, despite being a flat digital layout.

Tip #3: Splatter & Scatters Matter!

This is such an easy step to skip, but crucial for the finishing touch of an eye catching scrapbook layout. Consider it the jewelry of a project!

One of my favourite ways to use splatters is as a mat underneath my photos and embellishment clusters. With digital layouts I leave my splattering until the last step, but you may want to add them at the beginning on hybrid layouts.

What if you find splattering too messy or aren’t a mixed media guru? Plan out a general idea of where your elements are going to be on a page and you can layer digital splatters onto papers before you print them out. No mess!

Scatters can be easily created by sizing down singular elements from a collection and placing an odd number of the element at the edges of an embellishment cluster, like I did with the pink hearts in the above layout.

Thanks for hanging out with me today. Hopefully you learned a new tip or maybe you were just reminded of design principles you already knew. Either way, have fun scrapbooking and sharing your memories with others!

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