Embellishing Ideas for your Pages for Visual Design and Focus

Thought since we are focusing on clustering and embellishments this month, we might want to take a look at how these relate to the whole design of a layout too for some basic design principals.

Creating a frame of elements around your photo.

By adding elements clustered at the corner like Aria did here, you are grounding your photo.  Using like colors or repeating elements found in the paper, you are grounding your photo to the background also visually.  Notice how all of these used this technique of creating a cluster of elements to frame and ground their photos.

By clustering your elements AND photo to a corner of the page, you are also creating what we call “white space”.  This “space” is a place for the eyes to rest while looking at a page but it also draws your eyes to photo on the photo itself.

Aidan by Aria

First Grady by Joyce de Jonge

Make a Wish by Jean Ann

You can do this also by filing the whole page like Angie did here.

She is still framing and clustering using embellishments, but by desaturating her photo, it will naturally draw the eye there first and the photo actually becomes the neutral “space”.  Everything added here is being used to “frame” this photo by matting and clustering around it.

She also played a with her title and journaling to create it within this space and this is again, drawing the eyes inward to where she wanted to draw the focus to.

Stand by Angie

In turn you can also try a more linear look and using repetition of photos or elements to ground your embellishments and/or photos to a page.

See how Judy used clustering of elements, note pieces and photo frames here in a vertical orientation.  By doing this, she is drawing the eye inward but grounding them at the same time.

Close to You by judyinsd

Another example of this is from two of my own pages.

Here is this first one we see the linear line creatd by the photos on the left with all the clustered elements and papers tucked under and around them.  The blended photo into the background becomes the resting space but the eyes still want to be led to the main photo and is drawn down to the journaling.

Sharing Curiosity by Cilenia

Again, linear clustering on the left, but now the page has more movement and is being drawn outward into the photos sitting in the “white space” and the bottom right corner with it’s brushwork and element is visually framing it all together.

What do You Want by Cilenia

Now look at another way Beth combined these design principles of using clusters to frame out your photo, clustering your photos and leaving some white space, and using repetition of elements also to frame the photos, and repeating the elements in the corners of the page too, for a whole other type of effect but still visually pleasing.

Make your own Music by mystampin

These are just some of the unique ways you use clustering and embellishments to draw focus and give some visual grounding to your layouts.

While doing your layouts and clustering, keep in mind the types of elements and the layering and don’t forget to adjust your shadows for the different depths created by the layering of embellishments and papers too.  That is what usually will make or break your layout from looking good to looking awesome!

Till next time,

Cilenia