Histoires de Pages - Let’s talk layouts / Issue #53 - SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2013 - (Page 40)

A few little graphic rules To adopt without delay! Layouts without a soul, messy layouts, layouts that you do not like? Do not worry; we all have cupboards full of them (same for the bin)! And what if it was only a question of balance? by Catherine Labeeu, Bénédicte Raphalen, Marianne Sterchi, Emmanuelle Boissot and Marie-Christine Meerseman Like art, interior decoration or floral arrangements, our scrapbooking layouts are built on graphic principles borrowed from the fundamentals of drawing. The use of odd numbers, of the visual triangle or mirror elements can create a focal point on your photo and thus obtain balanced pages - as they are called. Without realizing it, you may have used one of these techniques since the human eye is naturally attracted by triangles and odd numbers! Below, a little reminder of the five graphic rules to use straight away on your layouts! How the eye reads pictures « Mes amours (Loves of my life) » by Catherine Labeeu Visual triangle One of the key rules in graphics is that of the visual triangle. The idea in scrapbooking is to create the focus on an element of the layout with embellishments, stamps or texts around the said element, which is, of course, the photo! On the Loves of my life layout, Catherine applied that technique in different ways: stars, buttons, chevrons or even figure 40 HISTOIRES DE PAGES - SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2013 stamps and self-adhesive texts are all arranged in a triangle around the photo: each time if all of them are connected together, they will shape that outline. That's the secret to get balanced layouts! Isn't it easy? Catherine also played on mixing paper patterns and contrasting colors to enhance the balance brought to the layout. Whatever the chosen technique for creating images, the reading of these images by the eye always takes place from left to right. The eye scans the picture and the brain reads from left to right and top to bottom... The eye, thus, visualizes the four golden points that surround the image and automatically glances over the Z pattern which is present in the image when the latter is well balanced... At least this is the case in all the countries where we read from left to right, because... if it is the contrary, the opposite phenomenon is observed. The pattern is then in an S shape. That's what we notice in magazines with photographic adverts: the featured photos are reversed. They are read in one way in NYC, and in the opposite direction, in Cairo! Even though, it is the same photo!

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Histoires de Pages - Let’s talk layouts / Issue #53 - SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2013

Cover
Editor's note
CONTENTS
Rendez-vous
Letters from our readers
Let's play around with color - Tempted by transparency
Are you a beginner? This page is especially for you!
Readers' Idea Gallery - Summer activities - Combo
Tale of a sketch - Put the photo in the spotlight
Letter from our translators
Ideas
One page, three options
Matching decorations
Make-over session - for Christelle's and Emilie's layouts
U.S. tags - They are a must!
A mishmash of words
Honors go to photography
Graphic and stylish - Sew in your layouts
A mini-album with labels - to be downloaded on page 99
Techniques
A few little graphic rules - to adopt without delay !
Let's tame color
A background in 6 steps - Transform your patterned papers
Butterflies
Are you a tea - or a coffee person?
A background in 9 steps - Ink, paper, that's all!
A background in 9 steps - Flowers and colors!
A maxi-album - A floris't shop
Discoveries
We have tried out for you
Marseille - Provence 2013
Meet the artists - Delphine, Carole and Laetitia
It's on trend - Marine anchors
Scraptherapy - How about talking scraptherapy?
Rendez-vous on the blogosphere

Histoires de Pages - Let’s talk layouts / Issue #53 - SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2013