Well this morning I want to put a little thought into a design principle that may help bring together those layouts that seem to be fighting you. The ones that you say... I like it but I just don't LOVE it.. A principle that is often seen but not heard about. It actually has a name it seems so simple yet many times we overlook it... Viusal Consistency.
When you round the corners of your paper and photos you create visual consistency. While layouts rhythms change from page to page, one of the most powerful things you can add to your work is visual consistency. Your layouts main purpose is not to DAZZLE but to communicate; from the colors we chose to the use of a line, or curve we are communicating to our readers.
This means, we apply uniform styling to our work. When using rounded corners we soften the hard lines that may convey a more direct or hard feeling. For example in my layout from the ISSUE CHALLENGE, the images in the photo are round. Adding the scallop border to the bottom of the layered paper reinforces the feel of the photo. If I had left the brown pattern paper hard, it would create a harder look. The feeling I was conveying was one of softness in a harsh environment. By adding a rounded corner, I am helping to convey that uniqueness that I noticed in the harsh roadside environment. When I rounded the corner of my papers and added the scallop boarder, I am adding visual consistency to the feel of my layout – softness.
You will hear a lot about visual consistency in design because it is vital to creating visually pleasing layouts.
There should be an overall visual system to the layout, carefully considered in the first stages of design, that brings together the elements into a coherent whole. In the above layout you can see I used the power of the round flowers from the photo to dictate the overall feel of the page. Note: I have not included the embellishments, in the discussion, but clearly they are reflecting the same feel of softness through the curved edges. I really hope this little tip helps! If you have any questions feel free to contact me!
Please hop over to Club CK and join in the ISSUE CHALLENGES! We have a lot of fun!
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