April 1 - Design Basics Lesson #13 (no fooling!)

Today is the 13th lesson in my own exploration of Design Basics. I am using a book called Design Basics Index by Jim Krause. It is an excellent book and I am learning so much. If you can find it, I would totally reccommend it!! If you have missed some or all of my previous lessons, you can check them all out conveniently by checking on the right side of my blog. Have fun!! Today we are continuing on the concept of FLOW. In our last lesson, we learned how certain images can DIRECT THE FLOW within a layout. We looked at images where the animal or person is looking off the card will direct our eye that way whereas if it is looking into the middle of the card it will keep our eye within the layout! This lesson is on CIRCULATING FLOW. When a card has a variety of elements, Jim says it is important to arrange the items in a way that keeps the eye moving within the element. This top card does that since the items are arranged in a circular shape. (I have read before about arranging items in a triangle shape....to me this is the same thing!!!) Again, this is also a concept that is applied in scrapbooking!! So, when looking at this top card, the eye tends to start with the strawberry images, to the sentiment, then down to the flower and back up again. Now, on this second card, the same items are arranged in what Jim calls a "visual landslide" and previously referred to it as "stair stepping". Jim says this type of layout is never a good idea and expalins that this leads the viewer's eye down and off the page at the bottom. Thus, the eye does not continue to circle within the layout but goes off the page. Additionally, there is so much white space on the bottom corner of this card that it also detracts from the whole card!! Yuck!! Supplies: Stamps-Green Thumb (Papertrey Ink); Cardstock-Mellow Moss, Very Vanilla, Ruby Red (all Stampin' Up) and Cosmo Cricket designer paper; Ink-Ruby Red, Mellow Moss (Stampin' Up); Accessories-flower (prima), brad (Stampin' Up). Note, the flower was a plain beige flower which I stamped with the strawberry image making it polka dotted and creating harmony between elements within the card! Also note how pretty that Cosmo Cricket paper is...I saw it on everyone's blog who went to CHA and I just knew I'd have to get my hands on some. AND, I already cut into it!! Wow, no hoarding these days for me :-) Thanks for visiting. Donelda