moving on

to round 5!! how friggin' awesome is that? never in my wildest dreams did i imagine i'd be moving past class 4 especially because even after 6 days of mulling over the class' design principles (accessorizing + unity, harmony, balance and texture concepts to boot!), i still had no idea what to work on and add to to that the fact that i only managed to find/print out photos well under 2 hours before the submission deadline! talk about pressure! :o whew!

To put these principles into better perspective, Bethany shared these concepts:

UNITY is defined as the visual linking of the elements in the piece. Accessories can unify by providing flow from various areas in a layout.

I tried to achieve it by linking my photos together to show the flow of the action shots better. i also tried to help the movement flow by placing arrows here and there and then i added a small piece of map paper to further reinforce the theme of my LO.

HARMONY is the visually pleasing effect of combining similar elements. This can be achieved through various mediums including color and shape.

For this I used similar photo sizes and colors found in the photos

BALANCE is pleasing proportion. i decided to go for the symmetrical principle.

TEXTURE is the tactile surface of a work of art. In layman’s terms, it is the feel of various elements. It is the smooth wood, or the bumpy lace, the ripple in the ribbon, etc. Some of the easiest ways to add texture are via distressing and sewing.

So I layered, distressed (crumpled, torn, painted, inked) papers, used grunge board, lots of staple wire, distressed chipboard, punchinella, tape label, and metal embellishment.

Treasure Hunters


still can't figure out how i got through this one! haha! but i am glad, of course! ;)

actually, i was even more surprised that i moved on from class 3 (less is more principle) last week - I can still remember how i was booted out of the white space class last year! haha!

What Matters Most


i'm happy about how this one turned out! ;) thanks to the principles shared by Sri Sams.

Achieving BALANCE is the most important principle in creating a simple layout. Balance refers to the weight of a design based on the elements and objects of the design. Balance can either be symmetrical or asymmetrical.

I decided to go for the asymmetrical balance by putting more weight on the right side, where the photos are

To achieve balance, you have to take control of space. White space is always an active element in a good design. White space is also known as negative space. It doesn't mean it has to be white because it can be any color whether it is black, brown or white. It’s also up to the designer to make it an important element of design because if not used properly it can be misunderstood for wasted space. When used properly, it allows a breathing space and provides the simplest way to unite elements of the layout.

I decided to leave out some space above and below the photos then I grouped the embellishments to the left of the photos

Unity is achieved when elements in a given space have a direct, cohesive relationship to one another. Unify elements by grouping elements that are close together so that they look like they belong together:
- Lining up or grouping photos together.
- Use the same color palette throughout.
- Repeat a color, shape or texture in different areas throughout.
- Choose elements that share a similar color, theme or shape.

So for unity
- I used similar photos
- I lined up photos together
- I also repeated/used the same color palette (papers and embellishment colors taken from the colored photo)
- I likewise repeated several round embellishments (flower, brad, clock)

TFL!