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Debbie Hodge of Get It Scrapped, Easy Scrapbook Pages, Masterful Scrapbook Design and This Memory Keeper’s Life joins the discussion today to talk about layout design. What makes good layout design, tips for learning about layout design, and even a few of our own design weeknesses.
Joining the Discussion:
Debbie Hodge
Peppermint Granberg
Katie Nelson
Steph
From the Show:
- Design posts at The Daily Digi
- Gallery Standouts
- Design Principles In Action
- ECBARF
- Tiny Details Make A Big Difference
- Edge Treatments
Picks:
Debbie: Meet Your Type
Peppermint: Camelbak Water Bottles
Katie: Write Click Scrapbook
Steph: Lynda.com
Sponsors:
For the best deal in digital scrapbooking, become a member at TheDailyDigi.com.
Hiya honeys! Did you know the download link is for episode 45? Is this part of the corruption problem? Say yes, we all understand the difficulty with corruption.
I just caught up listening to all the past shows and was so excited to download the new episode. The link also downloaded episode 45 for me. I’ll check back later. Thanks so much for sharing your expertise and insights.
Ooo… I was hoping to download this show for my 8 hour train ride home tomorrow, but it isn’t the right show.
Oh well, episode 46 is worth a second listen anyway. 
If you download the show via iTunes, it’s the correct episode!
Thanks so much, Allie! I did just that and got to listen to the show on the train. I have to admit iTunes frustrates me, but I’m pretty sure I set myself up to download all the new shows.
I’m not even through the mail reading on this episode yet, but I’m just having a geek-out/freak-out moment because you read my mail!
PEPPERMINT is worthy of her name being shouted from the rooftops! I’m such a fan girl of her–on the show and her designs. GO PEPPERMINT!
I really think we need an official PEPPERMINT Fan Club. My son agrees– every time I play the digi show and she’s introduced, he says “Yay Peppermint!!”.
I have to comment on Debbie’s book recommendations–Both of the Robin Williams books were required reading for me in design school– so excellent recommendations!
Other “Design School” books that I loved in school (and actually kept WAY after school) would include anything by Ellen Lupton– “Graphic Design: The New Basics”; “Thinking With Type”– they are both great books, and were used HEAVILY in my design classes– and outside of my classes!
Also, I have a “Design 101″ PDF e-book that I wrote– there are “daily design challenges” and I cover things like type, designing on a grid, color… many of design basics. Just in case any digi show listeners are interested!
http://www.alexandraraedesign.com/blog/design-101
Thanks for the link to your PDF book. I’ll have to add it to my ever growing collection of binders.
Oh my goodness, thank you for your purchase Carrie! I hope you enjoy it!
Here I go, spamming the comments.
I don’t think Steph’s pick and the link for “Steph’s Pick” are the same thing. But I’m super excited about the Lynda.com class! Could you post the “real” link? THANK YOU!
Every week I think “this is my favorite digi show episode” but really this week is for me. I LOVED this show. I had a few ah-ha moments. A couple were when Katie mentioned the border treatment – ME TOO! and when Peppermint talked about clustering all the cute elements in a kit. I never tried clustering because I don’t think I would be good at it, but I always want to use every cute element, so I’m going to give clusters a whirl.
Debbie is amazing. She has so much to offer with her positive attitude, insightful comments and the way she asks questions. The whole show I was feeling what Katie said at the end “I want to go scrap some pages”. Great job ladies!! Thank you for doing what you do!!
I LOVE this episode. I think it’s one I’ll have to listen to again soon. I am a sucker for design principles. I recently picked up a Better Homes and Garden magazine called Color Made Easy. BH&G has a whole Design Made Easy series, which is more for home decor, but the magazines explain why things work in their designs by using those lovely principles you all talked about. For someone on a budget, it’s a cost effective way to learn about design. Checking out books from the library is also a great resource– lots of libraries are moving into digital copy lending, too, so you can get the books on your smart devices.
On another note, I think when ya’ll talked about the balance between having a technically perfect (or near to) composition and getting a page scrapped I had to smile. I have adopted the mantra that not everything I create will be a masterpiece. As a matter of fact, a gallery standout (aka masterpiece) by nature doesn’t occur with every LO– not even for the best artists. And that’s okay. I think getting the story or memory down may be more important. Ultimately, the generations whose hands our work will pass through– the future family that reads those documented stories– will think every page is precious. I think the stories trump the technical skills in that case.
The other day I pulled my parents photos from their attic. I arranged what I found chronologically and noted people, dates and places on the back. My dad didn’t know that I was getting them ready to document and make digital copies so I could get the stories down. He said that when his parents died, the family just threw away their photos because no one knew who was who in the photos or anything else about them (It broke my heart to hear that!). He wondered why people bothered taking photos at all if they didn’t document anything about them. My dad was lamenting my work because he didn’t realize I was going to prevent those stories from being lost to the grave. He isn’t a sentimental person, but he thinks family history is important. He actually fussed about the family historian on my grandmothers side collecting names and dates, but not telling any stories. When I told my dad that I was going to put those stories into books he instantly perked up and began helping me with the process. My dad doesn’t get excited about much, but this was one thing you could tell made his “heart sing” (couldn’t resist!). And now I know I’ll be able to get him to help with those family stories (which is so not typical for my dad). For me, it was just another reminder of how special memory keeping truly is, whether it’s a great layout or not, it’s the memory that matters.
I know this is long, but ya’ll seem to align your shows with my life.
I feel like I’m taking over the comments this week, but I just have to ask:
Is there any way that we could get the “old” shows from when you were under the Paperclipping umbrella to be connected to the iTunes link? I would love to be able to download past shows and listen to them while I’m waiting for “new” shows. I know they are “old” (in my opinion, you guys have ROCKED it since going out on your own!) but I still need my Digi Show fix!
In the 50th episode I think they discussed how to get the old shows… I didn’t see it in the show notes though.
I, too, have always thought I would reach a point where I like every page I make. It isn’t happening
I would love to see a post on TDD about pages you just don’t love. I think it’s inspirational. Like when Katrina posts her bad photos, totally blurry, shots of the carpet, that kind of thing. It helps us remember that even the “pros” are human.
Thanks for another great episode!
Here ya go:
/i-dont-love-all-of-my-layouts/
Katie, guess what I just found on my iPad …… Are you ready for it….. Pinterest for iPad weeehooooo
I know! They finally got it right
hi girls, I am mostly a paper scrapper but I have been listening to the digishow since episode 1 (under the paperclipping umbrella). I love your humor and I find that most of the ideas I can apply to paper. I do a little bit of hybrid and I have dipped my toes into photobooks but I find that getting the pages to be the right size with the trim, bleed, etc is a nightmare. I am a decent user of photoshop (by decent I mean I can work with layers and use templates) so my questions is: are there any nice photobook templates that are either shutterfly ready or blurb ready or (for steph) adoramapix ready? I have no preference, I just dont want to resize pages, help?
thanks!
Hey Rosa!
It can be frustrating to get things just right for Photobooks. If you don’t want to resize your layouts after you’re done, I recommend a couple of things…
1) Add bleed to your templates before you start. If you are printing 12×12, add 1/4″ (0.25″) to the canvas size. If you are printing 8×8, you want to add 3/8″ (0.375″) to the 12×12 canvas size. Leave your elements and your template items where they are. This will ensure that when the page is trimmed, you lose only the extra background paper.
2) When you’re done with your layout, select all your layers (with the exception of your background papers) and reduce them (I find 95% works pretty well for 8×8 books). This is a super easy “cheat” for making sure things don’t get cut off.
Now, if you want items to go across the fold, things get much, much trickier! In those cases, I really recommend a lay flat book option (like those as Adorama Pix). With those, you don’t have to worry much about what goes across the fold… only what’s around the edges.
I do have some “overlays” and actions at Scrapbookgraphics that will help you see what’s “safe” and what’s not. I have them for Blurb and Shutterfly and a few others, but not Adorama Pix because they supposedly have tools built into their software that help you see exactly what will get cut off.
I really find that you need to choose your printer first, then decide how to make sure your pages will work with that printer. If you want to email me or even send me a test page, I’d be happy to give you a specific plan of attack for your style and printer.
Wendy, thank you so much for such a detailed answer! I really appreciate it! I’ve never used actions but from what I hear they are like magic, so I’ll give them a try, I’ll let you know how it goes
You’re very welcome! I do have some free actions in my store. And, I was featured this month in The Digi Files. You have until tomorrow to download those if you’re a member. They are a great way to get your feet wet!
photobook templates part II
sorry I forgot to say, I love clean and simple templates (Ali Edwards, Cathy Z) and big photos (like Katie) so if the templates are in those styles better