When I examine the layouts in scrapbooking magazines, I never fail to be struck by how much those layouts don't resemble mine. For me to create beautifully crafted pages like those, I'd have to spend hours of planning and execution. OK maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it's mostly true.
Supposedly when I'm examining these pages, I'm trying up ideas to work from. That's what they're there for, right? Oddly enough I have to remind myself of that, because I often catch myself studying the photographs or journaling, or even embellishments for the story they tell. Sort of like reading a couple of pages torn from the middle of a book I haven't read and wondering who the people are and what has transpired in their lives before and after the part I've read. Then I remember, "oh yeah, these are here to give me design ideas."
I'm thinking it would be good for me to relax and concentrate on telling the story around my photos, rather than working so hard at creating the perfect page. Perhaps my ability lies not so much in crafting an excellent design, but in telling the story. Certainly I'm more interested in that when I look at other people's pages. I can understand that for most scrapbookers, the crafty part of the page is part of telling the story, not simply art. I agree. But there are many ways to tell the same story, from straight and simple to intricate and elaborate. For me it essentially doesn't matter as long as the focus stays on the story.
Mt. Major
14 years ago
The need/desire to look at the words may come from the way you/we learn. I know that I am very word centric and often find myself reading the words related to quilts rather than looking at the quilts. I find this to be true with scrapbooking magazines as well. It might be a habit that we have to work on to get past. On the other hand, it may be that the layouts are so complicated that we get overwelmed looking at the pictures and can't get past the layers and brads and rubons, etc, so we default to the words, which are easier for us to process. I think it would take some work to pick apart the complex layouts and break them down into real-life usable pieces. I also think it would be great service of consultants to help us with this process even if it means reviewing layouts that don't use their company's products.
ReplyDeleteYour point about the story being the most important thing is well taken. I think it is important not to forget the story and to tell it well.