How to Create Emphasis in Scrapbook Pages

Using Visual Weight to Engineer Focal Points on Layouts

Sep 23, 2009
Adrienne Larocque

Enlarging Photo Increases Its Visual Weight - Page by Adrienne Larocque

A scrapbook layout needs a focal point to capture the viewer's eye and define what the page is about. Follow these simple suggestions to create emphasis on your page.

On the most basic level, a focal point gives the viewer something to look at, a starting point. The best ones give your layout a reason for being. The focal point of your page will be the thing that attracts the viewer’s attention the most; you can say that it has the greatest emphasis.

Focal Points in Scrapbook Pages

Creating emphasis is easy if you make a layout with a single photo; the picture will be the focal point, as long as the background and embellishments don’t overwhelm it. In a group of photos, you may find that one naturally stands out from the rest. Close-up photos make natural focal points because the subject fills the frame and commands attention.

Photos of objects that are far from the camera are less obvious focal points, because there usually is a lot of visual clutter surrounding the subject. And how do you make one photo stand out from a group? If the photo that you want to serve as your focal point doesn’t have the natural qualities that create emphasis, you can engineer it by taking advantage of visual weight.

What is Visual Weight?

Visual weight is a measure of how much anything on your page attracts the viewer’s eye. It’s determined by characteristics such as size, color, shape and orientation. The key is to use contrast to create focus. A photo that is different than others because it has a larger size or brighter colors will stand out from the other pictures.

Creating Emphasis with Size

We automatically notice a large thing more than a small thing, simply because there’s more of it to notice! Manipulating the size of a component relative to others is an easy way to create a focal point on your scrapbook page. This can be done either by enlarging your primary photo, or by cropping secondary photos to make them smaller.

Creating Emphasis with Mats and Frames

Photos tend to have a lot of visual texture. If you place them on a patterned background, it’s easy for them to get lost. Using mats or frames helps make photos stand out by surrounding them with an unbroken area of color. It’s the same reason that you frame pictures before hanging them on your wall – to call attention to them.

Creating Emphasis with Color

Bright colors or light values attract a viewer’s eye more than dark, dull colors. Painters know that cool colors tend to recede (so they are used to portray objects in the distance) whereas warm colors come forward. Any photo usually has a number of colors in it. By choosing bright, warm colors to mat the photo, you draw the viewer’s eye to it. Contrasting hues (e.g., complementary colors) also create emphasis.

Creating Emphasis with Shape

We subconsciously expect photos to be rectangular in shape, so when we encounter one that isn’t, it’s surprising. Cropping a photo into a shape creates focus. The more distinctive the shape, the more attention we pay to it. That’s why cutting photos into round or oval shapes makes them stand out so much from photos with straight edges.

Sample Pages

Oh Baby!: Enlarging one photo and cropping the rest creates a focal point among 4 photos that have similar composition. Supplies: cardstock – Bazzill, Scrapbook Sally; title and border stickers – Me and My Big Ideas.
C & K: The top photo is a natural focal point because it is a close-up. Supplies: plain cardstock – Fiskars; patterned cardstock and monogram letters – Basic Grey; pen – Sharpie; stamping ink – Stewart Superior Corp.
Blocks: Cropping one photo into a circle gives it emphasis, even though the photo has visual clutter. Supplies: cardstock – Fiskars; circle template – Coluzzle (Provo Craft); letter template – Cock a Doodle Design; punch – Carl; chalk – EK Success.
Photos by Cam: Triple-matting the photo at top right draws the eye to it and ties it together with the patterned paper. The green in the mat has strong contrast in hue with the red background, creating additional emphasis. Supplies: cardstock – Bazzill; patterned paper – SEI; rub-ons – Making Memories; alphabet stamps – EK Success; stamping ink – Stewart Superior Corp.

How to Scrapbook with Color: Use Color Theory to Create Beautiful Layouts in Memory Books
How to Scrapbook with Cropped Pictures: Cutting Your Photos with Cropping Tools Can Make Your Pages Better