I would like to encourage you to start and finish a mini album. I love the feeling I get when I hold a finished album in my hands. It's addictive, and it makes me want to complete more albums and share them with the people I love. I actually make an event out of it. I will organize a nice meal for my husband and after wards we will sit down together, flick through the album and remember the moments that have been captured.
Here's a couple of my favorite shutterfly albums -
I bet you have tons of finished pages inside your layouts folder, just sitting there. I did, until I decided to bring them all together in a Shutterfly album. I was pleased with the fact I had so many pages with the everyday moments captured. And that's the most important thing. But as a designer I noticed one thing that really bugged me. The pages didn't have flow. Yes, the individual page designs seemed to look balanced and complete. But when they were positioned next to another page with a slightly different style, the two just didn't complement each other, resulting in a album with no flow and no balance. In a way I knew this was going to happen while designing, but I guess I thought it would be alright. And you know what, it is alright. But, if you want to create something with more emotion and flow, you will need to pay better attention to the page designs when creating. Otherwise the special details you put into each page will be overlooked and not appreciated by the viewer.
An intro - Cover and Title page of your album.
Your title page should create suspense and curiosity to the viewer (family and friends). And your title page should be the same.
Pre-Chorus - The style of these pages should be predominant throughout most of the album.
Bridge - These page designs are made up of two pages, connecting to make one big design.
Breaks - Simple, minimalistic pages. These act like an interlude between pages that have a lot of text and photos. It's important to throw in pages like this, so the viewer can refresh their eyes and maybe even think more about what they have just viewed.
Chorus - Pages that are heavily layered, artistic, fantasy inspired. These create a sharp contrast to the pages before and after them. You can also, if you want, end and start an album with a page like this.
- Make a whole composition flow onto the opposite page by positioning objects and photos so they overlap each page.
- For contrast, try creating a simple white-space page, then on the opposite page fill it with one photo! Make sure you go for a close crop too.
- Create one page where the background is light and the opposite page with a background color that is dark.
- Repeat colors, elements, and textures throughout the album. - Try and stick to no more than 2 different fonts for your journaling.
- Fill 2-3 pages of your album with full photographs that have creative crops.
You don't have to use this way, it's just the way I look at it, and it works. You all know I can't put myself in a box and say "I only create simple pages" or "I only create fantasy pages." Oh no. I want to do both and whatever other style I feel inspired to work with. And this approach seems to create a more balanced project.
The templates look great! Thanks for the inspiration and I enjoy your site.
Posted by: Lisa Parnell | February 26, 2009 at 04:01 PM
I've been wanting to try this, your albums always look great! Thank you for sharing your talent.
Posted by: Eva Marina | February 26, 2009 at 04:24 PM
I would love to do a shutterfly album and I have seen both of yours which are gorgeous! Very inspirational.
Posted by: Didee | February 26, 2009 at 04:44 PM
Your album was beautiful. I love all those special moments that you captured. Thanks for sharing the info on creating flow with your pages. It really gives me something to think about.
Posted by: Dana N (MissD) | February 26, 2009 at 04:57 PM
So Lisa, Eva and Didee, you all scored the template pk! I will contact you girls tomorrow with links :) Congrats!
Posted by: Vinnie Pearce | February 26, 2009 at 05:09 PM
Oh and thanks so much for your encouraging words girls. Means a lot!
Posted by: Vinnie Pearce | February 26, 2009 at 05:09 PM
Your templates and pages are great. This is a great place to go for inspiration.
Posted by: Barbara | February 26, 2009 at 05:30 PM
Well, looks like I'm late, but I have to agree with everyone here. Your mini album you posted was gorgeous, and thank you for sharing the info about creating flow!!
By the way, I just finished another mini-album and I'm SO excited!! I'll post it soon! (Maybe I'll swing by your blog and show you!)
Posted by: kelleighr | February 26, 2009 at 06:03 PM
I have really been drawn to your work lately. After I finish two gift projects in the works I'm going to start an album that I hope will capture the emotion and dream like qualities you produced in your two Shutterfly books. Thank you so much for the tips.
Posted by: Account Deleted | February 26, 2009 at 06:57 PM
Thanks so much for the freebie and the tips for creating an album.
Posted by: Melissa | February 26, 2009 at 08:13 PM
oh thanks for the freebie!
Posted by: alice | February 26, 2009 at 08:29 PM
Thanks for the inspiration.. I wish i got time to scrap again...hay!.. i miss it.
Posted by: esmile | February 26, 2009 at 09:44 PM
Fun ! I'm making a mini album right now ! Love your conception of minis ! I'll keep that in mind next time i'm doing one ! It took me too much time to figure out how i would compose each pages !!! LOL
Posted by: Alice | February 26, 2009 at 11:01 PM
thanks!
Posted by: Vinnie Pearce | February 27, 2009 at 04:10 PM
Vinnie, THANK YOU! I've been studying your albums because I love how you incorporate both simple and detailed pages together. Between these tips and your new 2 pagers, I feel like I may actually be able to put together my own book!
Posted by: Christine | February 28, 2009 at 01:06 PM
Thanks for your advises !
You really make me want to try my first album, thanks for your inspiration Vinnie !
Posted by: Miss Bubble | March 01, 2009 at 01:51 AM
Thanks so much for the inspiration! :) It was very useful Vinnie! :D
Posted by: Sabee | March 08, 2009 at 07:00 AM
Hallo Vinnie, herzlichen dank für das telien mit uns. Ich schaue deine Alben seit ein Paar Tagen, da ich für meine Freundin etwas ähnliches machen möchte. Ich habe eine Idee: vielleicht könntest du zum Kaufen fertige Seiten anbieten? Ein Album mit Seiten in PNG und PSD Format, so dass wir selbst Hintergrund und Elemente aussuchen können:)
Deine Tipps haben mir sehr geholfen und ich bin mit meinem Buch bald fertig,
ich bin sehr neugierig auf das was du demnächst zum kaufen anbietest:)
Hugs
Posted by: Astrea | June 26, 2011 at 07:12 PM