I came across a beautiful blog yesterday that caused me to pause and ask, “am I really a simple scrapper?” I quickly retorted to myself, “well duh, of course you are Jennifer”.
Layout from Molly Irwin’s Summer 2009 album
While I do adore the beautiful artworks created by the likes of Cathy Zielske, Ali Edwards, Molly Irwin and others, the graphic design style is only one facet of what I believe it means to be a simple scrapper.
So, what is simple scrapping to me?
- Honoring the past & present
- Focus on storytelling
- Allowing photos to shine
- Conscious choices in shopping
- Purposeful design
- Choosing balance
- Streamlining processes
- Effective use of minimal time
- Cherishing imperfection
It is not just a design ethic or style, but a philosophy about fitting memory keeping into a busy life. What is simple scrapping to you?
Pretty much as you’ve defined it. Although I like looking at some of the more complex layouts, the ones that really win my heart tell a story, either through words or pictures. And usually, those are the “simple” layouts.
Thanks for sharing these, Jennifer! I totally agree with what you listed. Very well said, indeed! 🙂
I think that the digiscrap world goes in phases (as does the photography world for all the years I’ve been in it) and we are in a more design oriented phases and getting away from what for me are the core elements of what makes scrapping – images associated with text to tell a story. IMHo, some of the fantasy type layouts get too far away from the reason to do the layout and center more on the look of the layout. If I have to “figure out” what the message is, it kind of misses the point of putting out the message…
Just my thoughts.
Stan at Scrappers Workshop