Hi. Many of you have asked about how designers create a project from start to finish. So I thought I'd share my design process when creating a layout for one of MM's idea books.
1) Once I'm given an assignment, I take into consideration any specific techniques or color schemes that need to be included on the layout. With this in mind, I choose the photos that will be used on my page (although I don't print them out yet).
2) Then I flip through my idea notebooks for inspiration. I keep quite a few notebooks full of pages torn from magazines, ads, catalogs, etc. They provide inspiration for accents, composition, type, colors, and more.
3) As I look through my notebooks, I make a note of any ideas or elements that I feel could work on my layout.
4) I draw a rough sketch of my page on graph paper, indicating the size and placement of photos, journaling, title, and accents. The final layout may not duplicate my sketch exactly, but drawing out the basic composition helps me determine if the page will look and feel balanced.
5) Once I am satisfied with the sketch, I pull out all of the papers and accents I will need for my layout.
6) At this point, I size and format my photos (and journaling) in Photoshop, print them out and trim them as needed.
7) With my sketch in front of me, I assemble the layout, moving around elements if needed to form a unified page.
8) Once complete, a scan of the layout is sent to MM for approval.
9) The page is then mailed to MM where it is photographed for the book.
Pouring through the pages of a MM book is so inspiring and exciting. But the creative process is truly half the fun :)
Happy scrapping!
