For today’s lesson in Design Principles, I’m going to be talking about different types of Alignment. I hope that my tips and tricks, and card samples will give you a few ideas on how to design your cards!
This first card uses Edge Alignment. I created a base panel by heat foiling Diagonal Glimmer Stripes on a black base panel using Matte Silver Hot Foil to create a natural edge for my stamping. I used both the MISTI stamping tool and a t-ruler to help me line up the repeating sentiment, as well as the accent flowers and bee from Strawberry Fields which help the eye hop back and forth across and down the card.
I used five Catherine Pooler ink pads, including In the Park, Lemongrass, Garden Party, Minted and Melon Ice to stamp the sentiment from the Casual Greetings Clear Stamp Set. The flowers and bee from Strawberry Fields were stamped in Lemongrass, Minted and Apricot.
After the panel was attached and the pearls added, I felt like the card was still missing something so I used a Stitching Lines die to add texture strips along that edge which is the emphasis of this design principle. All of the design elements here line up with each other’s top, bottom or side edges.
This next card features Centre Alignment, which is simple and great for grouped text or a mix of both small and large text. I’ve used a mix of sentiments from the And Many More stamp set. The small happy birthday sentiment at the top is actually flushed left in the original stamp but I masked off each line to centre everything.
I used the Essential 4-Bar Rectangles to cut strips of cardstock in Marshmallow Chick, Juicy Pear and Easter Grass. I taped them together at the back before die cutting the rectangle. Then I stamped the sentiments and die cut flowers from Wild Garden in the same colours. I recut the frame of the rectangle from silver glitter cardstock and adhered everything to a panel of confetti cut from the Modern Graphics Vol. 2 Paper Pack.
I started my third card by cutting panels of cardstock in Marshmallow Chick, Juicy Pear and Easter Grass. I heat foiled the largest panel using the Tiny Stars Background with Matte Silver Hot Foil. Then I added texture to the second panel using the A2 Piercing Plate 2. I positioned the large die cut sentiment from Winning Words and cut it from both the top two panels.
I added silver glitter Essential Stars in various sizes and densities, as well as a secondary sentiment strip from Nice of You. In this Vertical Alignment principal, all of the text is parallel to the edges of the card.
There are two more types of alignment principles that I wanted to add to this post, even though I don’t have new card samples. They’re pretty straight forward. With Breaking Alignment, the larger sentiment creates a focal point and draws attention to itself, creating a nice contrast to the rest of the design. Horizontal Alignment is probably the easiest design principle to use. If you have a large sentiment stamp, you can simply repeat it down the centre of the card. Essentially, the edges of the text all line up to create a square or rectangle.
I hope you enjoyed this post with helpful alignment tips and tricks. Please let me know how you’re inspired by these design principles. Thanks so much for stopping by!
No Comments