Collage Image Design – The Brady Effect

admin — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 17:15:35 +0000

Whenever I am working on a collage design, whether it be a wall collage for a client or a marketing piece for my studio, the intro lines to the Brady Bunch television show always start buzzing through my head.

Here’s the story… of a lovely lady…

For most of us those lines conjure up visions of that fabulous 1970s family in their 9-frame box all glancing around at each other. But, by paying close attention to where the characters NEVER look, you will pick up on a very important rule when working with collage design.

Marsha, Peter, Jan, etc never look OUTSIDE of the box – always in towards their respective family members, as illustrated by the following diagram.

For me, designing a collage is a multi-step process that involves balancing out the color and directional feel of the images that the clients select for their piece. The First Draft example shows the selected images simply dumped into the template. This gives me an overall idea of what I am working with and quickly identifies any problem images (i.e. for this template, any images that won’t work well with a square crop.)

Next, I work to balance color, or in this case, light vs. dark images. The Second Draft shows the images arranged to balance low key vs. light key. However, problems still exists.

Here’s the story… of a man named Brady…

I have a directional issue with three images, as illustrated with the red arrows. A simple rearrangement of those images will pull the design into compliance with the Brady Effect and establish a well balanced collage.

Business Builders – Create a Polished Presentation!

admin — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 23:58:32 +0000

Now more than ever it’s important that every thing you put in front of your clients screams “professional” as loudly (and proudly!) as it can. We’ve created a series of products that can be used stand alone, or together, to help you achieve this polished look!

Something that was really important to me as a professional photographer was to have something for my clients to take away with them after their session – something that would remind them of the next steps in their portrait experience, information on key products along with suggestions on where and how to create wall displays and ideas for portraits as gifts. This evolved into a Post Session Information packet that included the previous items and also included a monitor calibration sheet as most of my clients view and order their portraits online. I also included a printed product guide that detailed the pricing information. I packaged it all in a black pocket invitation and sealed it with a foil logo sticker.

Like what you see below? It’s easy to put together! All you need is:

1. Collage Connection’s POST SESSION GUIDE

2. Collage Connection’s PRODUCT ACCORDION GUIDE

3. Paper Presentation’s POCKET INVITATION STYLE B5

4. Business Card (optional)

5. Sticker for invitation closure (I recommend the Deluxe Foil Sticker from Rubber Duck Design)

Show & Share | Many Thanks Card Template

admin — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 03:07:50 +0000

A little thanks goes a long ways… right? Well, then this template is a little thanks to all of you who have supported TCC over the past year! It also serves as a great template to make your own “Thank You” card to include with your client orders (or to anyone you need to say “Thanks!” to.)

The card is designed as a 4×5.5 flat card that meets WHCC guidelines. It’s two sided – one side features an image and fun background text graphic and the other side has just the PERFECT amount of room for you to write a quick note to show your appreciation. All colors are completely customizable!

DOWNLOAD HERE – Many Thanks Card

Download available until 12/31/10

Show & Share | 5×7 Border Template

admin — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 01:53:14 +0000

Happy November!!! Here is a quick Show & Share for the month!

4×6 image opening with a border – total size is a 5×7. Perfect for mounting in an album or as a mounted print within an image box!

DOWNLOAD HERE | Collage Connection Border 1 Link Expired

Expires 11/30/10

Show & Share | 10×20 4-Square Collage Template

admin — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 21:04:02 +0000

I am so excited to share this template as a free download. Don’t let the simplicity of the design fool you – it’s fantastically versatile. Hang it horizontal or hang it vertical! There are three image border options – the classic square, shabby borders or modern rounded corners. Seriously – a little bit of everything all wrapped up in one little .zip file!

DOWNLOAD LINK | 10×20 4 Square Collage Template EXPIRED

Show & Share | Simply Shabby 3×3 Accordion Album

admin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 18:14:48 +0000

Wowza – where has the past month gone? Between all the end of school-year activities and the baby boom that is also known as June, I’ve been busy busy busy!

Hopefully you’ve had a moment to check out the new mini-square accordion album templates in the store – these things are wildly popular and just as cute as can be! Being that I am still in the “honeymoon” stage with this new product, I thought I’d put up a very basic “Simply Shabby” accordion album template for this week’s freebie template.

The colors of the background and the borders are changeable – the sample show is a modern gray on gray color scheme, but the true possibilities are endless. For some color inspiration, I suggest you check out Portrait Allure’s posts on the subject – some great ideas!

DOWLOAD LINK | EXPIRED!

New Product | 3×3 Mini-Album Templates

admin — Fri, 14 May 2010 19:55:58 +0000

I am pleased to FINALLY have these darling little albums templates ready to go. I have to admit I wasn’t sold on the concept of these things until I saw one in person at Imaging USA in January. I finally ordered my own sample in February and I was SOLD! Absolutely adorable! Whether you gift them to your special clients or add them to your bonus schedule, they will definitely be a hit!

There are four templates available:

Show & Share Wednesday | 3×3 Brag Book Template

admin — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:23:19 +0000

I’ve always been a fan of the little Ventura 3×3 mini-albums made by Renaissance Albums (find them at albumsinc.com). If you aren’t familiar with them, definitely check them out as they make a fabulous bonus or gift item and are the perfect size for a purse (so your client can show off your beautiful work to all of their friends!)

To obtain the 3×3 prints, I use a 10×13 template that has ten 3×3 squares. This is perfect to upload to the lab (I always get lustre coating!) and then I just trim down to size with my Carl 18″rotary trimmer. I put a foil sticker in the back of the album that has my logo on it (I get my logo-labels from Rubber Duck Design) and slip the whole thing into a 5×7 organza bag from Papermart. Oh, and don’t forget to put a few business cards in there for your client to give to their friends!)

LINK EXPIRED

Link expires 3/31/10 at 11:59 PDT.

Show & Share | 3-Panel 5×7

admin — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:46:02 +0000

I recently sold a gift certificate for my baby’s first year plan and the gifter asked if there was a way to create an item that the recipient could actually unwrap at the shower. My solution was to create a 5×7 collage of images from a baby’s first year series and then the gifter could put it into a 5×7 frame and wrap that up as a gift, along with the gift certificate itself. The gifter was thrilled with the idea and I was rather pleased with how it turned out – so I thought I’d share it!

The 5×7 collage includes three panels with the shabby border – there is also a set of traditional solid image frames if you do not want to use the shabby borders. (Note: the background used in this image is not included. Font shown in sample is Bickham Script Pro.)

DOWNLOAD: 3-Panel 5×7 Collage

Expired on Friday, March 26th at 11:59pm.

Show & Share Wednesday | Digital File Packaging Kit

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 04:41:27 +0000

I keep it VERY simple when it comes to my digital file packaging – everything can be done in-house by me (I print with an Epson R1800 printer) so that I am not waiting on items from my lab or if I have a hiccup with something (i.e. the CD doesn’t burn properly) I am able to make quick adjustments and not fall behind on my workflow for that client.

Here are the supplies I use:

DVD Cases – Uline.com (I love that I can include a 5×7 card that contains a usage release letter and printing instructions on the inside of the case.)

TaiyoYuden/JVC White “Printable Hub” CD – Meritline.com

Epson Premium Matte Paper – Amazon.com

As I mentioned, my printer is an Epson r1800, which I love, though I don’t really need the wide format option. What you want is a printer than can accept printable CD/DVD media and I recommend checking out the Epson models for this feature. If you get a printer that can print the media, but may not do that great of a job printing the covers, you can upload the covers to the lab of your choice, which I have done before.

For this weeks Show & Share, I have my DVD Case template along with my printable CD/DVD template. The standard “how to use our templates” instructions are included, but if you have any questions, please let me know.

DOWNLOAD LINK – will expire on Tuesday, March 9th at 11:59 pm MST. EXPIRED!

COVER

Back Spine Front

Sample CD (showing with “printable hub”)