Color isn’t just decorative in scrapbooking; it has the ability to define the mood, guide the eyes, and shape the perception and interpretation of the emotional content of your memories. One color can even make a memory feel different from another.
Color As Emotional Control
The first thing that viewers of your scrapbook page feel is its emotion. This is before they read it or study the images and papers it contains. This reaction is most likely due to the color.
Color sets the emotional tone of your scrapbook page. It does so without your viewer having to do any work, which is why color plays such an important role in memory-based design.
Color Mood Consistency
Color is one of the most influential decisions you will make when building out your scrapbook page, and it is best to make that decision consistently. Instead of a range of different colors, try to build off the palette on a consistent color mood.
Consistent color creates emotional consistency. Having all colors work together in the overall color theme will make the emotion of your scrapbook page feel intentional and cohesive rather than fragmented.
Color Contrast As An Emotion Tool
Not only does contrast look good, it also works to emphasize. Using contrast with your color palette is a powerful tool when building out the emotion of your memories. By placing contrasting colors next to each other you can easily guide the eye of your audience.
Color contrast is a great tool in memory-based design as it will help guide the eyes to key moments in your scrapbook page.
Color Matching The Type Of Memory
Some colors work better with some types of memories than others. For example, a calming pastel color would work nicely with a calm, loving memory, while a brighter, bolder color could work better for a happy memory of a fun day out.
You don’t have to follow this color-matching concept strictly, but it can help when it comes to building out color moods for your memories.
Limiting Colors For Your Scrapbook Pages
One common issue with colors in scrapbooking is having too many colors. While this may look more interesting and creative at first glance, it can easily have the opposite effect.
By limiting your colors, each color has more meaning to it. This also results in a color mood that looks visually more pleasing than when you use a range of disparate colors.
What You Can Take Away
Color is more than just a decoration in your scrapbook page. Color in scrapbooking provides emotional structure to define how your memories are perceived. It can make one memory feel like another.
In order for a scrapbook page to make sense emotionally for both you and your audience, you have to make a decision on the kind of emotional experience that you want your viewer to have, and then make sure that every color choice supports that experience.