Scrapbooking Basics Part 4: How to use colour in your scrapbook layout.

Today we are looking at our fourth part in our scrapbooking basics series.

How to use colour in scrapbook layouts.

Why do we use colour in scrapbooking layout

Colour has an amazing quality, it has the ability to draw out emotions. When we think of a summers day the colours of the beach come to mind the yellow of the sand and sun and the blue of the ocean. When I think of spring, I think of my garden bursting with new life and riot of different colours. Winter makes me think of blues and silvers and of course Autumn is red, yellow and orange as the trees change colour.

When I think of my nanna I think of bright fire truck red, her favourite colour. How about crisp clean white or happy yellow? What do they remind you of?

So if we know that colours bring emotions to our scrapbook layouts, then how do we choose those colours that balance and contrast with each other and make the most of our photos?

How to pick colours for scrapbooking layouts

A great tool to have in your scrapbooking stash is a colour wheel. The colour wheel can be used in a variety of ways.

Colour wheel: Analogous Colours

Any colours that are next to each other on the colour wheel. Typically harmonize well, but may not provide much contrast. purple and blue red and purple yellow and green red and orange orange and yellow

Colour wheel: Complementary Colours

Colours that are directly opposite one another on the wheel. Typically produce strong contrast. red and green blue and orange purple and yellow

Colour Wheel: Split Complementary Colours

Colours on either side of the complementary colours. Provide contrast, but not as strong as complementary colours. red and blue-green or yellow-green blue and red-orange or yellow-orange yellow and red-purple or blue-purple

Taking the red in the shirt of the photo, and using split Complementary colours this gives us the soft shades of blue green and green yellow shades that are picked up in the patterns of the paper.

Colour Wheel: Triadic Colours

Any 3 colours that create a triangle on the wheel. Provide a balanced colour scheme with reasonable contrast. purple, orange and green red, yellow and blue

 This scrapbook layout uses Triadic colours of blue, red and yellow

 

Neutral Colours

The basic Neutral colours are white, black and grey. For scrapbookers I would also add Kraft. Neutral colours are classed as non colours and are extremely useful in scrapbook design as they provide a resting place for the eye. They also make great backgrounds. If you ever get stuck for colour choice for your layout because there are conflicting colours in your photo, then try Black & White colour scheme. The more black, the more grounded and elegant the layout will be. The more white, the lighter the layout will be.

We could even combine the colour rules a bit, if we use the Analogous Colours (colours that are side by side on the colour wheel) in this case blue and purple. And complementary colours (colours that are opposite on the colour wheel) purple and yellow. 

Did you find this post helpful? Make sure you read the last three parts of our scrapbooking basics series.
Part one How to layout a scrapbook page
Part two: What are the best photos to use for scrapbooking
Part three: How to embellish a scrapbook layout.

Would you like a colour wheel? Colour wheels can be found here.

Next time we will be looking at Part five: Where to get scrapbooking ideas.


Thanks for reading,
LeAnne Payne