Clustering help

littlekiwi

littlekiwi

Active member
After seeing all the wonderful layouts with clustering on them I would love some tips on how to do it myself without it looking like I have just dumped elements on to a page or gone the easy route and used a premade cluster (I have plenty of them though too)
 
Who are some of your clustering idols? Maybe they can pop in with some suggestions and advice.

As for me...lately... (more clustery pages from me are in my MSA gallery)

I pick a background to start with and then I open every element in the kit and throw it onto the paper. I apply a temporary drop shadow just so I can see better what I'm working with. Then I get busy.

  • Sometimes, I let my photos dictate the composition...other times, I let the elements tell the story or create the mood. There are some items that I immediately know I won't really use for that page, and I'll go ahead and delete them.
  • Others are too large for the dainty clusters that I'm trying to do, so I'll shrink them.
  • I sort of organize the different types of elements into piles on my page...ribbons, borders, flowers, stamps, frames, etc.
  • Then I start to arrange things. Some in front of photos...some behind. I tweak the shadows as I go (and yes, it's easier to do with Photoshop vs. PSE, so I feel for you there). Shadows are critical to great clusters IMO...it's what gives you the illusion of depth...some things closer to the layers below and some things farther away.
  • Duplicate your elements! They add more interest and depth to your cluster. Pay attention to scale, shape, and color to create a balanced image.
  • Walk away. Grab a meal or something and then come back to it. What's your first impression? Did it seem off-balance? What can you slide a wee bit here or there to get it just right?

That's all I can think of right now.

edit: couple of examples

I enjoyed throwing all kind of schtuff around the edges. You can see that some things are very close to the page (like stickers, glitter, etc.)...some things are farther away (like branches, ribbons, etc.). I mainly just tried to balance the colors and "weight" of the items around the page.
alotlikechristmasLR.jpg


With this page, everything was more or less purple (not one of my favorite colors, but I challenged myself LOL). Anyways...since color wasn't really a factor, I focused on the "weight" of the elements in addition to the depth. Notice how the glitter title is "flat" on the page? Also, because of the types of frames and the illusion of depth I was creating, I added an opposite shadow in addition to my normal shadow...it really creates a bit of drama.
snowangelLR.jpg
 
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You really need to stretch the imagination with clustering. I like to use things that you typically wouldn't use to do some of my layering. Like, I'll use a frame as something behind a photo instead of an actual frame, or I'll use a journal tag as a piece of paper behind something. One thing that really helps me is to shadow as I go. If I wait until the end I wind up moving things and am never happy. I also agree with Krystal...don't limit yourself to using the size that is given. I hardly ever use an element at it's given size. :o
 
awesome advise :)

not sure where, but some genius shared, and it managed to stick with me - odd numbers and a triangle.

so the cluster is built roughly somewhat triangular in shape, and elements/photos/items are usually repeated in odd numbers. Sasha (mom2peanuts) comes to mind immediately as a gallery to look through for fabulous examples - she is really gifted in this, IMO . . .
 
Krystal, thanks for sharing your process! It really helps to read how you create clusters, especially the tip about deeper shadows...I never thought of that!

Thanks for this post, Jennifer. When I try to do clusters, it just looks messy, I've been so frustrated!
 
Maybe I'm way too technical - but one of the things that ALWAYS gets in my way is realism. You know, something that would be "thick" in real life being right smashed up against everything else in a way it would never fit in real life. Like folded ribbons, 3D "realistic" objects, etc.

So I always get constrained by that, wanting to make sure that what I create could really happen in real life. anyone else have that problem, or just me?
 
I really wish I was better at clustering...in fact I truely stink. I always see these beautiful clusters and then when I try they end up looking terrible.
 
I do what Nettie says and do the triangle thing a lot of time as well. :) I always alway always start with a photo though and let that dictate my pages. :) not everyone does though, lol
 
I try to do the odd number thing...my MIL learned that in a stamping class and passed it on to me!
 
g8rbeckie said:
Maybe I'm way too technical - but one of the things that ALWAYS gets in my way is realism. You know, something that would be "thick" in real life being right smashed up against everything else in a way it would never fit in real life. Like folded ribbons, 3D "realistic" objects, etc.

So I always get constrained by that, wanting to make sure that what I create could really happen in real life. anyone else have that problem, or just me?
Click to expand...

I totally do that. That's probably my biggest problem.
 
I'm a big cluster/layerer (is that a word?)... I don't know what I would do if I actually had to fill a whole page with the design, LOL! Normally I probably only work with about 33% of the actual space because anything other than that is too busy for me (when I create, of course I LOVE people that have a talent for using the whole page, I just can't).

I normally start with photos first and then work from the bottom up. So typically I'll end up doing some paper strips or ribbons, then strings, glitter, paint splatters. I like to get the big items in first and then see where accent items would fit best (since glitter/paint goes on the bottom because I'm a stickler for realism too!). From there I go for bulkier elements, buttons, flowers, bunched ribbon.

I found a while ago that lifting people that have the style I really like helps a lot. This way, I have to figure out how they layered the way that they did and I can see how the composition really fits together.

I'm no expert though... I still am waiting for Cindy to give me lessons on how it's done! LOL!
 
NettieB said:
awesome advise :)

not sure where, but some genius shared, and it managed to stick with me - odd numbers and a triangle.

so the cluster is built roughly somewhat triangular in shape, and elements/photos/items are usually repeated in odd numbers. Sasha (mom2peanuts) comes to mind immediately as a gallery to look through for fabulous examples - she is really gifted in this, IMO . . .
Click to expand...

I'm a bit minimalist on my clusters compared with others, but I definitely keep both these points in mind.
 
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