Hi there! Happy Tuesday! Emily here with today's inspiration piece! This is the cover of a Kenmore mixer recipe book, designed by Paul Rand, who is an American graphic artist especially known for his work with companies and corporate logos. All of his work is very modern, fun, and colorful. Here is a Pinterest page filled with him images, all of which I love!
When I began my layout, I knew that the colors on my layout would be drastically different from the original inspiration, however I hoped to incorporate two major concepts from the recipe book cover. The first is the simple separation of the layout with a white top and a colored bottom, or in my case, patterned. After I chose some papers from the Treasure Map collection, I decided it all contrasted a little too much with the vivid white top half, so I added a sheet of vellum from my personal stash over top to tone it down.
The second concept I wanted to include in my layout is the cluster of small items at the top of the design. I chose elements from various different October Afternoon lines in aqua and navy and arranged them over top of and also below the photo. I think I say this every time I write a post, but honestly, I just love how easily all of the OA embellishments work together. My two embellishment groups include pieces from so many different lines, but they all still form coherent mix!
Because I used a vertical photo, there wasn't room for a large title underneath it, and I opted to instead make my title vertical as well. When I went back and looked at the cover after I had completed my layout, I was surprised to see the vertically aligned text "electric mixer." I had completely overlooked this the first time - it made me smile to know that I had used yet another element from Rand's original design, though absolutely unintentionally! Here is a look at the layout in its entirety:
I would love to see how you are inspired by this book cover or by Paul Rand's work! Upload your layout to the October Afternoon Flickr gallery, post it on our Facebook page, or connect with us on Instagram via #octoberafternoon. Happy Tuesday, and happy scrapping!