1. Creating a Visual Verbal Journal
Composition and Layout Choices:
1. Full Page Design:
Using a solid block of text or a
drawing or a painting that fills
a page.
2. Bleeds: A design that covers 2 pages from one edge to the other. It
also includes cropped portions or material that is cut off by the edge of
the paper. Both text and images can be cropped within a bleed design
layout. A bleed can make text, as well as visual material; seem to be
part of a bigger whole, a bigger scene. It can give a sense of openness
to the content and make it seem to grow beyond the page.

2. 3. Borders: An edge, either plain or
decorated, frames a page of text or
illustration and in some way confines
the material on the page. A decorated
border is especially good at
highlighting or emphasizing the
material within it.

3. 4. Grids: Grids are basic organizing systems that consist of
repetition of a certain unity. The project has a sense of
order and control.
5. Mandala: A mandala is a symmetrical
design based on a circle, with a central focal
point; it can cover one page or a two page
spread. A mandala is a good way to highlight
a main point as well as show supporting ideas,
images, or context.

4. 6. Columns: Columns can be of any width. They can be made of text, image, or a combination
of the two. Columns are a good layout when many small visuals to illustrate the same block of
text or when you want to make comparisons among many ideas or units.
7. Diagonals: Diagonals are always more
emotional and attract more attention than
horizontals or verticals. The can communicate
action and emotion.

5. 8. Organic Shapes:
Organic shapes feel
more natural than
columns and grids.
9. Cutouts and Add-ons: Cut-outs and add-ins
introduce complexity and surprises. Cutouts
can link pages and the ideas on them and
thereby it creates the effect of a third
dimension. (examples: windows, doors, cut
edges, pockets, or fold-outs)
Stuck? Need a new idea? Here are some different techniques to try:
1. Resist techniques 2. Tissue Paper
A. wax A. cut or torn in layers for a background
B. crayon B. wrinkled, mounted and sealed with gel medium
C. rubber cement C. same as B, but with contrasting dry brush technique
D. cray-pas / oil pastels D. use as a colorant by pressing and dabbing with water to
E. white glue bleed
F. masking tape E. overlay – on top of images or text
3. Xerox transfer - place image side down, rub with Chartpak blending marker (use only in well ventilated area (outside is best))
4. Graph paper 5. Newsprint
A. add color within a specific color scheme A. use as a background
B. contour line drawing in non-permanent marker, apply B. tear and collage, stain it
water for bleed, add C. try circling limited words, block out the remainder with
color within grid lines using multiple media paint and design a
C. add cross-stitching page based on the selected words
6. Consider maps, tracing paper, manila, vellum, wrapping paper, sheet music, brown paper bags, cereal bags, ticket stubs, Chinese fortunes,
marbled paper, Japanese papers

6. 7. Weaving 8. Envelopes
A. use color or texture to create unity or contrast A. small secret storage areas
B. consider using uneven or torn strips B. recycle your junk mail envelopes
C. try non-traditional stuff like candy wrappers, Easter C. construct your own envelope
basket grass, or ticket stubs D. mount clear windows and display a treasure
9. Sew - use traditional stitching styles to mount images, consider embroidery floss
10. Stencils – Buy or make your own
11. Paper Towels - glue onto page for background or lay flat on page and dab with watercolor,
remove to reveal implied texture
12. Marker bleeds
13. Work from a definition straight out of Webster’s
14. Stamping – Buy some sets or create your own by carving gum erasers or bottle corks
15. Windows, doors, garden gazebos, cabinetry images - cut out existing image in windows and
replace with your own / cut and open doors
16. Cut outs to reveal subsequent pages
17. Borders
18. Trim or rip page edge 19. Create compositions that demonstrate compositional layouts
A. to contour of mounted imagery or drawings like:
B. keep it decorative A. rows
C. trim multiple pages with the same contour and B. columns
construct the layers hidden C. diagonals
inside, like the head with the muscles, brain, & skull D. grids
E. radial
20. Print a body part --- fingerprints, hands, feet, face, lips 21. Paper mosaic
22. Illustrate value scales in a variety of media 23. Make a water color technique sampler
24. Color Schemes
A. make pages for each of the traditional color schemes
B. include paint samplers from your home improvement center
C. use a photo as inspiration for a color palette
25. Use gesso to create surface texture. Draw onto it after it’s dry. 26. Adorn with modified tags on string
27. Compose with white reinforcement rings for notebook paper 28. Use a straw to blow ink or paint across the paper
Use a straw to blow masking fluid on your paper before adding
watercolor
29. Apply several coats of gel medium to a magazine image. Place 30. Use a brayer to roll on acrylic backgrounds
face down and rub gently
with damp sponge and fingertips to remove layers of paper until
image is transparent.
31. Glue down an image or colored paper and then tear it off
32. Organize visual information using quilting patterns
33. Fold paper and dip the corners or edges into watercolor paint or inks - Open to reveal tie dye effect
34. Place saran wrap on top of a wet watercolor wash and let it stay there until dry
35. Illuminate a letter on a written page
36. Select an image and draw it using varied techniques on a single page
37. Use someone else’s media test paper for a starting point
38. Try ironing waxed paper onto your surface before starting