Digital Designer Tips

When it comes to digital scrapbooking, digital designer Jackie Eckles is kind of a veteran.

“I started designing my own digital products in 2006,” she says.

Wow, that was eons ago! Technology changes quickly, but products and trends change quicker, so Jackie’s products show her growth as an artist as well as a techno designer.

In celebration of the release of Cantata’s latest book, Scrapbooking Digitally, we sat down with Jackie to discuss her qualities as a digital designer. Jackie designed one of four custom digital scrapbooking kits that is packaged on a DVD with the book. For more information on the book or to order it, please click here.

Q: Jackie, what was it about digital designing that initially hooked you?
A: Since I started with traditional scrapbooking, the discovery of digital was like discovering a new cutter tool with every extension imaginable – I can create almost anything I can dream up.

Q: What is your favorite digital tool?
A: I work with Adobe® Photoshop®, and my favorite tools are the brush tools. They offer a great way to add extra dimension to a digital layout or craft. I love to experiment with the Opacity and Scatter settings. I also love fonts! I love to add color and texture to them.

Q: What are you working on currently?
A: I love bright colors and my newest kits like Arbot and Happy Love (available at Little Dreamer Designs) reflect that. I am currently working on themes that have more of a teenage appeal – both fun and cool, I hope.

Q: Can you offer any design advice to our readers?
A: Fight the urge to add more. When I design a layout, if something doesn’t seem to fit, try subtracting elements. Many times, a project, whether it is a scrapbook page or another craft project, will benefit from simplifying the design.

Q: What advice do you have for those who have never done digital?
A: Get involved in the digital community! It’s such a welcoming environment, and it will, without a doubt, help you improve your design skills. There is always a challenge to inspire and push you to your creative limits.

Q: Challenge? What do you mean by that?
A: Once you become a member of a digital community, such as Two Peas in a Bucket or The Digi Chick, you will notice members or forum moderators posting art challenges, such as a photography challenge that requires you to explore a certain digital photography technique or a color challenge that will have you seeking original ways to use a certain color.

NYC Welcomed US!

I love NYC and the surrounding areas. The place throbs with energy and a lot of that is creative. Andrea and I just returned from a trip to the Big Apple where we were visiting different publishers to share our ideas for some really great upcoming books. We visited The Taunton Press, with whom we published Scrapbooking Digitally (which, by the way, is now available online and in most bookstores!). We met with Wiley Publishing, with whom we are doing Day of the Dead Crafts. (DOD will be available in the Fall, so look for it! You truly won't believe the incredible artwork in this book. It is unlike anything you've ever seen before!) We also met with a couple of great folks at St. Martins and Workman. Fun? Yes. Tiring? Yes! So now we're catching up FINALLY on paperwork and getting ready to start our next projects. Keep in touch! Let us know what you think of the website and let us know if you have anything to contribute. Happy SPRING!