So, in last week’s post I confessed to having had a “DUH” moment while struggling with a title. After thinking about the tip I gave you last week…I thought of a few others that might be interesting ways to help you make your title unique.

A title can be an important ingredient on a layout and also adds a unique look to the entire page. A creative title will always boost up your page and add extra interest to it. I generally try to come up with new ideas for titles mostly just to keep from doing the same old thing all the time. It’s not just the content that matters it’s also the shape and design of the title.

Try to think of the title’s words/letters as embellishments and work at making them look just as great as the other elements on the layout.

Read on to learn more…

Bury It!

“Burying” your title behind your journaling is a fun thing to try. This technique works best when your title is just a few words long and you use a chunky, heavy-weight sans-serif or slab-serif font for ease in reading. It’s a balancing act; be sure to lower your opacity enough that your journaling text is easily readable but not so much that your title is unreadable.

You can see in the image above I used the single word “NURTURE” in a large sans-serif font (Old Jersey Distressed) as my title. Then I simply typed my journaling over top of that title.

For the layout above, I used “Framed” by Neia Scraps. For more details about this layout, you can find it in my 2024 Gallery.

Layer It!

Layering poems or song lyrics (or portions of) to create not only your journaling but also your title, is such a cool technique.

In the image above, the journaling is part of the lyrics from the song “Time In A Bottle” by Jim Croce. I layered the song title and used different fonts with varied opacities to make it stand out but not totally draw away from the journaling.

You can see in the image above I layered the song title “Time In A Bottle” multiple times in a variety of fonts (Alex Brush, CRU-Dissaramas, Jonze and Jonzing, Knucklehead Serif & Times Condensed). And that song title became the title for my layout. But there are portions of the other lyrics that make up the journaling.

I personally love using song lyrics for journaling. And using either a phrase from the lyrics or the title of a song to create my layout’s title is something I do quite a bit.

For the layout above, most everything is either from “Chesapeake” by Chere Kaye Designs or “Ocean Waves”, (if you go to that link…you’ll have to scroll down a bit) this is a collection of mini kits by various designers at the Digital Scrapbooking Studio (DSS). For more details about this layout, you can find it in my 2024 Gallery.

Incorporate It!

Incorporating your title within your journaling is a very unique method. It takes a bit more time than the other two but it can still be fun. Just run your journaling into the title – and out the other side. Or you can pull out key words/phrases in the journaling to make the title. To do that, try emphasizing certain words in the journaling to make the title – even if they’re not exactly together in the journaling.

You can see in the image above I used a “bookplate” type word art in the very first sentence of my journaling. That word art became the title. But there are three other places in the journaling where I added other word art type embellishments (one straight out of the kit I used…the others I created using other kit elements and my own words). For each of the word art elements I created, I used the following fonts: Brigesta, Send Flowers & The Hungry.

Adding those extra word art elements makes it look more intentional or cohesive rather than just having only the one at the top. That doesn’t mean you can’t use just one element, specifically if you make it fairly large and it’s perhaps more centered within the journaling.

The hardest part about this particular technique is having to play with the word and line spacing to get the word art elements to line up nicely with the text.

Another cute option when using this “incorporating” technique is to replace certain words in the journaling with elements. Such as using a flower element instead of the word flower; a bird element in place of the word bird; a fish element in place of the word fish…and so on.

Try to think outside the box a bit. Let’s say you’re doing a layout about a trip to Paris. Maybe you’ve set your title to read “My Paris Summer”. You could try using an Eiffel Tower embellishment in place of the word Paris. That may be a bit of a stretch but I think you know what I mean 😉

For the layout above, I started with a template from “Across the Pages Layered Templates 04” by Katie Pertiet Designs. Most everything else is from “Seafoam” by Cindy Ritter Designs. I created all but one of the word art elements using items from that kit by Cindy. For more details about this layout, you can find it in my 2024 Gallery.

More Title Tips

Don’t just hide the title in the top corner or down at the bottom of the layout, incorporate the words/letters into the design of your page in a creative way.

When placing your title underneath/behind journaling, it’s often preferable to keep it a single word using a heavy-weight sans-serif. That’s not a hard & fast recommendation. The amount of journaling you have can help determine how long the title can be in each case.

When placing your title underneath/behind journaling, try to use a color that coordinates with the background. Also try keeping the opacity fairly low so it is easier to get your journaling to show up and remain legible.

When placing your title underneath/behind journaling, it’s best to create your journaling using a very legible font, preferably one that is not fancy or decorative. Try using a simple font such as Myriad Pro Regular.

This is a zoomed in portion of the layout at the top of the “Bury It!” section above. You can see how I used only a single word in a color that coordinated with the background. And the journaling was written with a very simple font.

If you have only a small amount of journaling, trying to place you title under it may not work out too well. You don’t want your title to be so small that it’s hard to pick it out as the title.

When incorporating your title within your journaling, try to keep the word art elements at a size that makes it easy to fit your journaling around them.

Sometimes it’s just as simple as letting your title be your journaling. When the title and journaling are one in the same, try to bring attention to the words/alphas by bringing in tags word art or other elements that can replace words:

See how in the layout above there are no actual words for the title. Nor is there any journaling. Instead, I used the 50 flair, the birthday tag & the party “postage stamp” near the lower edge to “imply” the title of 50th Birthday Party. For more details about this layout you can find it in my 2024 Gallery.

When using song lyrics for your title you don’t have to use the song’s actual title. You can pick one phrase out of the song that makes for a meaningful title for your layout.

When using song lyrics for your journaling you don’t have to use the entire song. Nor do you have to use the lyrics in the same order in which they appear in the song.

When using song lyrics for your journaling you can intersperse some of your own words that fit with the theme of the song and your layout to make the song more meaningful for your layout.

Here’s a good example of adding your own words with lyrics. In my Time In A Bottle layout above I could have replaced the line in the song where it says “If I could make days last forever”:

With the following: “I’d try to make every vacation last forever and”:

Anytime you’re trying to create a unique title, remember to think outside the box. A plain old title up in the left or right corner may not always be the most engaging way to introduce your layout.

Please always remember to not let your title overshadow the rest of your layout. Your title should almost always complement your layout rather than distract from it

As always, if you have any questions or want to make a suggestion about a topic you’d like me to cover, please don’t ever hesitate to “Message Me”.

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