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The Digital World of Scrapbook Designs

The Internet has changed the way magazines and vendors find and use designers.

by PC Smart (November 15, 2004) 

Go back in time, back to the days when designers had to submit their project ideas by sending an actual paper photograph with a written description. You had to set up the shot just right, take the film to be developed, go to the post office, and then wait, wait, wait to hear from the magazine. If they liked it but needed some changes – well, the process started all over again. Needless to say, this was very time consuming and labor intensive.

Now flash forward to the year 2004:

Magazine submissions are now done electronically. Projects are scanned or digitally photographed, touched up graphically, and emailed with instructions in an accompanying word document. Some designers are submitting via PDF’s to create read-only docs that are easily printed but cannot be duplicated. A designer can create a project, photograph it, and submit it before the glue is even dry. This instant form of submission also comes with a faster response time from the magazines. Editors can peruse hundreds of submissions quickly by scanning their inboxes.

That is right, I said hundreds of submissions. With the gallery format of most scrap magazines, the average scrapper can now have the honor of seeing their designs printed alongside those of the professional designers they greatly admire. The ability to "stitch" a 12x12 layout on a traditional scanner has allowed scrappers to not only submit their work for publication, but participate in online galleries and design teams.

With a click of the mouse, a layout can be viewed by hundreds (or thousands) of Internet surfers. Magazine calls are no longer limited to an editorial calendar given out at trade shows and mailed to select individuals. They are public knowledge, the source of much discussion on the message boards, and when the editor's acceptance call comes in – there is a race to the keyboard to let everyone know that the decisions were made and calls are going out.

There are two main sources for information about scrapbook magazine requests, contests, and design team calls, Scrapsubmit (www.scrapsubmit.com ) and Scrapsource (www.scrap-source.com). Scrapsource lists all the conventions, calls, and contests on its home page with links to nearly every listing. There are also links to other services such as online stores, scrapbook resumes, scrap cruises, and more. Its tag line is: "Every Scrapper’s Home Page."

If it is happening in the scrap world, you will find it on the Scrapsource home page. Want to submit to Creating Keepsake’s latest design call? Just click on the link and it will take you to the page on the CK site listing the details.

Scrapsource is run by Veronica Hugger ("Zing Queen" to us online people). Veronica is also part of the new National Scrapbooking Association (www.nsa.gs). Scrapsource began in the summer of 2003 and has grown steadily since. As of this week, it was listed as #114 on the Scrapbooking Top 50 ranking.

Similar but yet very different is Scrapsubmit. A sort of jack of all trades, this site combines many aspects of scrapping under one roof. The face behind Scrapsubmit is Jlyne Hanback. Jlyne is also an editor of the new CorrespondenceArt magazine (www.correspondenceart.com ) as well as a published scrapbook designer.

Jlyne and her husband started this site after he watched her frustration while trying to submit layouts to multiple magazines. To view the calls and contests, you must register at the site. Once you are logged in, you can view submission guidelines, specific calls, participate in the online forum, manage your scrapfolio, or edit your scrapbio. All of these services are free to registered users.

You can actually submit to more than one call with a single click. This eliminates the need to duplicate emails to send submissions to multiple magazines. Scrapfolios are kind of like an online portfolio of your layouts. You can check where you sent them and other details. Scrapbios are scrapping resumes you can link to in order to provide more information about yourself and your goals as a designer.

Both sites deal almost exclusively with scrap magazines – with an occasional papercrafts mag thrown in the mix. Why? Because of the sheer number of gallery-type projects featured in these magazines, there is a need to put out open calls to insure an adequate number of publishable pieces. Scrappers who are not "professional designers" set goals to be published in certain magazines and will spend days and/or weeks on the submissions for some calls. Big contests like MemoryMakers "Masters" or Creating Keepsakes "Hall of Fame" will keep the message boards humming for months. As soon as a new call or contest is announced, there is a rush to the site to check the rules and guidelines.

Design teams are also recruited from sites like these. Not just online retailers, but manufacturers looking to pick up some talent for their in-house design team. Design team calls are usually accompanied by the team guidelines and compensation amounts, if any. Many scrappers enjoy the prestige of placing the "Design Team Member of..." after their name on message boards and resumes. Some sites/companies’ teams are more prestigious than others and these titles are coveted by beginner and expert alike.

I encourage you to check out the sites I mentioned. Take some time to peruse the galleries, bios, and calls. You might be astonished at all the calls and contests listed. If nothing else, take a look at some of the resumes and bios – the talent will amaze you. And remember, these scrappers are not what the industry labels "professional designers"; these women are part of your target market. They shop at chain and independent stores, buy from online sites, and purchase the magazines in which you advertise. The published scrapper is participating in the industry in a way unheard of until now. They are part of the magazines, they motivate sales, and they drive the trends you see on the trade show floor. You may just look at them in a new light.

Note: PC Smart writes for art/craft industry consumer and trade publications in addition to being a marketing consultant and designer. In her previous, non-creative life, she was a database systems designer for a pharmaceutical company. Her main goal in writing about technology has been the marriage of computers and traditional art/crafts. Specializing in consumer level designs, Pamela focuses on the use of graphics software, scanners, and printers to help the average crafter use their computer for more than an expensive email machine. She believes that technology should be used as a tool in creativity and not necessarily the final output.

To read previous columns, click on the titles in the right-hand column. 

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