What Size should it be?

What is Too small or Too big?

What is the ideal size for a brag book? In some of the tutorials I viewed, the brag book was closer to a mini album than a brag book.

Which brings me to another question I had as I sorted through the mass of material online: what separates a brag book from a mini album?  

As far as I can tell, its size and to some extent, complexity….by that I mean how many flips and flaps, pockets, tags, and belly bands an album has.

Another feature that brag books tends to have are different methods of binding the pages together.

As the name implies, brag books are made to showcase something you wanted to brag about … its used in business to showcase skills, testimonials etc and for the craft sector it would be used for a new baby, a grandmother/ father to have the grandkids photos in, weddings, travel memories and more.

If anyone has a true definition, I would love for you to comment below.

My goal

Is to develop all the components of a brag book in digital file format and PDF that can then be used interchangeably to create interactive, unique brag books easily with many different looks and feels.

I also hope to incorporate techniques I am not seeing in my search to give a WOW factor each and every time.

Back to size: there were a few page sizes I considered

1. 6.5 in. x 8.5 in.
2. 8.5  in. x 8.5  in.
3. 5 in. x 7 in.
4. 6.5 in. x 6.5 in
5. 7 in x 7in

Sizes I Like

1. I really liked the  6.5 in x 8.5 in.  size for a few reasons, first because it fit 8.5 x 11 in. cardstock, also it allowed for a potential of two  4 in x 6 in. photos.
2. The 8.5 in. x 8.5 in.  fit 8.5 x 11 in. cardstock and allows for the 8 in. x 8 in. pads of paper for matting. Similar with the 6.5 in. x 6.5 in. page as it allowed for the use of 6 in. x 6  in. paper stack.
3. I found a blank base already bound that is 8 in x 8 in, so if I use this pre-made book pages I will skip the steps for making the cover and pages and my files will be tailored for the 7 in x 7 in page clearance.

Binding methods looked at:

1. Stack the deck
2. Coptic stitch
3. Hidden hinge (trade marked)
4. Accordion hinge
5. The popular method seems to be stack the deck, and I am researching if this is the method I will use. For my TUNNEL / SHADOW card, I used a version of the hidden hinge which I really liked.

My Pinterest board has pins for binding methods and for brag book ideas

The saga continues next post with making the digital pages.

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Carolyn

What feature do you love most in a brag book?

Do you have a true definition of a brag book to share?