Diploma Frames

When you choose mats for your diploma frames, the first thing you care about might be the color. It is easy to understand since people are sensitive to colors. Thus determining the right color for mats becomes a key element in the design of frames.

To choose a right color for the mats, you should decide between light and dark color. It is generally believed that the mats with light colors can broaden the picture in the frame, which means the picture seems more outward, or you get more open perception on the picture. While the dark colors can stress the picture, i.e. dark mats tempt your eyes on the picture and give your perception a tunneling effect.

Another important step is to ensure color matching between the picture/artwork and the mats. As a rule, the color for mats should be no lighter than the lightest color in the frame and no darker than the darkest one. Always keep in mind that it’s the picture or the artwork that is the focal point of your frame, not the mats.

When you choose a mat for your frame, the common choice would be neutral colors, which can stretch from white to gray. A neutral color can not only enhance the content, but also fit into any room décor.

When you design diploma frames, you may choose mats as the most important part since they can unify the elements of frames and increase the aesthetic feelings. As a rule, you should determine the width of mats according to two things — the size of your diploma, image or artwork, and the focus of the frames. 

Generally speaking, wider mats can make the diploma or artworks in the frame look more impressive.

For small pieces of items in frames, wider mats emphasize the items and make them professional. While for large items, wider mats can maintain the balance between the items and the outer frames to achieve a proper proportion. It is suggested that the width of mat should be twice as wide as that of the frame.

The rule given above does not apply all the time, especially when you design double mats. In double mats case, it is a bad idea or even a taboo to choose the same width for both mats, which makes the frame look striped. The most common design for double mats is to make the inner mats, which are close to diploma or artworks smaller in order to stress the content of frames.

For special cases, such as a piece with special shape in the frame, you should determine the width according to the needs of the contents. For example, if you are framing a very long piece, you may consider a mat which is a little bit wider at the bottom than at the top to give a feeling of providing enough support for the long piece.