The meaning of the word "album" is understood by the layman as a notebook with white thick sheets for drawing, fastened on the narrow side. This definition is known not only in the professional environment. Primary schoolchildren and preschoolers who draw at home and under the guidance of a teacher are used to such an understanding.
But in the same way many other publications for personal creativity and already completed art projects are called.
Collections of reproductions of paintings or family photographs, herbariums or guest books - these are all albums. A collection of songs released on different media also bears this name.
Sketchbook
Sketchbook has long been popular among drawing enthusiasts. Unlike A4 albums (or close to it), such a book-album is small in size, very convenient for trips for sketches.
For those who learn to draw or do it professionally, it’s not just the format of the album that matters. The most important characteristic is the quality of the paper. Most often, a sketchbook is suitable for all types of pencils and pens, and sometimes for markers, pastels and watercolors. It not only draws, but also makes the necessary notes. For artists, it is much more practical than a simple notebook.
However, small albums with high-quality paper for watercolor paints are also on sale.
Photo album
A family album is photographs accumulated over many years, most often placed in chronological order.
Wedding or for newborns - these days are popular family album options. Of course, much more can be stored on electronic media. But there are times when it is more convenient to get these testimonies of joyful events from the closet and show them to guests in a long-established, traditional format.
Old family albums with yellowed photographs and old photos on thick paper are especially touching. It is a pity that those who collected these photos sometimes did not leave a signature next to the portrait of a relative or colleague. And in school albums, the name of a classmate is not always written, but only the surname and initials.
Family and guest books, diaries
The diary is an album that has been distributed since the 18th century. The fashion for such handwritten books required the inclusion of poetry. The writings personally rewritten or inherited from the kind and attentive guests were the subject of interest and vanity of young ladies in France, Germany, and Russia. V. A. Zhukovsky, A. S. Pushkin and other Russian writers can be found mentioning this hobby. A girl’s album is a mixture of poems, sayings, sketches, and sometimes one could find a curl or already dried flowers there.
Guestbook is an old tradition. Leave a wish, poetry or just a signature in such an album by visitors, whose opinion and presence are especially significant for the hosts.
Family books, of special professional manual production, are made luxuriously: in leather bindings with embossing and overlays made of precious metals, silk bookmarks and cases. Such a publication broadens the notion of a regular photo album: it provides an opportunity to describe the family tree, attach photographs of all of their ancestors found in the archives, and even include the memories of grandparents.
Collection Albums
What collections are convenient to keep in albums? Stamps, coins, postcards and dried plants - these are the treasures on the shelves that are systematized and placed on dense pages. In this case, not necessarily on white, but often on dark sheets.
There are collections of samples of fabric, paper, labels, etc. For most of them there are special names. For plants, this is a herbarium. For coins and stamps - klyasser, although the word "album" is also suitable.
A quality handmade album for the herbarium is thought out to the smallest detail - it has special mounts, a strong binding, a place for signature, for a picture or photo.
In stamp holders for stamp collectors, special pockets of transparent materials are made on strong cardboard sheets, where stamps, blocks, envelopes are inserted. Thin sheets separate each page.
The album for coins has durable transparent cells, and for notes - a specially formed film.
Scrapbooking
What is a scrapbooking album? This is another kind of creativity. Such a clipping book is sometimes completely done independently, starting from binding. They are used to collect the most interesting information about the trip, special events in the life of the family, information about any subject that captivates a person.
You can learn how to make such an album with your own hands at master classes. Needlework is why it is interesting that the choice of material for scrapbooking depends only on the author, on how he understands the topic that interests him, and on what needs to be presented on the pages. Postcards, photographs, clippings from newspapers and magazines, booklets and personal notes - you can use everything that seems like a good option.
Sometimes in the personal archive we come across maps, tickets, recipes, plans and drawings left over from the trip. But do not combine these relics in one album?
Song albums
The release of such albums is a serious stage in the work of any artist. For the soloist or musical group (orchestra, rock band), the success of their recordings with the listener is crucial.
Once upon a time, vinyl records could be either singles (containing only one piece on each side), or albums that included several musical compositions.
There are unique albums. Thriller Michael Jackson was sold in the amount of 110 million copies. The collection of The Dark Side of the Moon Pink Floyd is sold in the amount of 50 million pieces.