Used sparingly, photos cropped into unusual or unexpected shapes can add a special touch to a newsletter or scrapbook layout or make a plain photograph more interesting. It would probably be best to use a consistent crop shape -- such as mug shots all in stars or ovals -- in a single publication rather than using a variety of unusual crops.
Crop Creative Shapes
Example: Cropping into round or irregular non-rectangular shapes
Before: Plain rectangle. After: Photos cropped into fun or unusual shapes.
Photo © J. Bear