Analog and Digital Collage

For this project we were encouraged to explore the art of collage by creating both an analog and digital collage. The art of collage brings diversity to the world of design. It shows how smaller images can be combined to create a piece with a deeper meaning. For the analogue collage we browsed various magazines to find compelling images that would work in the larger collage. This process provided a starting point for the creation of the college. Once the images were selected, they needed to be arranged on a canvas. Using Gestalt principles helped to show how images can interact with each other in a compelling way. The final step was to glue everything together. The digital collage followed a similar process except digital images were cut out and arranged using Photoshop. The art of collage illustrates the design principles that we have been discussing in class and how they can be effectively applied. 

To begin this project I searched for images that I found interesting, compelling, or just kind of weird. I feel like collages can be approached in a few different ways. Either you start with a shape in mind and find images that fit into that shape or you find images and create shapes using those images. The inspiration for my collage was mosaics. I feel like mosaics are a type of collage because they bring smaller shapes together to form a larger image. I also wanted to use mosaics for their religious roots. As I built on the idea of the mosaic I started to explore different materials I could use in the collage. I have samples of various colored lighting gels that I wanted to use to explore how to incorporate lighting into my art work. Going along with the religious theme, I thought the lighting gels would make an interesting halo. I found an image of an elegant woman, who I assumed was famous, that I wanted to put the halo around. By including a halo I wanted to take a step further and show how the ideas of traditional beauty and celebrities are idealized and worshiped. I also felt like the halo was a barrier that protected the woman so outside I wanted to include images of the “real world” that the woman was being protected from. For my digital collage I wanted to create something silly and fun. I created a collage that included my nieces and nephews in bubbles. I overlaid the image on an interesting background to create a foreground and figure. This project showed me how images can come together and intersect without another to create a deeper meaning. 

The skills that I learned during this project were collage and Adobe Photoshop. The concept of collage allowed me to further explore Gestalt principles and the elements of design. Collage demonstrates the Gestalt principles of grouping because the artist is able to group images together to influence the viewer's interpretation of the piece. This project also taught me the skills needed in Adobe Photoshop to create a digital collage including masking and creating layers. I look forward to being able to apply these skills in future projects.