6 Tips Before You Start Collage Design

Interested in collage design?

Let’s admit that you have a good taste of art.

Collage design is one of the most innovative and creative approaches to art -and for years, it’s been a well known favorite for artists.

But today, for the beginners, let’s go for the initials.

#1.
What is collage art/collage design?

The first thing to know, and not much hard to guess, the word “collage” is derived from the French word “coller” which means “to glue” or let’s say, “to stick together”.

Is collage art an official movement?

Yes. It’s originally invented by the cubist artists Braque and Picasso, in the early 1900s. The two put a good effort into this new movement’s improvement. 

#2.
How did collage design improve in time?

Following its invention around 1910, many other artists fell in love with this new and innovative approach, and lots of Dadaists and Surrealists contributed to its development with different types of working styles starting from the 1920s.

#3.
What are the materials that can be used in collage design?

Collage design comes with a handful of materials and most of which actually depends on the artists’ creativity. Original collage art materials were mostly all kinds of paperwork, wood, cut and pasted photographs, vintage magazines and newspapers,  even 3D objects and painted forms of all of these. 

But it’s good to remember that many artists now work with digital ways, like everybody else, and in digital platforms, collage design materials are simply illustrations, hand-drawn sketches, scanned papers and photographs.

#4.
Some functional tips for collage design?

If you have a beautiful desire to start designing a collage, here are some most-recommended tips from famous artists:

• Use similar -if possible exactly same- textures. It really matters to use the same texture when you’re trying to create a whole with seperate pieces.
  
• Repeat colors. Don’t put an extra effort into using different color palettes, it’s better to repeat colors in a balanced period.
  
• When working in non-digital areas, for instance with real papers, try to cut inside the lines and take care to get seamless edges.
  
• Start picking up the source materials first, then decide which parts of them would match the best. This fore-play in your thoughts will save a lot of time.
  
• Become a natural collector. It’s important to find the right pieces to work with, but sometimes it can be hard to find them right away. Make collecting collage sources a daily part of your life. This also will make you feel like an artist and get you in the mood anytime you need.
  
• Stop thinking that you’ll need all and every piece you’ve found. Sometimes, the least creates beauty.
  
• Look for inspiration even when you think it’s not there. Always keep in mind that life itself is a source of inspiration.
  
• Take a camera with you, wherever you go, and take your own pictures to use later in your works.

#5.
What about collage trends?

Collage art has always been something of beautiful minds and creative ways. It’s hard to talk about trends when something contains heavy art-work, but still, it’s good to know a few tricks. 

Keep in mind that the evolution of collage art went from clear to misty. Because in time, Dadaists and Surrealists made a great contribution to its evolution. Since the late of 1920’s, it’s more popular to make surrealist collage designs. 

Even today, artists do very much like to add a surrealist atmosphere to their collage work, and some mystery if possible. 

Hard-to-understand messages at first look seem to be the biggest trend on collage designs. 

Different figures, many layers, and many other elements that make it hard to grasp the underlying message are definitely your best friends if you’re trying to create a collage that would be trending. 

#6.
Finally… How to start collage design?

That’s probably the first frequently asked question about collage art. But it has a simple answer.

Just start right away.

You’ve learned the initials, saw lots of collage art design examples on Pinterest, what’s keeping you now?

Just decide which world you want to design your collage in -real or digital?

For digital collage art, you’ll basically need a computer and an illustration software like Photoshop or Illustrator, etc. You might also need some kind of training course in order to use these softwares, but that’s not really a big deal. 

Or, you can take some touchable photographs, newspapers, magazines and other real-world materials including your own drawings to cut and paste. At that point, you’ll need to go through details like how to find the right adhesives for your materials, but that’s not a big deal either.

Either way, it’s pretty obvious that you’ll create really good pieces of art, have faith in your designer soul!