Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Collage: Old and New
Assembling graphic elements in a free pictorial composition,
called “collage,” is a relatively recent development in illustration. It derives from the
evolution of representation in fine art from depicting a strictly singular viewpoint
through the construction of multiple viewpoints, or cubism, into incorporating multiple
viewpoints of several, possibly physically unrelated, scenes or references. Collage was
initially used to add two-dimensional printed or found material—labels, fabric, bits of
newspaper, flat pieces of wood, and so on—into paintings, but, with the rise of pho-
tography as a medium, it quickly incorporated photographic images. Collaging photo-
graphic images, rather than illustrative images, is usually called “photomontage” and
has been a popular method of illustration since the 1920s. Collage is a highly intuitive
illustrative approach that takes into account not only the possibility of disparate sub-
jects appearing in one space but also the nature of the combined elements—meaning
how exactly they were made. Drawn and painted components can coexist with cut or
torn pieces of textured paper, cropped images, scraps of fabric, parts of actual objects,
and other drawn, painted, or printed material. Given that the pictorial space in a col-
lage is abstract because of its fragmented construction, the designer must resolve com-
positional issues similar to those in any other image; but he or she must also address
each item's internal visual qualities—overall visual activity, flatness of color relative to
texture, and recognizability of the source material (such as printed words or croppings
of image). In particular, because the source components of a collage might be recog-
nizable, the conceptual relationship between abstract and representational elements is
extremely important. Integrating recognizable imagery, with its own subjects and mes-
sages, helps direct the message and adds degrees of meaning. Collage is still a com-
mon approach to illustration and page layout in the digital environment, where not only
scanned images of found or hand-generated material can be combined with photograph-
ic material, but also where photographic effects such as transparency, multiple expos-
ure, blurring, and silhouetting—techniques made possible only by the computer—can
be investigated.
