Look around and you’ll find several print designs out there that could instantly spark your creativity. For example, take a book that has been lying around in your desk, or perhaps an art print hung up on your wall. Now here’s a simple challenge for you: Go around and hunt for a design that speaks to you, and translate that into your collage!
Step 1: Choose a print design from any media, and draw inspiration from it.
It could be a book, magazine, poster, or even a postcard —the list is endless! Choose one with a design that you would love to use as a reference for your collage. For example, we particularly love how this magazine cover evokes a dreamy, free-spirited vibe. We thought it would be a great concept to use in a collage as well!
Step 2: Choose a photo that has a similar appeal, or has a vibe that resonates with your chosen print.
This photograph of a woman standing atop a grassy hill exudes an identical vibe to our chosen magazine cover! From the wide-brimmed hat to the flowy white dress, the photograph consists of various elements that are very similar to the print design.
Step 3: Start incorporating elements from the print design to your collage.
A. Go to web search and type “tree png”, to look for trees that have transparent backgrounds in them. Once you’ve found the ideal image, add it to the left side of your collage as a layer over your photo.
B. Add white text and begin by choosing two fonts that would complement each other. For our title “Wanderlust”, we went with Baskerville, which is a classic serif typeface. To complement it, we used Helvetica, which is likewise a widely-used sans-serif typeface for the sub-heading!
C. Export the collage and save it to your library. Now open up a new canvas and import your saved photo to it.
D. Lay out the collage on top of a cream-colored background. We opted for a light background that would match the color of the dress, and avoided bold hues for this collage.
Protip: To give the illusion of kerning (adjusting the space in between characters), we added a space after every letter in “Finding New Adventures”.
