Notecard Collages

As a growing graphic designer in an affluent age of technology, it’s important to master the tools of the trade while also practicing more traditional methods of design. Beyond mastering digital tools like the Adobe programs, it’s important to have a full understanding of the principles of design: contrast, balance, emphasis, proportion, hierarchy, repetition, rhythm, pattern, white space, movement, variety, and unity.

Above all, the concept is the most important thing a designer must master in all areas of design. Interestingly enough, one need not have access to digital means to practice the execution of these principles. Removing technology from the process forces you to engage with the material and rely on the core basics. For this reason, creating physical collages is one of the best ways to exercise one’s design muscles.

I have done smaller collages as a way to warm up for more high-stakes projects and often I will find that the physical practice work is more playfully designed than the project I warm-up for.