Create Your Own Digital Collage from Vintage Illustrations

Follow along with the lessons and create at least one digital collage.

Collage as a technique is a great way to tell a story, but you can also approach it in a more abstract or playful manner, where the final piece doesn’t need to have a clear narrative, but simply looks intriguing or beautiful.

You can create your collage purely as an artwork, for example for prints, wall art, or postcards. Or, if you want to take it a step further, you can consider using your collage in a specific design context, such as a book cover, calendar graphics, a social media graphic, or a packaging label. But if you’re just starting out, I recommend keeping things simple and focusing on the collage itself before worrying about extra design elements. The most important thing is to explore your ideas and experiment with the images you choose!

To quickly get started with sourcing your images, be sure to download and use the attached PDF with a list of direct links to the albums containing different kinds of public domain images that I specifically recommend you to explore in your collages! And if you want to have even more options to explore, check out the following public domain image archives:

Complete your class project by sharing the following:

original source images you used;
(optional) any work-in-progress images or screenshots — I love seeing your process and it also makes it easier for me to give detailed feedback and help you develop your work or troubleshoot things if needed;
your finished collage or collages;
(optional) any application mock-ups if you’ve placed your collage into a specific context;
a few words about how you approached this project, where the ideas came from, how you picked your source images and what you have learnt.

You can share everything at once when you’ve finished, or start by uploading your source images and update your project as you go.

I cannot wait to see what images you choose and how you bring them together in your own unique way!

Recommended Classes:

If you fancy creating your own mock-ups to showcase your collages in any context or setting you desire, be sure to check out my classes Create Unique Framed Art Mock-ups with Adobe Firefly & Adobe Photoshop & Create Unique Packaging & Printed Product Mock-ups with Adobe Firefly & Adobe Photoshop.
If you are into a minimal and graphic collage look, be sure to join me in my class Create Minimalist Digital Collages from Vintage Graphics in Adobe Photoshop to learn how to re-imagine found vintage graphics as timeless and clean collages in reduced colour palettes with a hint of a risograph look.
If you want to learn a few super easy techniques for texturing your work, don’t hesitate to check out my class Texturing in Adobe Photoshop: 5 Easy Techniques Using Filters.

Justin Adams

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