13 Unusually Creative Collage Ideas (With Design Secrets)

Collage art ideas

I bet you’ve gotten some new collage art ideas so far, but here’s the list of the ones I’ve done. I also share examples so you can see what I’m talking about.

You can use many different elements and materials to create a face collage.

First, you can use paper scraps and glue them down like you’d be doing when painting a face. Here, you need to be careful of colors, shadows, and highlights. It includes cutting out tiny paper scraps and arranging them to create a face,

Honestly, for me, this is too much work.

Telling a story with collage art is exciting and really rewarding. If you want to do this, think about these things:

• which elements will you choose and how are they connected? They can be connected with themes or colors, for example.
• what are going to be your main elements, the protagonists, of the story?
• which elements support the main ones?
• what is the relation between your elements? How do they talk to each other? This relation between elements is what tells your story.

If you look at the image above, I used two women as my main elements. Everything else is just supporting them and their relationship. And all the elements together tell a story. This story isn’t one-dimensional. It will be different for each person looking at it.

The photo below shows a very simple collage art idea with a simple story. I used only four elements. They’re similar in color but you can see what my main element is and there’s a story between the woman and the things in the sky.

Also, using yellow in the background emphasizes the collage elements because yellow and blue create contrast and things just pop. If you want to explore colors more for your collage art ideas, color theory can help you a lot. But don’t overwhelm yourself.

Ok, I believe that most of my collage work is actually mixed media collage. I rarely use only collage elements without paint or pens. This just makes things more interesting. And not to mention all the possibilities mixed media offers.

One of my favorite collage art ideas is creating unrealistic collages, forming things that don’t exist, and enjoying the imagination.

In the example above, I created a weird-looking face with different elements, gave one head the fish body, etc. Experiment with these things and do WHATEVER you want. Nothing is stupid and you can create interesting art this way. Not to mention it’ll be perfectly unique.

My best advice is to mix and match elements first, before gluing them down. Also, make some kind of background before that. It’s easier to work on something than a blank page. However, if you like a clean look, then forget about the background.

When I say abstract, I mean anything that doesn’t look like something specific. Hope I didn’t confuse you more. Stay with me.

I shared an example above where I glued some paper scraps and a hand from a magazine. Although the hand is concrete and specific, I get an abstract vibe from this page because I see it that way.

Your eyes may be completely different. If you want to create abstract collage art, focus on shapes, objects, and lines, rather than people, faces, etc.

7. Put things where they don’t belong

In none of the two examples above things are ordinary. I put flowers instead of a head, and this girl swims around a big head. This can also convey a message, like a metaphor.

You can make wonderful collage art using only paper scraps and glue. If you choose the scraps according to a color scheme, you can’t go wrong.

While preparing the paper scraps, tear them for more texture and a vintage vibe, and cut them out with scissors for a cleaner, modern look.

Pick papers with different thicknesses and surfaces so you can create interesting textures when you combine them.

When you arrange paper scraps, don’t forget to layer them and create some contrast by putting them at 90 degrees angles rather than tilting.

You don’t have to always fussy cut your images. Using shapes like squares is also a nice choice. In the example above, I created a geometrical background and kept the same vibe with my next steps (washi tape, lines).

Mini collages are amazing and super fun, especially if you’re just starting out. It’s maybe easier to make something smaller to get the creative juices flowing.

For this, you’ll need only a few elements, up to three. And just arrange them together, layer them, and add some interest with paint. And that’s it.

Another fun way of collaging is to cut out a silhouette. You can create it by using a magazine image and tracing it, or any shape that you draw and cut out.

Then, use a thin piece of paper, and glue paper scraps on it. After that, use your silhouette, trace it on the collaged paper and cut it out.

And voila, you have interesting collaged shapes to add to your artwork.

If you love using faces in your collage art, split them in half and separate them on the page. Or use only half of the face.

Splitting elements like this can give great results with flowers, buildings, planets, etc.

It involves collecting, cutting, tearing, and gluing images or paper scraps into a story, an image that has its own word and universe.

That being said, collage offers irresistible freedom of creation without wondering if you’re doing the right thing. It can be super creative and relaxing. Collage art lets you choose images you love and use them to create a unique, I mean…totally unique piece of work. 

What makes good collage art?

There are no rules written in stone when it comes to collage art. And that’s what makes it irresistible. You can do anything you want as long as you enjoy the process. The end result is always fun. At least in my experience.

However, if you want to take it to a higher level, when collaging, focus on color choices and composition. This is my best piece of advice.

Composition in art is extremely important because by knowing a few designer tricks, your collage art can become amazingly attractive, visually appealing, and unique.

But how to get good at composition? Well, not to be a party breaker, but it takes a little bit of time to get to know these design tricks. But once you get the hand of at least one, you’ll be super pumped to experiment and explore all the possibilities with it.

For example, the rule of thirds. It’s one of the most important designer hacks. No matter what kind of piece of art you’re making, a painting, a photograph, collage, or film, using the rule of thirds will transform your art for the better.

These places of interest are determined by dividing your piece of art into 9 squares. Like in the tic tac toe game. Then, you get 4 intersections of these lines (stars in the image above) and these are the focal points you can use for your most important statement.

There are too many composition hacks and ideas to go over them in this blog post, you can explore the rule of thirds for now and later on discover some new composition ideas.

It’s pretty self-explanatory. You use magazine images and cut-outs as your collage elements.

Here are some ideas for using magazines. You can cut out:

• Single letters
• Words
• Sentences
• Photos of people
• Photos of objects
• Details
• Colorful pages to cut into shapes
• Text pages for cutting into paper scraps

So, every page in a magazine can be useful. Look for interesting color combinations, patterns, unusual objects, headlines, text, and even ads. 

How can I make my collage art better?

1. As I already said, composition is important in collage art. The more you learn about that, the better your collages will be.
2. Choose your collage elements according to color. You can create monochrome collages, or according to color schemes that artists and designers use.
3. If you want to fussy cut your elements, the easier way is to cut a tiny bit inside of the lines.
4. Make sure your surface can support all the elements and adhesives you use on it.
5. Get inspired by famous collage artists
6. Just enjoy it. There really are no rules to this. Play with your paper, create unusual things, mix and match all the gorgeous images and just…play.