{"id":50880,"date":"2018-10-31T14:38:15","date_gmt":"2018-10-31T21:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/creativemarket.com\/blog\/?p=50880"},"modified":"2024-04-17T06:41:22","modified_gmt":"2024-04-17T13:41:22","slug":"design-trend-report-eclectic-collage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/creativemarket.com\/blog\/design-trend-report-eclectic-collage","title":{"rendered":"Design Trend Report: Eclectic Collage"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you hear the words eclectic collage<\/strong>, the first thing that pops into your mind is likely something visually creative<\/a> that draws from a broad range of ideas and influences. After all, a collage is an amalgam of various forms, producing an altogether new design from its many, varied pieces. Think of it as the Frankenstein—only much, much prettier—of visual art.
Eclectic collage is, however, a newer, visual trend that’s increasingly showing up in the creative industry as of late.
The phrase eclectic collage is interesting in and of itself because not only does it refer to a wide array of styles and tastes in the final collage, but it also includes diverse ways in which it can be applied. To wit, it can be visual, as in the graphic arts<\/a>, but it can also be tangible, as in how you lay out the furniture or decorations on the walls inside your home. As such, this approach to collage is interesting and can provide a healthy challenge to all designers who want to familiarize themselves with this style.
If creating sumptuous masterpieces out of a mishmash of varying forms is right up your alley, then read on.<\/p>

<\/span>Etymology of the Word “Collageâ€<\/span><\/h2>

The word “collage†stems from a few different origin sources<\/a> with quite an interesting, chronological development. If you thought it was a French word, you’d be right, but that doesn’t quite tell the entire story.
If we go back far enough in time, “collage†actually comes from the Greek kolla<\/em>, which translates to “glue.†As for kolla<\/em> itself, its origin isn’t definitively known, and it may be from a pre-Greek source. After this, we find the development of the word in the Old French coller<\/em>, which stands for “to glueâ€; in modern French, we finally get the right spelling of collage<\/em>, which translates to “a painting.†In modern English, the spelling survives intact as the word “collage†we know and use today.
When you think of this definition, it applies perfectly to what we think of when we say “collage.†You’re assembling a larger design out of various photographs, magazines, newspaper clippings, ribbons, paint and other knickknacks, ensuring the entire thing stays together on the paper or canvas with glue.<\/p>

<\/span>The History of Eclectic Collage<\/span><\/h2>

To figure out where eclectic collage came from, we have to analyze where the technique of collage came from. To find that answer, we look all the way back to ancient China, at approximately 200 B.C. It’s no coincidence that what we call collage in the modern sense first appeared in China when paper was first invented there in the Eastern Han period of 25 to 220 CE.<\/p>

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Image Source: Gutenberg and the Koreans: The Invention of Paper<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>


Han Dynasty inventor, politician and eunuch, Cai Lun, is generally the man credited with inventing the papermaking process. Though forms of paper had already existed in China as early as the 2nd<\/sup> century BCE, it was Cai Lun’s standardization of the papermaking process and his addition of essential, new ingredients into the process that solidified his claim to the invention. His technique involved suspending felted fiber sheets in water, then draining the water, and, finally, drying the ensuing mixture onto a thin and matted sheet. While papermaking processes have become a bit more sophisticated since then, they still largely share the same, basic actions that were used during Cai Lun’s time.
From ancient China, the trajectory of collage takes a giant leap all the way to approximately 10th<\/sup>-century Japan; this is the period where collage became more common and popular with ordinary people. We can thank the calligraphers<\/a> for this, as they started to apply glued paper as they wrote poetry, by utilizing text on flat surfaces.
Collage next makes an appearance in 13th<\/sup>-century Europe. By the 15th<\/sup> and 16th<\/sup> centuries, gold leaf panels were starting to be used on Gothic cathedrals. At around the same time, collage art in the form of gemstones and similarly precious metals were being added to coats of arms and religious imagery and icons.
By the 19th<\/sup> century, collage had again undergone a transformation, as it was now being used in applications that we’re more familiar with in our modern times, such as photo albums, books and memorabilia.
It’s interesting to note that famous artists Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque were credited in the early 20th<\/sup> century with coining the actual term “collage†for its use in the visual arts. However, whether the actual practice of modern collage can be attributed to them is a point of dispute, as Victorian photocollage<\/a> dates to the mid-1800s.
Regardless of who actually introduced collage as a practice for the countless hobbyists and professionals who enjoy it today, one thing is certain: Collage as we know it has always evolved and continues to evolve.
Case in point: eclectic collage. While it can be perhaps reasoned that all collage is, by nature, eclectic, the visual art known as eclectic collage seems to have its roots in grunge collage art, that style of collage that was popular in the 1980s and 1990s, when, by no coincidence, the grunge music scene—epitomized by Seattle bands like Nirvana, Alice in Chains, and Pearl Jam—was in full swing as well.
When we look at grunge collage art, we see traits like:<\/p>