Digital Photography and Imaging : Week 2

24/09/2025 - 15/10/2025 (Week 1 - Week 4)

Chan Xin Yean, 0377851

Digital Photography and Imaging

Project 1

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LECTURES

In this weeks lecture, we learned about the different. types of compositions and the visual hierarchy of posters and collages.

Figure 1.0 Screenshot of lecture slides (composition)

There are a few principles of composition :

1. Balance (Symmetrical, Asymmetrical & Radial) 
2. Rule of Thirds
3. Framing & Negative Space
4. Contrast

Figure 1.1 Examples of the composition principles

Visual hierarchy  is the order in which the eye perceives information. It follows the big-medium-small framework. Big elements are primary, it is the anchor of the design. and. should appear once or rarely to avoid competing focal points. Medium elements are secondary, it reinforces or add supporting info and usually appears a few times to balance composition. Small elements are tertiary, it acts as a decorative or detail-level information and is repeated many times in patters or as background elements.

Figure 1.2 Screenshot of lecture slides (visual hierarchy)

The three elements could work together to create a symphony with on main melody (big), supporting harmonies (medium) and background notes (small). 

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INSTRUCTIONS

https://drive.google.com/file/d/125IsUJ4leMqkk9JkVR9jRv506QuWmzki/view

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PROCESS WORK

Physical and Digital Collage Design

Physical Collage

Research

While doing some research on Pinterest, i was more interested in the framed elements in collage. It was the element that caught my attention the most. Besides, i found that collage with some shadow from its pictures creates depth in the collage. Thus, i wanted to include all of it to my own collage.

Figure 2.0 Collage found in Pinterest

Ideation

After cutting some pictures from the magazines i gathered i explored various different ways of arrangement to ensure i get the best results that i can as my final outcome. When arranging, I'll mostly focus on the biggest picture first, which in this case is the portrait of one of my favourite singer, G.E.M. Then, I'll arrange the other elements around her. 

At first, my collage was looking bland, as the sunflower and dessert was the only thing yellow and bright and there wasn't much contrast to my collage. 

Figure 2.1 Composition before cutting & adding more pictures

Thus, I decided to add some more bright or yellow elements to the collage to increase the contrast and provide more depth into the final collage. Then i played around with some different compositions.

Figure 1.2 First composition after adding more yellow elements

Figure 2.3 Second composition after adding more yellow elements

Figure 2.4 Third composition after adding more yellow elements

After reviewing all my compositions, i finally decided on the third composition as my final collage because it looked the most clean and has a clearer focus point in the collage. 

Final Outcome

Physical Collage

Figure 2.5 Final Collage

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REFLECTION

From this exercise, I learned how to use elements from magazines and textured papers to create a physical collage. It was overall an enjoyable task as I get to explore ideas through hands-on experimentation using photos from different magazines that don't necessarily be in the same category. It taught me to make visual decisions and arrange elements with purpose using the materials on hand. The process also helped improve my attention to detail and composition skills.