Cut, Contrast, Compose

Achromatic compositions, exploring unity and contrast

Course: DSGN 100 Design I: Elements and Organization | Winter 2025

Medium: Magazine cut-outs on 9 inch square cut paper.

In this project, students created four grayscale collages compositions using only found black-and-white imagery to explore visual harmony, unity, and the achromatic value scale. Each composition focused on a specific shape: one using only rectangles, one with triangles, one with circles, and a final composition incorporating all three.

Students cut shapes of varying sizes and textures from magazines and books, selecting imagery with rich tonal range and visual interest. The assignment emphasized design principles such as figure/ground relationships, contrast (in shape, scale, texture, and value), rhythm, and visual hierarchy. Rooted in the historical practice of collage and inspired by artists like Hannah Höch and the early modernists, the project encouraged analog image-making and iterative design methods to develop abstract compositions with depth, movement, and visual impact.

*All works displayed here were created by SCAD students as part of assignments for DSGN 100 Design I: Elements and Organization | Winter 2025