How Collage Design Creates Layers of Meaning拼貼設計如何生成多層含義

珍妮弗·貝利/文　丁婷/譯

The beauty of collage design is that there are no rules. It is an extremely freeing form of design with endless possibilities—each added element fleshes out1 the new world you’re building on the page or the screen.

拼貼設計之美在于不講究章法。這種設計形式不受任何拘束，具有無限可能——每添加一種元素，都會使你在頁面或屏幕上建構的新世界更加豐富。

It’s no surprise that collage continues to be a popular and widely recognized form of contemporary design， constantly evolving as new technologies enable it to evolve.

并不意外的是，拼貼這種設計形式在當代依然盛行，并且廣受認可，新技術助其不斷改良。

You’ll see less carefully placed vintage imagery and more of an “anything goes” attitude： playful mark-making， abstract photography clippings and tons of texture.

你看到的復古風圖像并未經過精心排布，更多地流露出一種“隨性”的格調，通過俏皮的標記繪制、抽象的攝影剪裁、厚重的質感得以呈現。

In a world where climate and economic realities drive us to be more resourceful， contemporary collage design utilizes the materials all around us and boldly illustrates our modern culture.

世界所面臨的氣候和經濟現狀迫使我們想辦法物盡其用，而當代拼貼設計正是利用我們身邊隨處可見的材料來大膽呈現現代文化。

In this article， we’ll look at how new collage trends are being used in today’s graphic design.

本文將一睹拼貼新時尚是如何應用于當今平面設計的。

Types of collage art

拼貼藝術的類型

There are many different styles and expressions of collage， ranging from its humble arts and crafts beginning to cutting edge graphic design and illustration.

拼貼風格迥異，表現形式多樣，既可見于早期的簡易手工藝，也出現在最前沿的平面設計和插圖中。

Paper collage

紙張拼貼

Paper collage， otherwise known as analog collage， is the original form of collage art.

紙張拼貼也叫模擬拼貼，是拼貼藝術的最初形式。

Whether you are cutting images out of old books or working like Matisse2 and cutting shapes out of painted paper， paper collage is the prototypical form of collage.

無論是從舊書上剪下圖片，還是像馬蒂斯一樣將彩紙裁出不同形狀，紙張拼貼可謂最原始的拼貼形式。

It’s also the kind of collage art that’s trending most now. Ripped， raw paper shreds are a clear contrast to the seamless， tidy look achieved with design software. It feels authentic because this kind of art requires the creator to work with their hands， physically tearing paper and arranging it just so3.

這也是時下最流行的一類拼貼藝術。帶有自然撕痕的紙片與那種用設計軟件美縫后的整齊外觀形成鮮明對照。紙張拼貼給人以真實感，因為這種藝術需要動手實操。制作者要將紙張撕開，然后將撕得的紙片按設計條理排布。

Designers are fairly limited with paper collage in that they can only compose with the materials they can find. However， this constraint can drive creativity by forcing the designer to find unconventional ways to express ideas. This might mean combining two separate images to create something completely new， like combining a set of bird wings with a bus for a creative take on4 an airplane or using different colors to create the illusion of depth on a flat surface.

紙張拼貼非常受限，設計師只能用可找到的材料加以創作。然而，這種局限性反倒能激發創造力，迫使設計師通過非常規方式表達思想。這可能意味著將兩張互不相干的圖像組合起來，創作出全新的作品。比如把鳥兒的雙翅拼貼到公交車上作為對飛機的創意性演繹，或是用不同顏色在平面上制造出縱深的錯覺。

Digital collage

數碼拼貼

Digital collage is an entirely different beast5 to paper collage because there are no physical materials—and none of the constraint that comes with using them. With digital collage design， unique images are created by using software like Photoshop to alter textures， layer multiple photos and illustrations and distort source material. The effect is usually a lot sharper and modern-looking than a paper collage， but it often lacks the tactile quality of paper collage.

數碼拼貼與紙張拼貼截然不同，因為它無需實物材料，因而在材料的使用上也就擺脫了局限性。數碼拼貼設計可利用Photoshop等軟件改變圖片的質感、疊放多張照片或插圖、改變原材料的外形，從而生成獨一無二的圖像。相較紙張拼貼，數碼拼貼的效果通常更為強烈，看上去也更具現代感，但往往缺少紙張拼貼的質感。

Mixing materials： the key to all collage art

材料混搭：全部拼貼藝術的關鍵

Although we said earlier there are no rules to collage art， there’s actually one rule： be creative. Designers aren’t limited to paper and photography in their collage designs; many mix drawing， brush strokes and a variety of textures to build their designs.

前文講到拼貼藝術不講究章法，但實際上有一條章法：要富有創意。在設計拼貼作品時，設計師不拘于用紙和照片，許多人會將素描、各種筆觸和多種質地的材料混搭創作。

The better you understand collage art， the more you’ll notice just how pervasive it is in pop culture and your day-to-day life. That intriguing book cover you saw last weekend， the striking packaging design on the overpriced craft IPA6 you’re sipping， that kaleidoscopic7 album cover you couldn’t stop staring at…collage art is everywhere.

對拼貼藝術了解越多，就越能注意到它普遍存在于流行文化和日常生活中。無論是上周末你看到的令人著迷的圖書封面，還是正在啜飲的高價精釀印度淡啤奪人眼球的包裝設計，抑或是讓人無法移開目光的五彩繽紛的專輯封面，你會發現，拼貼藝術無處不在。

Take a look at a few of the places it’s trending hardest with designers：

不妨看一下設計師眼中最能引導潮流的幾個拼貼藝術領域：

Collage in book cover design

拼貼用于圖書封面設計

Collage is a great art form for book cover design because with it， there are lots of ways to illustrate a book’s content and touch on its themes. And there’s something a little bit daring about using ripped paper to create a book cover design—so many readers think of tearing book pages as sacrilegious8， so seeing a design made of paper shards elicits an almost visceral9， definitely eye-grabbing response.

對于圖書封面設計而言，拼貼不失為一種極佳的藝術形式，因為可以通過多種方式呈現圖書內容、觸及圖書主題。用撕開的紙張設計圖書封面略顯大膽，畢竟太多的讀者會認為撕毀書頁屬褻瀆行為。正因如此，這種紙片設計的視覺沖擊力會直抵讀者內心，牢牢抓住讀者的眼球。

Rather than creating seamless imagery， today’s paper collage trend sees book cover designers confidently owning the rips in paper and the shadows they cast onto their compositions， making the book covers really stand out in a book shop. The expressive， artsy quality of playful paper collage also makes it ideal for editorial illustrations and magazine covers.

從當下紙張拼貼趨勢看，它不打造無縫圖像，而是讓圖書封面設計師自信地利用紙張撕痕及其投射在作品上的陰影，使其設計的圖書封面在書店里格外顯眼。俏皮的紙張拼貼兼具表現力和藝術性，因而也成為編輯性插圖和雜志封面的理想選擇。

Editorial collage design

編輯性拼貼設計

As we mentioned earlier， collage design works perfectly for editorial illustrations because the layered elements make images feel like they’re jumping off the page. You’ll find collage illustrations in glossy10 fashion magazines， newspapers and blog posts.

如前文所述，拼貼設計完美契合于編輯性插圖，因為層次分明的元素讓圖像呼之欲出。光澤熠熠的時尚雜志、報紙和博文中都能見到拼貼插圖的影子。

Color blocking11， psychedelic12 layering and colorful paper cutouts stand out and encourage the reader to pause on the page and enjoy the article. In many editorial collage designs， the collage is used to create a sense of movement that brings the article it’s accompanying to life.

色塊、引發幻覺的分層設計，以及彩色剪紙圖樣，無不奪人眼目，促使讀者停留于頁面，從而欣賞全文。在很多編輯性拼貼設計中，拼貼都用于營造動感，讓所配文章變得更加鮮活。

Collage in brand design

拼貼用于品牌設計

The inherent arts and crafts nature of collage design shows consumers that any product bearing it is alternative and designed with boutique13 buyers in mind. This kind of beautifully designed packaging sticks out to people who are inclined to spend extra on luxury quality goods， which are often goods handcrafted in small batches.

拼貼設計固有的藝術性和工藝性讓消費者看到，任何帶有拼貼元素的產品都是別具一格的，是有意為精品店的買家而設計。這種設計精美的包裝十分醒目，足以吸引那些有意花高價購買上乘奢侈品的買主，而這些奢侈品往往是小批量手工制作的。

There are lots of ways brands can use collage art to communicate that their products aren’t the same as their competitors： playful paper-cut characters， organic paper textures， vintage imagery， layers upon layers of different colors and patterns and juxtaposing contrasting images to create intriguing combinations.

品牌方可采取多種方式利用拼貼藝術來表現其產品不同于競爭對手之處：俏皮的剪紙人物、自然的紙張質感、復古風圖像、層層疊疊的不同顏色和圖案，以及并列排布的對照圖像，都可用于生成令人著迷的組合。

Collage in music artwork

拼貼用于專輯封面

In recent years， there’s been a huge resurgence of vinyl sales. A big part of that resurgence is that with records， the album artwork is often almost as prized as the music itself.

近年來，黑膠唱片的銷量大幅回升，其中一個重要原因在于，就唱片而言，其專輯的藝術設計往往與音樂本身幾乎同樣珍貴。

Similar to book cover， editorial and brand design， collage art is a popular way for designers to make album artwork stand out in the crowd and entice audiences. Both analog and digital collage lend themselves well to14 alternative music genres because they can visually represent the music on these albums.

與圖書封面設計、編輯性設計和品牌設計相仿，專輯封面設計師也酷愛用拼貼藝術使專輯的藝術設計獨樹一幟，從而對受眾產生誘導作用。模擬拼貼和數碼拼貼都非常適合于另類音樂風格，因為二者可在視覺上表現專輯中的音樂。

A common feature of collage design is its psychedelic nature. Using contrasting elements of photography gives an album an otherworldly feel; an atmos-phere you can’t quite put your finger on15.

拼貼設計的常見特點在于其致幻性。形成反差的攝影元素賦予專輯超凡脫俗之感，營造出一種難以名狀的氛圍。

Get a one-of-a-kind16 look with collage art

拼貼藝術打造獨一無二的外觀

Collage design is a joyful， expressive and freeing form of art. Using collage art in your design is a sure way to signal to viewers that you are offering something unique， something that was created with care， rather than something mass-produced.

拼貼設計是一種愉悅心情、富有表現力且不受拘束的藝術形式。在設計中使用拼貼藝術一定會向觀者傳遞如下信號：你展現的是獨一無二、精心打造的作品，絕非批量化產物。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者；單位：中國進出口銀行）

1 flesh out以細節（或信息）充實。

2亨利·馬蒂斯（Henry Matisse，1869—1954），法國畫家，20世紀首個現代藝術流派“野獸派”創始人。20世紀40年代馬蒂斯開始剪紙，其作品以簡潔的造型、大膽的色彩、和諧的構圖、優美的裝飾效果著稱。? 3 just so（做或安排得）井井有條，有條不紊。? 4 take on sth呈現某種特征。

5 beast（含詼諧意）有特定性質的事物。? 6 印度淡色啤酒，全稱India pale ale，最早見于18世紀早期，由英國向其印度殖民地出口。該酒顏色較淡，具有濃郁的香氣和獨特的苦味。? 7 kaleidoscopic萬花筒似的，千變萬化的。

8 sacrilegious （對圣物或圣地）褻瀆的。? 9 visceral（未經過認真思考而）出自內心的，發自肺腑的。

10 glossy 光滑的，光彩奪目的；有光澤的。? 11 color blocking色塊，指對色輪上相反顏色的選擇，并將它們配對以形成有趣的互補色組合的藝術手法。? 12 psychedelic 引起幻覺的，使人精神恍惚的。? 13 boutique 時裝店；精品店。

14 lend itself to適合于。? 15 put one’s finger on 準確地指出，發現，點明。? 16 one-of-a-kind 獨特的，獨一無二的。