I think Alyssa’s creation is the perfect example of a photo collage. The first thing that is great about her project is how she incorporated an underlying theme from Ready Player One, which was that of the 1980s. In her project, she is emphasizing all the good and bad things that happened in the 80s. Part of Ready Player One also has to do with preserving technology from that time period. I think this collage also gives off a sense of that by showing some of the things that were up and coming in the 80s, but still have a place in our culture today. The two main things that stand out to me are MTV and Red Bull. MTV may not be as popular today as it was then, but there are still many popular shows on that station. As for Red Bull, I believe this is still one of the most, if not the most popular energy drink on the market.
Regarding elements of design, she did a great job of utilizing color. She put all of the photos of tragic events in black and white and all of the good things that came out of that time period in bright colors. This is also an example of contrast because it is the juxtaposition of two opposing elements, which in this case is black/white and bright colors. I also think that all three of the black and white images have great harmony. The textures of the photos are all similar in the way that they are showing some damage happening, which I think works very well together. Lastly, I think dominance is another design element that is used well in this collage, especially regarding the John Lennon glasses. That’s the image my eyes are drawn to first, and it almost seems as if we are viewing the entire collage through his glasses.
Some things I would play around with are maybe increasing the size of the glasses and turning them a different direction so that they take up more of the collage. This way we could be viewing the 80s through his glasses. Another thing you could maybe add is a crowd reaction or some sort of vigil that was for Lennon and put that in each lens of the glasses. This way, the person viewing your collage might have an easier time understanding the purpose of the glasses. Overall, this is a very strong collage draft and I look forward to seeing the end result.
(click this link to view Alyssa’s final collage!)