Description
Collagerie is a monthly subscription that provides used magazines and materials for collaging like card stock, x-acto knife, cutting mat, glue, and extras.
The service is paired with an app that provides prompts for collage-making and a platform to share personal collages and view others’.
Project Statement
Collagerie is all about bringing creative ritual into everyday life.
We believe in imagination exploration, and limitless play. Art doesn’t have to be perfect or polished — it can be messy and unfinished.
Whether you’re slapping something together, carefully composing it, or anywhere in between, this is your space to play. Let’s get making!
THESIS QUERY
How can digital services encourage and facilitate analog practices?
How can a digital service make collaging more accessible and community-based?
When conducting research for my Design Degree Project I focused on learning about the benefits of hobbies through books like Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Hedonizing Technologies: Paths to Pleasure in Hobbies and Leisure by Rachel Maines.
Key Insights:
The idea of a “hedonizing technology,” any technology that privileges the pleasures of production over the value and/or significance of the product
Investing one’s attention in realistic goals where skills match the opportunities for action
These ideas informed my decision to focus on a low-stakes, accessible mode of creativity.
RESEARCH
Course | Design Degree Project
Process | Ideation
Process | Visual Identity
Process
Ideation
Despite having a specific lens with which I approached my project, it was challenging to narrow in on a deliverable that felt focused.
One night I grabbed some old magazines and started cutting out elements that felt “analog”. Using those pieces I made a couple quick collages as a means of inspiration. I went to bed and as I was lying there a lightbulb lit up. Collaging is versatile, approachable, and creative; the perfect hobby to encourage others to participate in.
The two main problems I aimed to solve were
Access to old magazines
Unsure where to start/what to make a collage about
From here I came up with the concept that would become Collagerie, the subscription box with magazines and collaging materials paired with an app to provide prompts and a space to share and view others’ collages.
Visual Identity
I approached the visual identity by first developing Collagerie’s brand voice and values.
Playful
Approchable
Experimental
Low-stakes
These values informed my color, typography, and visual language. I played around with different typefaces, ultimately landing on two typefaces for my header and subheads. I chose Bogart for its warm vintage feel, similar to Cooper Black but with a diverse range of playful glyphs, and Chelsea Market for its hand-drawn, gritty feel. For the primary visual element I created a colorful, scrappy collage.
