Modern Retro Collage
Modern retro collage is a combination of vintaged images combined with futuristic aspects which mainly tends to be space, this unique combination creates a nostalgic, surreal artwork. Many of the retro collage artworks that include futuristic aspects relates to how society in the 20th century imagined the future to look. We can see conceptual design within the modern retro artwork as two ideas are combined effectively to create this unique type of artwork. Specifically, we see a futuristic setting conceptually combined with retro details which often include people, despite two contrasting ideas being combined these artworks are constructed effectively to look natural and unique at the same time.
This is an example of a modern retro collage artwork. As we can see this artwork is a combination of space and 20th century theme, the concept of this artwork is people taking a street walk in outer space. One of the main unique aspects of modern retro collage is how bizarre and unrealistic the concepts of the artworks might seem however they’re illustrated effectively as they engage with audience by enhancing nostalgia through the retro theme.
This is another example of a typical modern retro collage artwork, similarly to the previous example it portrays a surreal and retro futuristic concept. The composition is very effective as the two themes being space and the beach are combined to making the image seem natural but surreal at the same time. This image also uses conceptual design as we can see the water is represented an eye. We can also notice that these artworks use colour to make the images surreal, for example the dark space is combined with a sunny beach both being contrasting environments. This type of artwork can be reinterpreted through futuristic retro movie posters.
A particular designer who is well known for their modern retro collage style of work is Cristiana Couceiro. She has her own collage style that is implemented in her work, majority of her work portrays a political theme where famous world figures can be seen included. Throughout her artwork we see a common theme of modern and retro black and white images combined with a variety of shapes in patterns, most commonly she uses the colour red in her artworks which can represent power and even danger. In this case most of Couceiro’s artworks portray politicians therefore use of colour red could portray their power.
This is an example of her work where she is trying to portray a political theme through colour and simple composition, she doesn’t use too many colours and keeps it simple by using 3 main colours which is enough to make this artwork stand out effectively to the audience. Like discussed previously, the use of red portrays a strong visual message of power and danger which both are relatable to politics and world leaders.
This is another example of her work which she uses simple colour and objects to portray a powerful message. Firstly, this artwork is potentially influenced by a well known global event like covid through the use of a red virus illustration placed behind the building and most importantly a syringe which is among the buildings. This artwork is being presented through a conceptual design of the syringe as being one of the towers amongst other buildings, which could portray the message of covid or other viruses existing among our society. This artwork could be reinterpreted as a poster for vaccines or anything to do with global virus pandemic.
We also see examples that focus on other topics such as sport, for example this artwork design shows a variation of transition stages in baseball. The small details such as shapes that are off different colour and size are plotted across the design which makes it stand out more visually.
Here are some of my designs I have illustrated replicating Cristiana Couceiro’s style, after looking at her work I understood the style and decided to replicate it using some famous public figures of my own, as she includes many famous figures in her work.
In this design, I have created a simple design portraying London and what it’s also famous being their underground system which is the oldest underground system in the world. In particular, the London underground symbol is known and recognised by most of the society and plays a big part in representing London as a whole with the likes of Big Ben. Hence, I have made the underground symbol seem like it’s connected to the rest of the building. Finally, to symbolise the underground system I have blended the London Underground map with the red background which works well.
This design focuses on the area I’m mostly passionate about being football, for this design I’ve focused on one of football’s most iconic faces Pep Guardiola, he is deemed to be as one of the greatest managers of the game. I have included small details that represent him as a manager, the details are presented in a sketched-out style which fits the narrative of a tactical coach making notes and sketches. Details such as the light bulb above his head represent his unique ideas and genius thinking. I’ve also included one of his famous quotes in a handwritten format which again matches the style and the narrative of this design.
This is another design focused on a legend of the sport Pele, in this design I tried to replicate the use of shapes that Cristiana Couceiro uses in her artworks however I’ve used these colours of yellow, green and blue that represent Brazil’s flag colours as Pele is deemed to be one of the countries heroes. I’ve used three stars to represent his 3 world cups that he has won for Brazil.
Lastly, for this design I’ve focused on Kanye West who is one of my favourite artists and is also one of the most iconic figures in society. Just like the previous designs, I’ve attempted to implement Couceiro’s style through simple and creative composition and sketched or handwritten details which makes this style unique. Also, Couceiro seems to use a lot of red in her work which also works well with my designs, in this design I’ve used sketched and handwritten details in red across the black background making the message visible very well. I’ve included city of Chicago in the background which is where Kanye grew up, most of Couceiro’s artwork is built up through a collage like style so I’ve also blended one of Kanye’s album cover into this design. The sketched bear represents one of his albums and the handwritten message of ‘freedom’ is what Kanye stands for. Which is also portrayed through the lack of formality in the design as the sketches represent freedom of this whole artwork.
