Cut That Out: Collage in Contemporary Design

Collage—a term coined by Picasso and Braque at the beginning of the twentieth century—is undergoing a vibrant resurgence, and it's not hard to see why. Destructive yet sustainable, digital and lo-fi, thriving on mass media and a sense of nostalgia—the catchphrases for collage are as contemporary as the bands that are using it on their record sleeves. New Yorker art critic Peter Schjeldahl calls it “The most consequential visual-art form of the twentieth century.”  

Today, designers combine traditional techniques and methods with digital technology to encompass assemblage, photomontage, mixed-media installation, digital manipulation, and even tapestry and video to create dazzling work for personal projects, clients, and commercial campaigns alike. 

With fresh and diverse work copiously illustrated throughout, from fifty leading contemporary graphic designers from fifteen different countries (including Hort, Mike Perry, Stefan Sagmeister, Bráulio Amado, Joel Evey, Inge Jacobsen, Paul Sahre, Yokoland, and many others), Cut That Out is a rich seam of inspiration to be mined by students, graphic designers, and art aficionados who wish to explore the creative possibilities of collage in their work, showing how artists take advantage of the freedom inherent in collage to combine various media and methods in the search for something entirely unexpected, original, and wildly new. In brief Q&As, the designers describe their individual techniques and processes, sources of inspiration, and thoughts on the medium. 

Curated by Ryan Doyle and Mark Edwards (DR.ME) 

Published by The Monacelli Press, 2016

Softcover, 288 pages, full color, 7.8 × 9.9 inches

ISBN 978-1-58093-482-4