Halftone Visions

Rules, accidents, scissors, tape

Black-and-white collage of flowers, a face fragment, and small photographic scenes with torn white paper edges.

Cut paper, crooked edges

Let the pieces misbehave

I originally became fascinated with design through dabbling with digital collage over 15 years ago. Looking back at my more competent, recent design work (which possesses a decidedly cleaner aesthetic) I realized I really missed the raw collision of form that collage provided.Halftone Visions is an ongoing series that gets me back to my roots, and lets me get my hands dirty. Things are coming ’round full circle, so to speak.

Black-and-white flower photograph cut into offset rectangular strips and tiles.

Control meets the scissors

Rules make better interruptions

My first collages—years ago—were sourced from historical found imagery, merged with Photoshop’s sorcery. All the images for this series are taken from my own photographs, then physically printed, cut, hand assembled, then scanned back into bits. Above all, there’s nothing precious about the materials. iPhone photographs. Generic copy paper. Household laser printer. Double-sided tape. That’s it.The first six compositions that came to life are below, taking form as nested circles. Simple geometries and patterns, using Fibonacci sequences as a creative restraint which possesses nice contrasts in size…not because they’re some design alchemy. The goal is to be iterative and quick—not to think too much. Embrace the whim.

Black-and-white collage of leaf shadows on horizontal siding, with dark rectangular panels and white circular cutouts.

Circular black-and-white collage combining wood grain, blurred light spots and concentric rings.

Circular black-and-white collage of leaves and rough textures arranged in concentric rings.

Concentric photographic rings combining a pale sky, dark landscape horizon and blurred highlights in black and white.

Circular black-and-white collage of wood grain, leaves and halftone textures in concentric rings.

Concentric black-and-white photographic rings with leaves and a bright textured inner band.

Circular black-and-white collage combining blurred light spots, horizontal siding and flower fragments in concentric rings.

Circular black-and-white collage of plant fragments and rough textures repeated in concentric rings.

Concentric black-and-white rings assembled from leaf photographs and textured fragments.

Circular black-and-white collage of mesh, rounded cells and leaf fragments in concentric rings.

Circular black-and-white wood-grain collage with a pale inner ring and a dark center.

Circular black-and-white collage with veined leaves around a ring of small flowers and a dark center.

Concentric black-and-white rings combining wood grain and architectural lines.

Circular black-and-white flower collage interrupted by a broad dark ring around a floral center.

Concentric dark photographic rings around flower fragments, with blurred white lights along the bottom edge.

Circular black-and-white collage combining twigs, rough bark and a small patterned inner ring.

Concentric dark rings layered over a grayscale photograph of leaves within a circle.

Concentric black-and-white photographic rings with leaf shadows and horizontal bands.

Circular collage of brown rock and teal water textures arranged in concentric rings.

Circular photographic collage combining concentric rings, sky, and a grassy landscape.

Circular black-and-white collage of sharp twig textures around a smooth gray ring and dark center.

Brown-toned circular collage with pale photographic rings across dark branching textures.

Circular black-and-white leaf collage with dark concentric rings and scattered blurred highlights.

Concentric black-and-white photographic rings surrounded by rough diagonal bark textures.

Circular black-and-white collage of landscape and leaf photographs with a broad wood-grain ring.

Circular black-and-white landscape collage with irregular bright fragments inside concentric textured rings.

Circular black-and-white collage of leaf and wood textures around a broad silver-gray ring.

Black circular border enclosing a twig photograph and concentric rings of leaves and reflected highlights.

Brown-toned concentric rings around small flower photographs, with bright blurred lights along the bottom edge.

Circular black-and-white collage mixing bare branches, leaves and rough bark in concentric rings.

Circular black-and-white collage of rough bark and veined leaf fragments arranged in concentric rings.

Concentric black-and-white rings combining rough tree bark and dark photographic fragments.

Circular black-and-white water-texture collage interrupted by dark concentric rings and small bright fragments.

Circular black-and-white collage of overlapping leaves and rough textures in concentric rings.

Concentric leaf-and-wood photographic rings over a black-and-white reflected landscape.

Black circular ring over a black-and-white photograph of a building and a dark tree line.

Circular black-and-white sky and tree-line collage with dark concentric photographic rings.

Circular collage of green leaves, blue sky and a small red segment arranged in concentric rings.

Black circular field with concentric photographic rings of pale sky and a dark landscape horizon.

Black circular field surrounding a pale halftone ring and a central landscape photograph.

Circular collage of blue sky and dark landscape textures with concentric rings and a small red segment.

Circular black-and-white landscape collage with inverted tree reflections in concentric rings.

Circular black-and-white collage of pale petals and reflective crumpled textures in concentric rings.

Black-and-white woodland photograph in a circular crop, interrupted by a broad dark ring and a small reflected landscape center.

Circular black-and-white leaf collage with a broad dark ring around small pale leaf fragments.

Concentric black-and-white photographic rings combining blurred highlights and bare tree branches.

Circular black-and-white collage with a rough bark ring around a small landscape horizon, against blurred light spots.

Circular black-and-white woodland photograph with a dark ring and a small reflected landscape center.

Circular black-and-white collage combining horizontal siding, bare branches and dark concentric rings.

Circular black-and-white collage of leaf and reflected landscape fragments arranged in concentric rings.

Simple geometries and patterns, using Fibonacci sequences as a creative restraint which possesses nice contrasts in size…not because they’re some design alchemy. The goal is to be iterative and quick—not to think too much. Embrace the whim.