Mixed Media Art Direction Inspiration

Insights on marketing, business, branding, products, design, founders, and culture.

Mar 28, 2024

GM everyone.

Today I want to run through one of my favorite art direction aesthetics: mixed media & collages.

This style mixes several photographic and typographic design elements, often taking a scrapbook approach to mixing digital elements.

Its a great way to add some physicality to your digital design, implying a handmade approach.

I’ve compiled several examples—

But first some…

News

Would you pay $250 for these Adidas Sambas? Your favorite creative director’s favorite brand, JJJJound, has released its latest footwear collaboration with Adidas: a minimalistic Samba. These look very similar to your normal Samba, as most JJJJound collaborations go. The funny thing? They cost $250. The brand put out a video showing how they are handcrafted in Germany (presumably to justify the price tag) but someone on X zoomed in to reveal the shoe’s tag says its actually made in Vietnam… where all the other Sambas are made. I have a few JJJJound shoes in my closet, but this is the most egregious example of the brand upcharging customers for something nearly identical to what you can get for $100. If you have a check burning in your pocket… spring for the Margiela’s.
The branding for this new coffee brand is so hilariously bad. Happy coffee is a new mid-tier coffee offering from (checks notes) Robert Downey Jr. and product designer Craig Dubitsky. It sits between Folger’s and Stumptown in price. The packaging is sparse, white, and shaped like a supplement or gummy vitamin. From a retail perspective, there’s nothing about this end cap display that visually communicates this is a coffee, or what unique value it has, besides the millenial-coded tagline: 'Let’s Coffee’ LOL. One of the strangest brand decisions for a new consumer packaged good I’ve seen in a minute.
AI is a seminal moment in technology; we just haven’t seen the end results yet. Sequoia Capital held an AI event with numerous industry leaders and analysts. One of the most striking visuals in their deck was this chart showing how various technologies have produced landmark companies. For example, the creation of semiconductors led to Intel, computer systems led to Apple and Microsoft, and eventually the shift to mobile computing created a rush of new apps that have changed our world, like Instagram and Uber. The technology comes first, and the companies that use that tech to shift the paradigm come next.

The investment firm went on to explain that success takes time, and we won’t have a clear picture of the settled AI successes for some time. We are currently in the early stages, in which founders, developers, and investors are all launching AI infused products/services. Just like when Apple launched the App Store, many of the apps were one-off fads that eventually faded away, and after time we saw how behemoths like AirBnB and DoorDash leveraged mobile computing and changing user behavior to launch massively successful businesses. Time will tell which AI companies will truly leverage the tech to become massive brands.

Mixed Media Art Direction Inspiration

If you are looking for unique ways to blend several visual elements into one composition, consider mixing them together to create a striking collage. Not only can you find new meanings in the way you mix elements together, you can also evoke a sense of tangibility and nostaliga. Consider adding the following elements:

Image textures (scanned, paper, grain, etc.)
Hand written notes
Formats mirroring items in the physical world (polaroids, scrapbooks, magazines)
Labels
Cropped product photos, mixed with lifestyle shots.

Here are some examples—

Olivia Rodrigo’s merch collection for her world tour was unveiled using the below design which mixed together various photos and product shots. It looks like it was ripped straight out of a 2000s magazine.

This Burberry ad on TikTok quickly shows a full range of products with a fun motion graphic designed to look like a scrapbook. This is an easy way to create a scroll stopping ad that catches attention and provides a feeling of physical tangibility. Great example of a brand tailoring ads for the channel they’ll appear on. This is their reference btw.

This design from Tibi’s holiday collection is designed as a fit card, mixing various photos together, fit details, and hand written notes. The entire design looks like it was actually printed.