Theme

• Choose a theme for your collage. The theme can be materially concrete, such as an animal, letter, number, person or place. The theme can also be an idea, such as sight -- where you might use pictures of eyes and eyeglasses, or love -- with pictures of couples or people in an embrace. Ideas are more challenging but also more abstract, leaving much more room for a variety of photos to be used.
  
  

Shapes

• In the photo above, all the pictures are square and even. Many collages, however, have photos that overlap and are all different shapes and sizes. Choose photos with sizes and shapes you wouldn't regularly use, such as long rectangles, triangles or circles. These shapes are much more difficult to use to create a smooth-looking collage without empty space between the pictures. They may also create quite a different collage from others you have already made.
  
  

Reverse

• Try making a collage with photos that are upside down, sideways and visually placed the opposite way you took them or would regularly look at them. This will create a unique view of your photos from a completely new angle, shifting your view from the regular outlook you have.
  
  

Digital Collages

• Many photo editing and visual programs have collage applications, but if the computer creates a collage for you, this takes the creativity out of making the collage on your own. Instead, you can create the collage, scan it into your computer, then use a photo manipulation program to edit and tweak your collage in countless ways. By having the collage in your computer you can, as with any other photo, change colors, borders, views and angles, just as in the fish-eye view of the photo collage seen above.