Diamond photo collages
A square turned on its corner. Its points aim outward at the seams of the collage, which is why a diamond looks deliberate where a circle looks placed.
Every other medallion here is indifferent to what is under it: a circle looks the same over a grid and over a set of angled cuts. A diamond is not. Its four points aim at the junctions between cells, so on a layout whose seams radiate from the middle it looks like part of the construction, and on a plain grid it looks like a square somebody rotated. The shape and the arrangement have to agree.
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1. The points want seams to aim at
On an angled or radial layout, where cuts run diagonally from the centre, the diamond's corners line up with them and the whole thing reads as one construction. This is where the shape earns its place.
On a plain rectangular grid, the seams are horizontal and vertical and the diamond's points aim into the middle of cells. It still works, and it reads as an ornament laid on top rather than as part of the design.
Neither is wrong. But if you are choosing between shapes for a sliced layout, the diamond is the one that will look considered, and if the layout is a grid, a circle probably suits it better.
2. A tight crop, evenly taken
A diamond keeps about half of its cell, which puts it between a circle at four fifths and a star at a third. What it removes is four large triangles, one at each side.
A single centred subject works. One face, one object, one figure.
Anything wide does not. A landscape loses both ends to the side triangles and keeps a vertical strip of the middle, which is rarely the part that mattered.
Check the top and bottom. The upper and lower triangles take the top of a head and the bottom of a body, so a full-length photo comes back as a torso.
3. What it suits
A diamond is graphic and slightly formal, without the sentiment of a heart or the decoration of a flower. It reads as design rather than as feeling.
Good: travel, architecture, sport, a portfolio, anything modern. Also a wedding, where it is the restrained alternative to a heart.
Less good: a baby or a christening, where the hard points work against the subject.
4. Make one
Pick a collage above and it opens with the diamond in place. If your layout has angled cuts, keep it; if it is a plain grid and the diamond looks stuck on, a circle is the shape that does not care what is underneath.
Questions about Diamond collages
What is a diamond collage?
A collage with one photo laid over the others in a square turned forty-five degrees. Its points aim outward at the seams between cells, which makes it the only shape here whose orientation relates to the layout beneath it.
When does a diamond look best?
On a layout with angled or radial cuts, where its corners line up with the seams and the whole thing reads as one construction. On a plain rectangular grid it still works but reads as an ornament laid on top, and a circle usually suits that better.
What photo suits a diamond?
A single centred subject: one face, one object, one figure. It keeps about half its cell and takes four large triangles from the sides, so a landscape loses both ends and keeps a vertical strip, and a full-length photo comes back as a torso.
Is a diamond suitable for a wedding?
Yes, and it is the restrained choice there - graphic and formal where a heart is sentimental. It suits travel, architecture, sport and anything modern for the same reason, and suits a baby or a christening poorly, where the hard points work against the subject.
