Digital composition: creating parallel visual universes  

“…And when Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept, for there were no more worlds left to conquer.…”. 

Does this phrase ring a bell? If you have seen “Die Hard”, you will have heard it from the mouth of its memorable villain, Hans Gruber. 

Either way, the fact of the matter is that, after some twenty-odd centuries, there are no more worlds left to conquer. At least not on this planet. The very few unexplored lands, beyond the confines of the galaxies, are those that can be found in our own imagination. 

There we can find plenty of virgin terrain. First, because our own brain never ceases to amaze us. Second, because the tools made available to our inquisitive minds through the new technologies multiply the possibilities for depicting anything we can think of, as crazy as it may seem, into an image, even things that we hadn’t thought of. 

Imagining less probable worlds

It is possible to open up a new route across the beaten path by using conceptual digital compositions. You could think of it as designing spaces using a map of the geography of abstract ideas and the architecture from which dreams are made. You may have to take a moment to think about what all this poetry actually means, but it sure did sound beautiful, don’t you think?  

To avoid any misunderstandings, conceptual digital compositions are those that use composite images. You may ask yourself: what exactly is a composite image? It is an image formed, or rather, composed of elements from different previous images and photos. With a simple photo editing software, you can combine these digital images in whatever way you please to create a new one, revealing something unreal or, to the contrary, giving the texture and, in turn, authenticity of a genuine photographic document to a magical or impossible scene or fantasy born from your own imagination.

There are many other uses for composite images. For example, showing the different phases of a movement within the same frame, as is done to analyze the performance of an athlete or gymnast in sports photography, or even to achieve a narrative and cinematic effect. It’s no coincidence that composite images are commonly seen on movie posters, bringing together many of the elements of the story advertised within a single and striking visual frame.

Creating composite images

Inventing alternative realities and creating conceptual digital compositions in 3D has never been so easy. You simply have to select the visual elements of which it will be composed. By pure mathematics, and if you managed to absorb anything your learned at school, imagine the possibilities of this combination of elements with repetition (or the applicable concept) taken X at a time. Indeed, the result tends to infinity. Of course, it does help a lot if some of the elements of the previous images, such as the lighting or number of pixels, are similar to create a more natural combination.

If you open the images separately in your photo editing software, create a new image file for the composite image and a new layer for each element of which it is composed, it will be much easier to manipulate them all separately.

Use masks to mix, reveal, fade or conceal the specific elements that your instinct and your criteria as a designer tell you. And use gradients to achieve a more unified blending of the elements of your composite image.

Now you simply have to adjust the colors of the image. Calibrate the brightness, contrast, saturation and temperature of the color to harmonize and unify the appearance of the elements. Again, if the originals were similar to the values of these fields, this task will be much simpler.

Sources of visual inspiration

Paradoxical though it may seem, having unlimited horizons can actually hold us back when creating with freedom. It’s like the writer’s block caused when a writer is staring at a blank page. In the face of endless places to explore, it’s no wonder that we sometimes get a little stuck, even before we decide which direction to take. That’s why it’s often useful to stem our imagination and place limits on the universes we want to create.

In this sense, Freepik  is always one step ahead and our expert Sherpas in alternative realities are highly experienced in traveling the creative fields. Here, there and in outer space they capture snapshots, often of an indeterminate origin, but always of a high quality and with a clear value, serving as a source of inspiration.

So, get your backpack ready and get moving. Your journey to your preferred conceptual landscape is about to begin. Unexplored distant galaxies, post-apocalyptic cities, impossible landscapes, lunar environments, lava oceans, geometric forests or ice, water or even sand deserts await you.

Of course, you won’t need a water bottle for this journey. Whichever route you choose, in whatever direction, is full of sources of inspiration that will quench your thirst for new ideas. 

If you always research before embarking on a journey, we recommend that you check out this collection. It is equivalent to the useful tips and practical information offered in the classic travel guides. Here you’ll find compositions created by our team, ready to use in your own projects, saving yourself the trouble of creating them yourself or having to get by on your own.