The whole is more than the sum of its parts

Many a times, we use a single image to sell a product or to show beauty. For whatever purpose that image portrays, it needs to convey its story. That one image will also need to stand on its own unadulterated territory, emitting glory and charm to seduce its audience. However, like a fragile twig, that single image is an uninsurable agent that can't please the world.

In comes the collective. You have most definitely seen them. They are a collection of artifacts in a museum like the King Tut's tomb or an art gallery displaying the sum of the work from a single artist.

You certainly may or may not get Wow-ed by one of the pieces. However, the collection of coherently simple work can conglomerate to become a powerful set of art that ascend your mind to new heights.

The trick to successfully use a collection of images is actually to avoid the ultimate pitfall of treating each image as a single piece.

Am I confusing you? Think the classic example of a football team where the coach would kick a great player off the team due to his/her inability to work as part of the team. It's all about teamwork.

Suppose you have a series of 10 beautiful photographs you took in Yosemite. All eight of them looks fabulous in black & white while two, look resplendent in color. By submitting to the temptation of processing 8 into B&W and 2 into color, you have essentially destroyed the series or collection. Now, each piece will have to stand on their own.

Do note that the application of this knowledge isn't solely on art but on marketing, branding and even engineering (consistency and change management)!

- Michael Soo