Cover a large table or your floor with a drop cloth. This will protect the surface from the acrylic paint, as it can cause permanent stain damage. Organize and plan your collage by sorting out the pictures you collected. Your photos will act like a puzzle and seem to be fitting themselves. Cut out pictures that appeal to you from magazines or newspapers if this is just a fun project and organize those. Take a picture of your finished layout for future reference.
Squeeze out some acrylic paint onto a paper plate. A word of caution: acrylic paint dries very quickly, so only use as much paint as you need. It is important to be confident about your collage design; use a glue stick if you feel more comfortable with it. Starting the collage is all about personal preference. Some people start theirs in a corner while others start in the center; do whatever feels most natural to you.
Apply acrylic paint to your brush and paint a thin layer onto the poster board. This painted area should only be the size of a few pictures. Lay these pictures down on the paint and gently press and smooth them. Paint another small section of the board and continue this process until the board is full of your pictures. If you are using glue, apply a thin layer to the backside of the pictures and lay them on the board.
Add an assortment of meaningful odds and ends such as glitter, leaves from a tree, dominoes, fabric pieces or lace to personalize your collage. If you used acrylic paint, apply these bits with glue. Fill in all blank spaces if you want or layer more pictures on top of the first. Hubpages.com suggests creating a frame by sticking ribbon or the image of a picture frame to the outer edges of your college.