Compose styles
Rather than blending styles toward a middle, this gives them roles. The first one carries the structure, the next comes in as the accent, and anything after that shows up in a single detail. Where they fight each other, it says so before you start.
How to divide the work
- Composition
- Follow Swiss: 12-column grid, left-aligned, asymmetric
- Type
- Set in Swiss's manner (Neutral sans-serif; be bold with size contrast), and let Memphis's lettering (A chunky geometric sans) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Swiss's material (White space and objective photographs; almost no ornament); bring in exactly one thing from Memphis (Pink, yellow, teal, black speckles).
- Colour
- Build on #f1efe8, #ed3b22, #121210 and admit one accent from #f5cfda, #f4c62f, #2a9e9a.
Where they fight
- Swiss and Memphis share no intent, so the contrast has to become the subject rather than something to smooth over.
Caution
- Swiss Too much tidiness turns anonymous. Keep one strong jump in scale.
- Memphis Don't stop at background pattern. Map the figures to navigation and units of meaning.
Image prompt
Produce four original images that take their structure from Swiss (style, 1950s–) and their accent from Memphis (style, 1980s). ## What to make Make the kind of thing Swiss exists for: making complex information fast to read, or giving an organization rationality and transparency. Choose one subject and hold it across all four. ## Structure comes from Swiss - Strict grid - Sans-serif type - Asymmetry - Objective photography Composition: 12-column grid, left-aligned, asymmetric. Type and lettering: Neutral sans-serif; be bold with size contrast. ## Accent comes from Memphis, used sparingly - Zigzags - Small figures - Pastel plus primary - Speckles Let one material quality come from it: Pink, yellow, teal, black speckles. ## Colour and feeling Build the ground on #f1efe8, carry the structure in #ed3b22 and #121210, and let a single accent come from #f4c62f. These are read off real works, so a direction rather than a fixed palette. Feeling to carry: trust, calm, play, exhilaration. ## Where they fight - Swiss and Memphis share no intent, so the contrast has to become the subject rather than something to smooth over. ## What goes wrong - Swiss: Too much tidiness turns anonymous. Keep one strong jump in scale. - Memphis: Don't stop at background pattern. Map the figures to navigation and units of meaning. ## Across the four Keep the roles fixed in all four. Vary the framing, the scale and the arrangement so the set shows what this pairing can do rather than four versions of one picture. ## Constraints - Do not imitate, reference or name any specific artist, studio, brand, character or copyrighted work. - Do not reproduce the composition of an existing work. - Produce original compositions in the general period languages described above.
Related entries
- Swiss 1950s– / Style / Functionalism
Puts order front and center and makes the information itself the protagonist.
- Memphis 1980s / Style / Pop
Laughs off functionalism and enjoys the dissonance of shape and color.
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