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 AfriCOBRA: Repeat one shape at even intervals so the eye keeps circling the surface
- Type
- Set in AfriCOBRA's manner (Bend the words along the figures so the slogan becomes structure, not caption), and let Harlem Renaissance's lettering (Letterspaced light capitals for headings, quiet settings for text meant to be read) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in AfriCOBRA's material (Set near fluorescent saturated colors side by side, holding print flatness); bring in exactly one thing from Harlem Renaissance (Prints and drawn illustration, few inks, the paper doing the shadow work).
- Colour
- Build on #f0c632, #d8452c, #315c79 and admit one accent from #d7bc83, #8a4937, #24201e.
Where they fight
- AfriCOBRA and Harlem Renaissance both belong to Black Arts Movement, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable.
Caution
- AfriCOBRA Copying only the intensity of color while dropping the community's words and faces stylizes the look and loses the purpose, which was affirmation.
- Harlem Renaissance Borrowing it as jazz age decoration drops the point, which was Black people representing themselves, and leaves a period flavored ornament.
Image prompt
Produce four original images that take their structure from AfriCOBRA (style, 1968–) and their accent from Harlem Renaissance (style, 1920s–1930s). ## What to make Make the kind of thing AfriCOBRA exists for: posters for Black community events and music where color and rhythm are the subject, or affirming words built into the image and printed to be carried and held up. Choose one subject and hold it across all four. ## Structure comes from AfriCOBRA - Kool-Aid colors - Rhythmic repetition - Letters and figures - Afrocentric imagery Composition: Repeat one shape at even intervals so the eye keeps circling the surface. Type and lettering: Bend the words along the figures so the slogan becomes structure, not caption. ## Accent comes from Harlem Renaissance, used sparingly - Black self-representation - The jazz age - Magazines and publishing - Modern figures Let one material quality come from it: Prints and drawn illustration, few inks, the paper doing the shadow work. ## Colour and feeling Build the ground on #f0c632, carry the structure in #d8452c and #315c79, and let a single accent come from #8a4937. These are read off real works, so a direction rather than a fixed palette. Feeling to carry: exhilaration, rebellion, intimacy, luxury. ## Where they fight - AfriCOBRA and Harlem Renaissance both belong to Black Arts Movement, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable. ## What goes wrong - AfriCOBRA: Copying only the intensity of color while dropping the community's words and faces stylizes the look and loses the purpose, which was affirmation. - Harlem Renaissance: Borrowing it as jazz age decoration drops the point, which was Black people representing themselves, and leaves a period flavored ornament. ## 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
- AfriCOBRA 1968– / Style / Black Arts Movement
Visualizes Black communal affirmation and political consciousness through blazing color, rhythm, lettering and Africa-centered images.
- Harlem Renaissance 1920s–1930s / Style / Black Arts Movement
A cultural movement that rebuilt Black self-representation and modernity in the words and images of Black people themselves, working through literature, music, theater, publishing and art.
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