Compose two styles
Rather than blending two styles into a middle, this assigns them roles: one carries the structure, the other appears as an accent. Where the two fight, it says so before you start.
How to divide the work
- Composition
- Follow Aqua: Components evenly spaced, gaps left for shadows to fall into
- Type
- Set in Aqua's manner (No shadow on text, weighted to stay legible over gloss), and let Brushed Metal's lettering (Engraved-looking light letterforms with one bright edge beneath) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Aqua's material (A hard white highlight above, reflection and deep shadow below); bring in exactly one thing from Brushed Metal (Horizontal hairlines, gray tonal steps, small shadows building thickness).
- Colour
- Build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 and admit one accent from #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615.
Where they fight
- Aqua and Brushed Metal share no intent, so the contrast has to become the subject rather than something to smooth over.
- Both belong to Apple UI, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable.
Caution
- Aqua Gloss and shadow applied evenly to every component hides what is actually pressable, leaving texture where hierarchy should be.
- Brushed Metal Pasting the texture over every panel makes a live knob and a dead surface look like the same metal, so the controls vanish.
Image prompt
An original image that takes its structure from Aqua (Style, 2000–2014) and its accent from Brushed Metal (Style, 1999–2007). Structural cues: Gel-gloss buttons; Pinstriped grounds; Deep drop shadows; Metaphors of water and light. Accent cues, used sparingly: Hairline metal surfaces; Rivet-like details; Equipment metaphors; Gray tonal ranges. Composition: Components evenly spaced, gaps left for shadows to fall into. Type and lettering: No shadow on text, weighted to stay legible over gloss. Let one material quality come from the second style: Horizontal hairlines, gray tonal steps, small shadows building thickness. Mood: Futurism, Play, Intimacy, Technology, Trust, Luxury. Color: build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 with a single accent drawn from #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615. Constraints: do not imitate, reference or name any specific artist, studio, brand, character or copyrighted work. Produce an original composition in the general period languages described above.
Related entries
- Aqua 2000–2014 / Style / Apple UI
Mac OS X's design language of buttons you want to lick. Jelly gloss, pinstripes, deep shadows and the genie effect staged digital components as objects you could touch, and set the terms for UI throughout the 2000s. What the web made of it with images is Web 2.0 Gloss.
- Brushed Metal 1999–2007 / Style / Apple UI
The hairline-metal windows of iTunes and Safari: a skeuomorphic branch that speaks an app's purpose through material, bringing pro-gear trust to the desktop.
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