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 Luna's lettering (Bold sans in white, contrasted hard against the blue ground) 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 Luna (Saturated blue and green, frames swelled by rounding and gradient).
- Colour
- Build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 and admit one accent from #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615.
Where they fight
These two are already listed as related, so the join should come easily.
Caution
- Aqua Gloss and shadow applied evenly to every component hides what is actually pressable, leaving texture where hierarchy should be.
- Luna Copying only the palette while dropping the rounding and swell leaves the colors floating, and none of the optimism arrives.
Image prompt
An original image that takes its structure from Aqua (Style, 2000–2014) and its accent from Luna (Style, 2001–2006). Structural cues: Gel-gloss buttons; Pinstriped grounds; Deep drop shadows; Metaphors of water and light. Accent cues, used sparingly: The blue taskbar; The green Start button; Rounded frames; Meadow-and-sky optimism. 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: Saturated blue and green, frames swelled by rounding and gradient. Mood: Futurism, Play, Intimacy, Trust. 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.
- Luna 2001–2006 / Style / Microsoft UI
Windows XP's look: blue taskbar, green Start button, rounded windows and a meadow wallpaper repainting the gray office machine as household optimism.
Share this pairing:https://indexstyle.org/compose?ids=aqua+luna