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 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 NeXTSTEP Interface's lettering (Run one Helvetica style face throughout and build hierarchy from weight and size alone. Leave unavailable commands in place in dark gray instead of removing them) 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 NeXTSTEP Interface (Work in four steps from white to black and admit no hue. Assume one light source above, and keep every bevel consistent with it).
- Colour
- Build on #ececec, #6aaff0, #264788 and admit one accent from #AAAAAA, #555555, #000000.
Where they fight
- Aqua and NeXTSTEP Interface share no intent, so the contrast has to become the subject rather than something to smooth over.
Caution
- Aqua Gloss and shadow applied evenly to every component hides what is actually pressable, leaving texture where hierarchy should be.
- NeXTSTEP Interface Reproduce the grays and then add one saturated accent, and the premise that value carries hierarchy fails, taking the reading order of the whole screen with it.
Image prompt
Produce four original images that take their structure from Aqua (style, 2000–2014) and their accent from NeXTSTEP Interface (style, 1988–1997). ## What to make Make the kind of thing Aqua exists for: recreating 2000s digital culture with the texture it actually had, or making what is clickable read at once as a pressable object. Choose one subject and hold it across all four. ## Structure comes from Aqua - Gel-gloss buttons - Pinstriped grounds - Deep drop shadows - Metaphors of water and light Composition: Components evenly spaced, gaps left for shadows to fall into. Type and lettering: No shadow on text, weighted to stay legible over gloss. ## Accent comes from NeXTSTEP Interface, used sparingly - A menu standing as a vertical column at the upper left, submenus attaching to its right - Square application icons docked in a vertical strip along the right edge of the screen - Thick bevels carved entirely from gray values, with no hue anywhere in them - A black title bar on the window taking keystrokes, dark gray on a window that is merely frontmost Let one material quality come from it: Work in four steps from white to black and admit no hue. Assume one light source above, and keep every bevel consistent with it. ## Colour and feeling Build the ground on #ececec, carry the structure in #6aaff0 and #264788, and let a single accent come from #555555. These are read off real works, so a direction rather than a fixed palette. Feeling to carry: futurity, play, intimacy, technique, calm, luxury. ## Where they fight - Aqua and NeXTSTEP Interface share no intent, so the contrast has to become the subject rather than something to smooth over. ## What goes wrong - Aqua: Gloss and shadow applied evenly to every component hides what is actually pressable, leaving texture where hierarchy should be. - NeXTSTEP Interface: Reproduce the grays and then add one saturated accent, and the premise that value carries hierarchy fails, taking the reading order of the whole screen with it. ## 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
- 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.
- NeXTSTEP Interface 1988–1997 / Style / Platform Screen Languages
The screen language NeXT laid down in its 1993 interface guidelines. The document states the goal outright: a color scheme based on black, white, and gray, and a simple appearance that uses shading for a three dimensional effect. The main menu stands as a vertical column at the upper left, and docked application icons run down the right edge.
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