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 Bauhaus: Treat shapes and letters as the same building blocks
- Type
- Set in Bauhaus's manner (Geometric sans-serif), and let Memphis's lettering (A chunky geometric sans) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Bauhaus's material (Red, blue and yellow held together by black and off-white); bring in exactly one thing from Memphis (Pink, yellow, teal, black speckles).
- Colour
- Build on #eee7d4, #df2c22, #153f8c and admit one accent from #f5cfda, #f4c62f, #2a9e9a.
Where they fight
These are already listed as related entries, so the join should come easily.
Caution
- Bauhaus Scattered shapes read as childish. Give every element a job.
- 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 Bauhaus (style, 1919–1933) and their accent from Memphis (style, 1980s). ## What to make Make the kind of thing Bauhaus exists for: giving an idea a clear, legible form, or bringing intelligence and warmth to education and culture. Choose one subject and hold it across all four. ## Structure comes from Bauhaus - Elementary shapes - Primary colors - Functional beauty - Visible structure Composition: Treat shapes and letters as the same building blocks. Type and lettering: Geometric sans-serif. ## 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 #eee7d4, carry the structure in #df2c22 and #153f8c, 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, play, exhilaration. ## What goes wrong - Bauhaus: Scattered shapes read as childish. Give every element a job. - 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
- Bauhaus 1919–1933 / Style / Functionalism
Makes function and play coexist through the circle, triangle and square.
- Memphis 1980s / Style / Pop
Laughs off functionalism and enjoys the dissonance of shape and color.
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