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 Bauhaus: Treat shapes and letters as the same building blocks
Type
Set in Bauhaus's manner (Geometric sans-serif), and let The New Typography's lettering (One sans in two weights, with hierarchy carried by size alone) 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 The New Typography (Black and red, halftone photography, plain rules, no ornament).
Colour
Build on #eee7d4, #df2c22, #153f8c and admit one accent from #eee9dc, #d22f26, #1e1d1a.

Where they fight

These two are already listed as related, so the join should come easily.

Caution

  • Bauhaus Scattered shapes read as childish. Give every element a job.
  • The New Typography When asymmetry becomes the aim in itself the reading order is never settled, and the page ends up harder to read than the ornamented one it replaced.

Image prompt

An original image that takes its structure from Bauhaus (Style, 1919–1933) and its accent from The New Typography (Layout, 1920s–1930s). Structural cues: Elementary shapes; Primary colors; Functional beauty; Visible structure. Accent cues, used sparingly: Asymmetry; Sans-serif type; Photography; Functional white space. Composition: Treat shapes and letters as the same building blocks. Type and lettering: Geometric sans-serif. Let one material quality come from the second style: Black and red, halftone photography, plain rules, no ornament. Mood: Trust, Play, Technology, Exhilaration. Color: build on #eee7d4, #df2c22, #153f8c with a single accent drawn from #eee9dc, #d22f26, #1e1d1a. 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

  • Bauhaus 1919–1933 / Style / Functionalism

    Makes function and play coexist through the circle, triangle and square.

  • The New Typography 1920s–1930s / Layout / Experimental Typography

    Turned printed matter into rational information structure through asymmetry, sans-serifs, photography and functional hierarchy.

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