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 BBC Global Experience Language: Keep card ratios consistent but let editorial importance change their size and order
- Type
- Set in BBC Global Experience Language's manner (Write short bold headlines and label content so it works without an image), and let GOV.UK Design System's lettering (One sans serif only, in five fixed sizes with nothing in between. Headings are bold and body text sits at 19px) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in BBC Global Experience Language's material (Use black and white as the base, with one section or programme color); bring in exactly one thing from GOV.UK Design System (Colour is tied to meaning and never used decoratively. Buttons keep a corner radius of zero and gain their thickness from a band of their own darker shade along the bottom edge. The focus state is always yellow ground with a black underline).
- Colour
- Build on #FFFFFF, #B80000, #121212 and admit one accent from #0B0C0C, #FFDD00, #0F7A52.
Where they fight
- BBC Global Experience Language and GOV.UK Design System both belong to Platform Screen Languages, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable.
Caution
- BBC Global Experience Language An even card grid erases editorial judgment. Express importance through area and sequence.
- GOV.UK Design System Tidying the look by rounding button corners or thinning the borders on form inputs deletes the two signals this style relies on entirely, the pressable thickness and the position of focus.
Image prompt
Produce four original images that take their structure from BBC Global Experience Language (style, 2010–) and their accent from GOV.UK Design System (style, 2012–). ## What to make Make the kind of thing BBC Global Experience Language exists for: media sites mixing articles, audio and video, or delivering the same content across devices and assistive technology. Choose one subject and hold it across all four. ## Structure comes from BBC Global Experience Language - Black header over white content - Short bold headlines - News cards with consistent image ratios - Highly visible focus, captions and playback controls Composition: Keep card ratios consistent but let editorial importance change their size and order. Type and lettering: Write short bold headlines and label content so it works without an image. ## Accent comes from GOV.UK Design System, used sparingly - One undecorated left aligned column, with almost no boxes and no shadows - A green button with square corners and a darker green band along its bottom edge, which drops by that exact depth when pressed - Whatever holds keyboard focus turns yellow with a black rule drawn beneath it - Type sizes step coarsely through 48, 36, 24, 19 and 16px with nothing in between Let one material quality come from it: Colour is tied to meaning and never used decoratively. Buttons keep a corner radius of zero and gain their thickness from a band of their own darker shade along the bottom edge. The focus state is always yellow ground with a black underline. ## Colour and feeling Build the ground on #FFFFFF, carry the structure in #B80000 and #121212, and let a single accent come from #0F7A52. These are read off real works, so a direction rather than a fixed palette. Feeling to carry: trust, technique, exhilaration, calm. ## Where they fight - BBC Global Experience Language and GOV.UK Design System both belong to Platform Screen Languages, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable. ## What goes wrong - BBC Global Experience Language: An even card grid erases editorial judgment. Express importance through area and sequence. - GOV.UK Design System: Tidying the look by rounding button corners or thinning the borders on form inputs deletes the two signals this style relies on entirely, the pressable thickness and the position of focus. ## 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
- BBC Global Experience Language 2010– / Style / Platform Screen Languages
BBC's global experience language unifies news, video, audio and children's products through readable hierarchy, accessible media controls and reusable editorial components.
- GOV.UK Design System 2012– / Style / Platform Screen Languages
The design language the UK government's Government Digital Service publishes and maintains for public services. Everything runs in one undecorated left aligned column set in GDS Transport, and the green button keeps square corners while carrying a darker green band along its bottom edge, dropping by exactly that depth when pressed. Whatever holds keyboard focus turns yellow with a black rule under it.
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