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 ANSI Art (BBS Scene): Eighty columns respected while the vertical runs on like a scroll
Type
Set in ANSI Art (BBS Scene)'s manner (Letterforms built from block characters and completed with box-drawing pieces), and let Teletext Art's lettering (One monospaced face only, hierarchy from double-height headings) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
Material
Ground in ANSI Art (BBS Scene)'s material (Sixteen foreground and eight background colors, shading made by character density); bring in exactly one thing from Teletext Art (Eight-color block mosaic, dithering faking intermediate tones).
Colour
Build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 and admit one accent from #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615.

Where they fight

  • Both belong to Lettering, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable.

Caution

  • ANSI Art (BBS Scene) Shown in a proportional environment the columns break and the picture is gone, so building without fixing display conditions destroys it.
  • Teletext Art Raising the resolution to smooth the drawing removes the necessity behind the coarseness and leaves a merely retro-looking picture.

Image prompt

An original image that takes its structure from ANSI Art (BBS Scene) (Style, 1985–1997) and its accent from Teletext Art (Style, 1974–2012 / revival). Structural cues: 16-color text mode; Shaded block characters; Art-group signatures; The login-screen format. Accent cues, used sparingly: Eight-color mosaic; The 40x24 frame; Pseudo-curves from blocks; The look of broadcast infrastructure. Composition: Eighty columns respected while the vertical runs on like a scroll. Type and lettering: Letterforms built from block characters and completed with box-drawing pieces. Let one material quality come from the second style: Eight-color block mosaic, dithering faking intermediate tones. Mood: Rebellion, Technology, Nostalgia, Play. 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

  • ANSI Art (BBS Scene) 1985–1997 / Style / Lettering

    Login screens and group art packs drawn in the 16-color text mode of the BBS age. Block-character shading and inter-group competition made the summit of pre-web screen decoration.

  • Teletext Art 1974–2012 / revival / Style / Lettering

    Screen art made inside broadcast text, a mosaic of 40 by 24 characters in eight fixed colors. The extreme abstraction of Ceefax weather maps and news pages is being revived now as a classic of constraint.

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