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 Beggarstaff Style: Let the subject fill half the sheet and set margins by trimming
- Type
- Set in Beggarstaff Style's manner (Cut the letters from paper too, treating them as shapes not type), and let Plakatstil / Sachplakat's lettering (A short, heavy hand-drawn headline) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Beggarstaff Style's material (Scissors on colored paper, shifting pieces until the shape count drops); bring in exactly one thing from Plakatstil / Sachplakat (Two to four colors, shadowless imagery, clean contours).
- Colour
- Build on #cca977, #71503e, #2d2d2c and admit one accent from #161515, #d39a29, #efe0bf.
Where they fight
- Beggarstaff Style and Plakatstil / Sachplakat share no intent, so the contrast has to become the subject rather than something to smooth over.
- Beggarstaff Style and Plakatstil / Sachplakat both belong to Advertising Posters, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable.
Caution
- Beggarstaff Style Adding outlines back to explain the shape kills the tension the omission created and leaves an ordinary illustration that merely uses few colors.
- Plakatstil / Sachplakat Simplification is not omission. Choose the one thing to keep from what makes the product itself.
Image prompt
Produce four original images that take their structure from Beggarstaff Style (style, 1894–1899) and their accent from Plakatstil / Sachplakat (style, 1900s–1910s). ## What to make Make the kind of thing Beggarstaff Style exists for: posters and shop signage that must register instantly from a distance, or book jackets and marks needing one strong silhouette in very few colors. Choose one subject and hold it across all four. ## Structure comes from Beggarstaff Style - Flat cut-paper shapes - Omitted contours - Large fields of few colors - Boldness that looked unfinished Composition: Let the subject fill half the sheet and set margins by trimming. Type and lettering: Cut the letters from paper too, treating them as shapes not type. ## Accent comes from Plakatstil / Sachplakat, used sparingly - A single product image - Bold contours - Flat color - A short brand name Let one material quality come from it: Two to four colors, shadowless imagery, clean contours. ## Colour and feeling Build the ground on #cca977, carry the structure in #71503e and #2d2d2c, and let a single accent come from #d39a29. These are read off real works, so a direction rather than a fixed palette. Feeling to carry: rebellion, calm, luxury, trust, exhilaration, nostalgia. ## Where they fight - Beggarstaff Style and Plakatstil / Sachplakat share no intent, so the contrast has to become the subject rather than something to smooth over. - Beggarstaff Style and Plakatstil / Sachplakat both belong to Advertising Posters, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable. ## What goes wrong - Beggarstaff Style: Adding outlines back to explain the shape kills the tension the omission created and leaves an ordinary illustration that merely uses few colors. - Plakatstil / Sachplakat: Simplification is not omission. Choose the one thing to keep from what makes the product itself. ## 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
- Beggarstaff Style 1894–1899 / Style / Advertising Posters
Nicholson and Pryde's cut-paper poster style: contours dropped, subjects summarized in flat shapes of few colors. Commercially unsuccessful in its day, its radical economy anticipated the 20th-century poster.
- Plakatstil / Sachplakat 1900s–1910s / Style / Advertising Posters
Cuts advertising down to the product and its name, delivering meaning at a glance from across the street.
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