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 BeOS Interface: The tab occupies only as much of the top edge as the name needs, and because tabs slide, window positions are chosen so overlapping windows line their tabs up in a row.
- Type
- Set in BeOS Interface's manner (A small sans, one line of it, living inside the tab; names get cut short rather than trailing into an ellipsis.), and let Metro's lettering (Headings five times body size, kept in a light weight) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in BeOS Interface's material (One light gray carries the whole surface; only the front window's tab is painted yellow and the rest stay gray, with no third color invited in.); bring in exactly one thing from Metro (No shadows or borders, black or white ground, saturated flat panels).
- Colour
- Build on #FFCB00, #D8D8D8, #9D9D9D and admit one accent from #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615.
Where they fight
These two are already listed as related, so the join should come easily.
Caution
- BeOS Interface Spreading the yellow around as a general accent destroys its one job, marking the front window, and the tab drops to decoration.
- Metro Stripping every border and shadow erases the difference between a tappable tile and a plain heading, leaving people guessing where to touch.
Image prompt
An original image that takes its structure from BeOS Interface (Style, 1995–2001) and its accent from Metro (Style, 2010–2015). Structural cues: Only the front window's tab is yellow; every other window keeps a gray tab; The tab is as wide as the window's name, not as wide as the window; Holding Shift and dragging the tab slides it along the top edge of the window; The Deskbar stands in the upper right corner with running applications stacked below it. Accent cues, used sparingly: Type as the hero; Flat-color tiles; Compositions running off-screen; Chrome eliminated. Composition: The tab occupies only as much of the top edge as the name needs, and because tabs slide, window positions are chosen so overlapping windows line their tabs up in a row.. Type and lettering: A small sans, one line of it, living inside the tab; names get cut short rather than trailing into an ellipsis.. Let one material quality come from the second style: No shadows or borders, black or white ground, saturated flat panels. Mood: Technology, Rebellion, Futurism, Trust. Color: build on #FFCB00, #D8D8D8, #9D9D9D 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
- BeOS Interface 1995–2001 / Style / Platform Screen Languages
Be's interface language threw away the full width title bar and put a short yellow tab on the top edge of each window instead. The user's guide calls sliding that tab a unique feature of Be windows: hold Shift and the tab travels sideways, so stacked windows leave a row of visible tabs rather than burying one another.
- Metro 2010–2015 / Style / Microsoft UI
Windows Phone's flat language, which cast type rather than icons in the lead role. Large typography, flat-color live tiles and layouts that run off the edge of the screen transplanted the clarity of transit signage into UI, opening the flat era ahead of iOS 7.
Share this pairing:https://indexstyle.org/compose?ids=beos-interface+metro