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 Blue Note Style: The photograph pushed to one side, the freed side given over to improvised type
Type
Set in Blue Note Style's manner (One face used at extreme size contrasts, lines cut off at the photograph's edge), and let Swiss's lettering (Neutral sans-serif; be bold with size contrast) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
Material
Ground in Blue Note Style's material (Black plus a single spot color only, the photograph's grain left intact); bring in exactly one thing from Swiss (White space and objective photographs; almost no ornament).
Colour
Build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 and admit one accent from #f1efe8, #ed3b22, #121210.

Where they fight

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

Caution

  • Blue Note Style Adding inks and cleaning up the photograph drains the tension that constraint produced and leaves a tidy music advertisement.
  • Swiss Too much tidiness turns anonymous. Keep one strong jump in scale.

Image prompt

An original image that takes its structure from Blue Note Style (Style, 1955–1967) and its accent from Swiss (Style, 1950s–). Structural cues: Grainy monochrome photographs; Two-color economy; Bold cropping; Improvised type layouts. Accent cues, used sparingly: Strict grid; Sans-serif type; Asymmetry; Objective photography. Composition: The photograph pushed to one side, the freed side given over to improvised type. Type and lettering: One face used at extreme size contrasts, lines cut off at the photograph's edge. Let one material quality come from the second style: White space and objective photographs; almost no ornament. Mood: Luxury, Rebellion, Calm, Trust. Color: build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 with a single accent drawn from #f1efe8, #ed3b22, #121210. 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

  • Blue Note Style 1955–1967 / Style / Music Graphics

    Reid Miles turned out sleeve after sleeve for the jazz label with monochrome photography, two-color printing and boldly cropped type. Improvisation inside constraint became the graphic translation of jazz itself.

  • Swiss 1950s– / Style / Functionalism

    Puts order front and center and makes the information itself the protagonist.

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