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 Calligram: Convert the sentence into contour, path and density; mark where reading begins
- Type
- Set in Calligram's manner (One face or one hand, keeping the words continuous), and let Swiss Punk Typography's lettering (Letterspacing opened in steps, one word repeated at several sizes) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Calligram's material (Letter and paper as two colors; the shape itself is the star); bring in exactly one thing from Swiss Punk Typography (Layered exposures building halftone and reversal through the film).
- Colour
- Build on #eee8dc, #2b2925, #87969b and admit one accent from #e7e7e7, #fb4c32, #150c06.
Where they fight
- Calligram and Swiss Punk Typography share no intent, so the contrast has to become the subject rather than something to smooth over.
Caution
- Calligram Don't fix a silhouette first and stuff words in. Let the text's rhythm generate the form.
- Swiss Punk Typography Breaking a grid you never built leaves the offsets nothing to measure against, so the rebellion within discipline never happens and only mess remains.
Image prompt
Produce four original images that take their structure from Calligram (technique, antiquity–modernism) and their accent from Swiss Punk Typography (style, 1970s–1980s). ## What to make Make the kind of thing Calligram exists for: making a short poem or title physically felt, or A symbolic image from letters alone. Choose one subject and hold it across all four. ## Structure comes from Calligram - Text drawing a contour - Shifting reading direction - Meaningful blank space - Poem fused with figure Composition: Convert the sentence into contour, path and density; mark where reading begins. Type and lettering: One face or one hand, keeping the words continuous. ## Accent comes from Swiss Punk Typography, used sparingly - The grid dismantled - Exploding letterspacing - Stepped compositions - Layered-film textures Let one material quality come from it: Layered exposures building halftone and reversal through the film. ## Colour and feeling Build the ground on #eee8dc, carry the structure in #87969b and #2b2925, and let a single accent come from #fb4c32. These are read off real works, so a direction rather than a fixed palette. Feeling to carry: intimacy, play, calm, rebellion, technique, exhilaration. ## Where they fight - Calligram and Swiss Punk Typography share no intent, so the contrast has to become the subject rather than something to smooth over. ## What goes wrong - Calligram: Don't fix a silhouette first and stuff words in. Let the text's rhythm generate the form. - Swiss Punk Typography: Breaking a grid you never built leaves the offsets nothing to measure against, so the rebellion within discipline never happens and only mess remains. ## 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
- Calligram antiquity–modernism / Technique / Lettering
Arranges words into the shape of what they say, so that reading and seeing happen in the same moment.
- Swiss Punk Typography 1970s–1980s / Style / Experimental Typography
In Basel, the home of Swiss style, Weingart took the grid apart from the inside. Exploded letterspacing, stepped settings and layered film exposures turned rebellion within discipline into New Wave typography.
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