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 Concrete Poetry: Place words on a grid so reading can start from any direction
- Type
- Set in Concrete Poetry's manner (One face at one size, emphasis from position and repetition only), and let Typographic Space's lettering (Assign faces and sizes as voices and switch them line by line) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Concrete Poetry's material (White paper and one black ink, quality carried by register and margin); bring in exactly one thing from Typographic Space (White paper, one black ink, exact register, stock thick enough to stop show through).
- Colour
- Build on #f1eee5, #74716a, #151515 and admit one accent from #f2efe7, #9e9a91, #171716.
Where they fight
- Both belong to Experimental Typography, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable.
Caution
- Concrete Poetry When making a shape comes first, the meaning of the words stops answering their position, and the piece is only letters poured into a picture.
- Typographic Space Copying only the size of the blanks removes every cue about reading order, so design how blank, size and position govern both the speed and the sequence of reading.
Image prompt
An original image that takes its structure from Concrete Poetry (Layout, 1950s–1970s) and its accent from Typographic Space (Layout, 1897– / modernist legacy). Structural cues: Repeated words; Shapes made of letters; Large blanks; Dismantled reading order. Accent cues, used sparingly: Sentences crossing the spread; Great blanks; Multiple faces; Nonlinear reading order. Composition: Place words on a grid so reading can start from any direction. Type and lettering: One face at one size, emphasis from position and repetition only. Let one material quality come from the second style: White paper, one black ink, exact register, stock thick enough to stop show through. Mood: Rebellion, Calm, Play, Exhilaration. Color: build on #f1eee5, #74716a, #151515 with a single accent drawn from #f2efe7, #9e9a91, #171716. 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
- Concrete Poetry 1950s–1970s / Layout / Experimental Typography
Treats the placement, repetition, blank space and sound of words as the poem itself, not only what they mean.
- Typographic Space 1897– / modernist legacy / Layout / Experimental Typography
Uses the blank of the spread, changes of size, leaps between lines and more than one typeface to lay out reading time and vocal dynamics as space.
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